When negotiators feel they have a good understanding of each other and of the issues then it is time to move onto finding ways to meet the aspirations of the two parties. Good negotiators will not rush into this solution-oriented phase. If the issues have not been fully understood they will only have to go back and spend more time later dealing with their differences.

The negotiators have the choice of finding solutions through being creative or through the more competitive value-claiming end-game. This chapter deals with how options – ways in which the differences might be resolved – can be created during a negotiation. Again it is a ‘how to’ chapter. The message of the chapter is that creativity does not come easily. Neat satisfying solutions rarely fall into place as might be implied if the title of the chapter was ‘creating options’. The task is to keep working away until something useful happens, just as Thomas Edison did when inventing the electric light bulb – 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. The key elements in exploring for options are shown in Figure 7.1.

The foundation for finding new options that might resolve the differences has already been laid – well or poorly – through effective preparation and through time spent in the negotiation itself to differentiate while avoiding a tendency to slip into competitive positional bargaining.

An important part of preparation is thinking what a good agreement might look like. This involves thinking through possible solutions.