Just deserts is a metaphor frequently used to describe an appropriate punishment (mostly used in fiction to add a satisfying mirror effect – think of the naughty golden-ticket kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example). But what if it were literal? What if all we could eat was sweet? Or worse still, if all we faced stretching into the horizon was nothing but sand? The latter is a bit scarier, at least for most of us. But not all of us.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Marathon Des Sables, that’s fine – it’s not the kind of event most of us would even imagine existed, let alone seek out. Why? Well, it’s a 257km running race (yes: two-hundred-and-fifty-seven kilometres, or 160 miles in old money). And if that doesn’t set your eyeballs bulging suitably outward, then wait until you find out where this race takes place: the Sahara Desert. So, to summarise: the equivalent of five full marathons in one go, across the world’s most lethally inhospitable and uninhabitable desert terrain. Just desert, indeed. Why is this the subject of this week’s negotiation blog, you might reasonably ask? Well, my colleague Scott Murdoch is running it – next week. And I think there are some very useful lessons for negotiators in his endeavours.
Firstly, preparation: as you might expect, Scott has undergone some intensive preparation for his ultramarathon. In this scenario, the consequences of not preparing don’t require a great deal of imagination: winging it could be fatal. Negotiations are rarely a matter of life and death, but rigorous preparation makes a substantial difference in your favour.
Secondly, imagination and surprise: for many of us, the time-honoured route to a sneaky day away from work has involved an exaggerated illness, maybe even a phone call worthy of an Oscar nomination. Scott has pushed the boat out here: he’s managed to avoid the office for a pretty decent chunk of time doing something that by my best guess wouldn’t have been predicted by the water cooler. Skilled negotiators use their imagination and will not be afraid of novel or innovative thinking to realise their goals.
Thirdly, value creation: not only has Scott swung himself some time away from work with his wild escapade – he’s got Scotwork to sponsor his travel to Morocco. Even in my wildest fever dreams, it never occurred to me to phone my boss, tell her I was ill and then ask for work to pay for a new, comfier sofa from which to enjoy Homes Under the Hammer. Of course, in this case, the spirit of collaborative negotiation applies – Scotwork get the tangible and intangible value of supporting an entirely worthwhile cause and associating with an incredible effort.
I think there are other relevant points on which to draw but the final one I’ll choose relates to how we make proposals. We advise that in the majority of cases, it’s in your best interests to make a proposal that is credible, realistic and achievable – a number of benefits flow from this, most of the time. Excessive, unrealistic or extreme proposals (and the Marathon Des Sables is surely a poster child for such) carry risks. Rather than detail those, I want to highlight one of the exceptions: where you have a rational basis to expect that your proposal can be explained despite its extremity, the intention would be to get your counter-party to revisit their limit position in the light of this, and move it towards you. And in Scott’s case, it’s a bullseye. Many of us may sponsor friends and colleagues for half or full marathons, and many of us might have a favoured amount to donate. Looking at Scott’s proposal to cram five marathons into fewer days, oh, and on the sands of the Sahara, I looked at my “usual” donation and… well, I moved it. By quite a bit. And that’s the reason I wanted to end on this particular point – because I’d like to propose that you consider doing the same. Scott’s Just Giving page is here https://www.justgiving.com/page/scott-murdoch-marathonds-fundraiser2025
Any contribution to what is a remarkable – if less than media-friendly – charity would be enormously appreciated by all of us at Scotwork, and I hope you’d join us in wishing Scott a safe and successful run (I still can’t quite get over that, he’s going to run) across the Sahara.
