I am an international authority for my award-winning research on the Vested® business model for highly collaborative relationships. I began my research in 2003 by studying what makes the difference in successful strategic business deals. My day job is the lead faculty and researcher for the University of Tennessee’s Certified Deal Architect program; my passion is helping organizations and individuals learn the art, science, and practice of crafting highly collaborative win-win strategic business relationships. My work has led to seven books and three Harvard Business Review articles and I’ve shared my advice on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, and Fox Business News.
I wrote...
Contracting in the New Economy: Using Relational Contracts to Boost Trust and Collaboration in Strategic Business Relationships
By
David Frydlinger,
Kate Vitasek,
Jim Bergman,
Tim Cummins
What is my book about?
Today’s business environment is constantly evolving, driven by digital transformation, globalization, and the need to create value through innovation. These shifts demand organizations view contracting through a different lens – one of aligning interests and mitigating risk. Contracting in the New Economy provides a profound yet straightforward five-step approach for developing formal relational contracts that help parties create a flexible contract framework that continually aligns interests. The book is a must-read for anyone developing contracts. As Oliver Hart, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, writes in the forward, “It is rare that theory and practice converge, but this (book) is one occasion they do.” Contracting in the New Economy will help you put relational contracting theory into practice for your own relationships.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law
By
J. Kim Wright
Why this book?
In contracting, lawyers are often the heavies that swoop in at the end of the negotiation with risk-averse and protective conditions that can delay or derail a strategic business relationship. This book is the top pick on my list because Kim Wright advocates for organizations (and lawyers themselves!) to make the shift to a holistic, problem-solving approach. I am a strong believer in a kinder, gentler legal involvement at the beginning of the negotiation designed to help contracting parties solve problems and issues jointly. Wright eloquently makes her case on why the shift is needed. After you read this book you too will see the need for the shift of focus away from traditional contracting paradigms.
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Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement
By
J. Kim Wright
Why this book?
Taken in tandem with Lawyers as Peacemakers, Wright’s books chart a much-needed approach to legal’s involvement in contracting. She advocates for Integrative Law, which puts lawyers at the table with the other negotiators as a contract is developed. This is important because often lawyers come late to the party or with contractual guardrails and Ts and Cs that should have been addressed at the start of (and during) the negotiation. When lawyers are not integrated as changemakers to support the business, you will likely find yourself in a series of back and forth red-line hell that causes frustration and deteriorates trust with your business partner. I challenge you to take Wright’s sage advice to rethink how lawyers can be changemakers.
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
By
Daniel Kahneman
Why this book?
Kahneman’s research on cognitive biases has won a Nobel prize. But how does it relate to contracting and why should you care? Thinking, Fast and Slow highlights the many cognitive biases humans suffer from and why it is important to consciously try to not fall into the traps our brains trick us in. One of the cognitive biases is that people think they are good planners, but no matter how good they are ill-equipped to make good plans because of a variety of reasons such as incomplete information and unbounded rationality. You will be a better person and decision maker if you slow down to read through Thinking, Fast and Slow. And this combination will certainly help you write better contracts.
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What's Fair: Ethics for Negotiators
By
Carrie J. Menkel-Meadow,
Michael Wheeler
Why this book?
This book puts the concept of ethics in negotiations front and center. It is a must-read because ethics in negotiation are essential not only for getting to the contract – but how you will address the business decisions long after the parties come to a formal contract. For me, an ethical framework is a crucial foundation for any business and for contracting. In fact, they are so essential our research at the University of Tennessee advocates contracting parties create a Statement of Intent that formally embeds a commitment to six guiding principles that combined, help contracting parties make more ethical decisions. If you ever wondered what is fair in negotiations, pick up this book; or if you scratched your head when you thought something was not fair, pick up this book. Either way, the insights will help you develop better contracts.
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Changing Concepts of Contract: Essays in Honour of Ian MacNeil
By
David Campbell,
Linda Mulcahy,
Sally Wheeler
Why this book?
Ian Macneil is regarded as the father of relational contracting. His early work in the 1960s on relational contracting turned conventional views about contracts upside down with his ideas about business cooperation and collaboration. This unique book brings together essays from some of the world’s leading authorities on relational contracting honoring the pioneering work of Macneil. The essays provide insight and inspiration about relational contracting, suggesting Macneil’s pioneering foundational work on relational contracting is even more relevant today than ever. In the book’s foreword, Stewart Macaulay, another giant of relational contract theory, says, “People should not attempt to write about contracts until they have studied Ian Macneil.” I agree!
