One of the biggest barriers to effective negotiation and a major cause of stalemate is the tendency for bargainers to get trapped in their own perspectives. It" s simply too easy for people to become overly confident of their opinions. Operating in a closed world of their making, they tell themselves they are right and the others are wrong. They consider the merits of their positions but neglect the other party" s valid objections. They push their agendas, merely with the same argument, and may not pick up on cues that their words aren" t being heard. It" s safe to assume that the other party is just as convinced that his or her own demands are justified. Moreover, bargainers can only speculate what another" s agenda might be—hidden or otherwise. Appreciative moves to draw out another" s perspective help negotiators understand why the other party feels a certain way. They signal to the other side that different opinions and perspectives are important. By creating opportunities to discover something new and unexpected, appreciative moves can break a stalemate. Everyone agreed that a joint venture negotiated by HMO executive Donna Hitchcock between her organization and an insurance company has mutual benefits on both sides. Although the deal looked good on paper, implementation stalled. Hitchcock couldn" t understand where the resistance was coming and why. In attempt to unfreeze the situation, she arranged a meeting with her counterpart from the insurance company. After a brief update, Hitchcock asked a-bout any unexpected effects the joint venture was exerting on the insurance organization and on Her counterpart" s work life. That appreciative move immediately broke the logjam. From her counterpart " s perspectives, she learned, the new arrangement stretched already overworked departments and had not yet produced additional revenues to hire more staff. Even more important, her counterpart was personally bearing the burden of the increased work. Hitchcock was genuinely sympathetic to these concerns. The extra work was legitimate obstacle to implementation. Once she understood the reason behind the resistance, the two were able to strategize on ways to alleviate the overload until the additional revenues kicked in.