Creating Middle Ground increases the size of the pie, thereby allowing both sides to realize more than 50 percent of their hoped-for result and yielding a combined total result greater than 100 percent. Sure, in the end it's likely that one side will end up with a higher percentage of what they hoped-for. But, for instance, one side getting 80 percent and the other 70 percent - totaling more than 100 percent - rarely creates the type of friction that results from zero-sum negotiating.
Middle Ground is difficult to find when all you are talking about is piece price, which is often the case with commodities. On the other hand, an effective way to create Middle Ground is to consider Total Cost. In using this approach, piece price is just one factor to be considered in the overall negotiations.
