Author: Jens Kurth

In this classic game theory scenario, a couple wants to spend the evening together. One prefers the ballet, the other a prize fight. But they both prefer going to either together than attend their favorite event alone.

It’s less about getting your way—it’s about getting aligned.

In the B2B context, such coordination problems are common in strategic decision-making where goals might not differ but timing, format, or approach are misaligned:

• Technology integration: Both supplier and client have competing solutions—but integration only works if both sides align. Each prefers their own, but either is better than no deal.
• Partnership strategy: In a strategic alliance, one partner wants fast expansion, the other values stability and control. If they can’t agree, the venture risks stalling.
• Platform design/standard-setting: Two firms want to set an industry standard—but each favors their own. Without agreement, interoperability fails and both lose market traction.
• Inside a large company, two departments need to align on a joint proposal to secure internal funding, but each pushes their preferred use case. If they can’t align, the budget falls through.

In each of these cases, the parties must align on ONE option—even if it’s not their favorite—or both lose.

The Strategic Takeaway?

In this Game, the real challenge isn’t competition—it’s alignment. In B2B negotiations, success comes from recognizing when you’re in a coordination game rather than a zero-sum battle, then implementing mechanisms that ensure both parties end up at the same “event.”

How to Respond Effectively

✅ Create a Coordination Mechanism
A coin toss as a tie-breaker? Not quite B2B best practice. But joint pilots, third-party assessments, or pre-agreed decision criteria can depersonalize the choice and prevent deadlock.

✅ Alternate the Advantage
Consider rotating who gets their preference across different decisions or time periods. When preferences clash, taking turns preserves a sense of fairness in ongoing relationships.

✅ Communicate early—and Listen
Be explicit about your priorities, constraints, and flexibility—and probe theirs. Where open dialogue isn’t possible, draw on market intelligence and behavior patterns to infer what matters to them. That’s how you uncover creative trade-offs.

✅ Signal Intent and Flexibility—and Invite Alignment
Show that you’re moving toward convergence. Frame proposals around shared outcomes. Even without direct coordination, your opening moves can send signals about your intent, inviting the other to tune into an emerging focal point.

✅ Design Creative Solutions
Blend both preferences when possible. Phased implementations, performance-based models, or joint innovation initiatives can unlock value—even when starting positions diverge.

If you’re in a coordination game, stop playing it like a tug-of-war.

Find the rhythm that gets you to the same place—together.

Trust starts when one side gives first. Before there’s a deal. Before there’s a guarantee.

In the classic Game of Trust, it’s simple:

• Player A gets an amount X to start.
• They can send any amount (0-X) to Player B.
• The amount sent is tripled for Player B.
• Then B decides how much (if anything) to return to Player A.

It’s a one-shot game. No prior contract. No second chances. Only trust — or the opportunity to exploit it.

Notice the dynamic: One player must act first, must GIVE first, without knowing if the other will reciprocate.

You’ll find the same pattern in real-world B2B negotiations, albeit typically in multiple iterative exchanges. One side extends value with the hope that it will be recognized — and reciprocated. Trust becomes the “invisible currency” that builds relationship capital. And reciprocity (or lack thereof) shapes future interactions. Sometimes the first gift isn’t money — it’s flexibility, effort, a promise, even vulnerability.

Key takeaways for negotiators:

✅ Build trust early — with transparency, reliability, and responsiveness.

✅ Honor implicit agreements — not just what’s written in the contract.

✅ Small gestures of goodwill can unlock outsized cooperation.

But be mindful: Not every gift creates a mutual obligation.

Skilled negotiators recognize when a “gift” is being offered with an implied expectation and consciously choose to:

• reject it,
• accept it without being bound,
• or formalize it by acknowledging its value and explicitly incorporating it into the deal.

Where have you seen trust multiply value — or destroy it?

#Negotiation #Trust #GameTheory #B2B #Leadership #CreatingSharedSuccess