At the Table

Every negotiation is actually two negotiations. There is the surface game—the one played with offers, counteroffers, and stated demands. And there is the deep game—driven by hidden interests, unspoken fears, identity needs, cultural assumptions, and psychological traps. Most people spend their entire lives playing the surface game and wondering why the results disappoint them. At the Table reveals why, and shows you how to play differently. Drawing on decades of field research, consulting across industries and continents, and a rigorous review of the best negotiation science available, Mateo Salvas builds a complete, practical framework for principled negotiation—one grounded in the real complexity of human behavior rather than in simplistic scripts or macho posturing. You will learn why negotiations are almost always won or lost before anyone sits down, and how thorough preparation—not charm or aggression—is the single strongest predictor of success. You will understand why bargaining over positions produces thin, fragile agreements, and how shifting from demands to underlying interests unlocks solutions neither side could see before. You will discover how the fixed-pie bias blinds even experienced negotiators to opportunities for mutual gain, and how to generate creative options by trading across differences in priorities, timelines, and risk tolerance. The book explores the psychology of anchoring, the power of objective standards and procedural fairness, and the essential discipline of knowing your walk-away point—your BATNA—before pressure makes clear thinking impossible. It examines how to handle unfair tactics and dirty tricks without abandoning your integrity, and how to negotiate effectively across cultures and digital channels where misread signals destroy deals that should have succeeded. Through vivid case studies ranging from the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Memphis sanitation strike to boardroom buyouts, divorce mediations, and neighborly disputes, At the Table shows that the same deep principles apply everywhere human beings must reach agreement under conditions of difference and uncertainty. The surface issues change. The deep game does not. This is not a book about winning at others' expense. It is a book about seeing clearly, preparing seriously, engaging honestly, and building the kind of agreements—and the kind of reputation—that compound in value over a lifetime. Whether you are negotiating a contract, a salary, a partnership, a family decision, or a crisis, At the Table gives you the tools to understand what is truly at stake, find solutions that serve real interests, and walk away from deals that are not worth making. For readers of Robert Greene and Tony Robbins who want not only insight into how power actually works, but a disciplined, ethical method for navigating it, At the Table is the negotiation guide that meets the world as it is.