The Bartering Mindset

The trouble with money, Brian Gunia argues, is psychological: it trains people to think narrowly about negotiations, so they negotiate badly. His alternative looks back to old bartering economies, in which people swapped what they had for what they lacked. Because bartering was economically difficult, he contends, barterers had to negotiate in a more sophisticated and strategic way. Gunia lays out the assumptions behind what he calls the bartering mindset and shows how to apply it to modern negotiations involving money. He traces individual, organizational and social problems that fester to a monetary mindset that produces poor thinking, counterproductive behavior and disappointing outcomes. University of Toronto Press published it.

Adam Grant included it in his list of new leadership books to read in 2019, calling Gunia an expert on negotiating whose insights on bargaining are both new and useful.