It occurred to me this week that so much of negotiation and persuasion is simply managing expectations.

“You’ll probably hate this,” I say, knowing that you probably will but you also want a good working relationship with me and will therefore try to like it.

“Faculty tend to react in a certain way to this type of invitation,” I say, so I use my estimate of that way to calculate likely attendees.

When those predictions play out, you’ve built up even more positive-leaning expectations.

It’s a good cycle to have. Carve out some positive (or negative, depending) space for yourself theoretically, then over deliver.

Boom, instant reputation.