Roll out the red carpet

Compromise, negotiation, making concessions – these can be hard asks. But why? We live in a country where an adversarial process is the norm. Both the Westminster style of parliamentary government and the court process encourage the taking of opposite positions, pushing people to extremes inconsistent with compromise. Neuroscience reveals much about how we act and react in difficult situations and adversarial, binary approaches which stimulate the fight or flight response (yes/no; in/out; right/wrong) may no longer be fit for purpose. 
Triggering the fight or flight response is rarely productive in a mediation scenario. People pushed into a corner, tend to lash out. Instead, I encourage parties to consider some prudent words from Sun Tzu a 4th century BC Chinese military strategist: “A wise conquering general is one who builds a golden bridge upon which his defeated enemy can retreat”. 
What does this mean? Instead of pushing people into corners (and then poking them with a stick), allow them a dignified route towards a compromise. Rather than triggering the fight or flight response, allow a party to retain, or regain some self-esteem. Build them a golden bridge, or in more modern terms, lay down the red carpet to walk them out of a corner and into the room.