Breaking Down Succession S01’s Negotiation and Communication Scenes

Episode 01: Celebration

• Yee clearly has a Dominant personality type. Aggressive, with an ego. Dominants blow up a negotiation on a good day, and especially if disrespected, which Kendall just did;
  • This is exactly why you don’t disrespect a Dominant unless you’re willing for the negotiation to blow up;
  • Also, this is why meetings with two Dominants, in 99.9% of cases, end up in an all-out war;

• Example of a bad reaction to intimidation. Kendall should have hidden the fear. Kept his cool. Logan is a hardcore Dominant that considers everyone that is not a Dominant weak. This is one case where you need to hide your fear and anxiety at all costs. Kendall doesn’t get a passing score;

• Smart technique – you cut the competition at the knees. Now they would need to find another bank to finance the deal, and in record time;
• He still has not solved the likability issue with the CEO Yee though, and this is enough to blow up the negotiation. This is NOT fixed. He’s trying to strong arm someone to make up for the fact he strong armed someone else;

• Pure subjugation and domination, what you would expect of a Dominant;
• This is one way to go about it, but he could also help Greg and then turn him against his grandfather, if what he wants is to hurt him. I think he ends up doing this eventually;
• Either way, a Dominant is usually basic and just wants to win by force. Exactly what you would expect of Logan;

• Kendall says it will compromise his credibility, which can be true. You’re going back on your words. But then again, he didn’t make anything concrete. It depends on his reputation beforehand, and how far along his mental issues are. But then again, he argues Kendall was doing drugs a couple of years prior, so to be honest, both are imperfect decisions. Also, Logan wants Kendall to be a Dominant, and he’s punishing him for not being one;

• Logan using the principle of Implementation Intention here. What would be necessary for you to come back? What would it take? With both children;

• Wrong attitude. Trying to please, very obedient, awkard. Should have known that Logan respects Dominants, who are as rough as he is;
• The principle of costly signaling is at play here. He’s spending money just to show he spent money. To show he can. Peacocking in terms of spending;

• Using labeling in a destructive way. Wants to ruin his credibility, and label him as someone that is unsound, inadequate, etc. Also, remember that what people remember the worst is the accusation. Even if this is disproven, he’s now compromised in a way;

• Kendall bombs the other offer. He still raises his own offer in order to make it more attractive. But then he states that it’s not to please him, but to screw him over and dominate him;
• Bad move, he can antagonise the guy and create a powerful enemy inside. Tries to defuse him afterwards, though, and Yee then threatens him and says he will get revenge;
• This is exactly what I would expect from this situation and exactly what happens in the real world;

Episode 02: Sh*t Show at The F**k Factory

• Seems like a very transactional negotiation, and I don’t really see what each of them wins, because nothing is put on paper for any of them. Shiv pretty much destroys Kendall, with good arguments, and then they decide he’s still going to be the CEO anyway. I think this is a scene where family drama won over actual negotiation;

• Smart debt agreement clause. It’s not unusual for, in debt agreements, for clauses to exist that protect the lender against deterioration of the situation of the company. Works a little bit like the opposite of an equity warrant, where if the company goes up in valuation, the lender can convert debt to equity. Here it’s almost the opposite. If the valuation goes down, then the lender takes control of the collateral, or the security interest of the loan. It may be present or not depending on the agreement. It’s a clause to protect the lender, which protects them;
• Now the key is, where did those 3B go? If this was a long time ago, they should have been invested in the company, and the company could have repaid it. Or was the money channeled elsewhere? We’ll never know;

Episode 03: Lifeboats

• He should know who’s on the other side, what they are thinking of doing, and explore options before anything else. Analyse their personality, personality, personality;
• Also, find out what happened to the money, and what are the consequences of full repayment, and/or of refinancing the loan. It’s in the interest of lenders to keep a stready steam of income, so they don’t want full repayment either. This is a common borrower freakout that never occurs. Lenders don’t want to take control and end the loan. Period;

• Excellent reaction. Excellent. You could she see was under stress, she flinched, but she did not say anything. I wish many of the people I know, under stress, would keep this cool and not blurt out nonsense. Excellent reaction;

• Kendall starts out well, sounding for what will occur. The lender tells them they want repayment in full, period. They’re not big on the sector, and Logan has been a dick. Understandable;
• Kendall keeps asking what would occur in reality. Great approach, exactly what I would do, but a bit aggressive. He’s trying to push them into giving options, not asking them objectively;
• Also, Kendall’s Dominant side comes out and fucks the relationship. He burned the relationship in the first 5 minutes of meeting him. THIS IS WHAT OCCURS WITH A DOMINANT IN REAL LIFE. This is precisely real;
• What he could have done here was to give them good alternatives. Restructuring the debt in a way that provides higher interest rates, or something better for the lender, such as other covenants. But he decided to be pushy, and lost them;

• Basic intimidation technique. The more people on one side, the more intimidation you create. 2×1 is better than 1×1 and 3×1 is even better. Also the same reason why some negotiators stuff their side of the table with negotiators to seem to have more power;
• Same reason why in universities there is a panel of juries and not one jury, and so on. Numbers bring the impression of social proof. That there is a lot of people on your side. Whether true or not;
• Also, Shiv ran a background check on Logan’s new wife Marcia, which is just more intimidation. Also, it’s a bad technique. It’s leverage. But the problem is that, once you show that you can resort to techniques like these, the other side never trusts you again. Ultimatums are a point of no return;

• They raised the terms, probably massively higher interest rates, stricter covenants. This is what would have happened anyway if Kendall didn’t insult them. But Kendall decides to repay the loan immediately and stick it to them again. Man, this guy just doesn’t learn. This could have been avoided, whether he wanted to repay or refinance. Instead, more bad blood;

• Again, Logan is a dominant, he wants to win above anything else, and whatever concession or loss is considered by him a sign of weakness and an insult. To please his father, Kendall should have show a kill. Something that he won on his own. The compromise may have been a good move, but a compromise is always seen as weakness by a Dominant personality type;

Episode 04: Sad Sack Wasp Trap

• Kendall has an authority and credibility problem as CEO with his father still hanging around. The shadow of him is still haunting him and preventing people from taking him seriously;
• Also, Logan going in and insulting and making demands of both his son and Stewy. Pure Dominant attitude;
• Also, Logan, as a Dominant, actually likes Stewy. Maybe he stroked his ego or asked for his opinion, or showed respect. But this is how you get a Dominant to like you;

• His approach would definitely be the recommended one. You get all sorts of pardons if you assume a problem and you deal with it yourself;
• Any regulator fine, any PR problem is immediately mitigated by the company recognising responsibility and doing something about it. Fire some people, say the company has changed, and this goes away quicker than you think;
• The only thing that would worsen, in specific, is Logan’s opinion of him, and his validation, because as a Dominant he would see that as weakness. But as a business move, solid;
  • Also, Tom should not be needing Logan’s validation. Nobody in life should need the validation of others. Especially when they’re kind of toxic;
• Also, considering the company’s stock situation currently, it would definitely not help. Maybe it has been fixed with the PE investment and debt repayment, maybe not enough time has passed. But after some time, could be a solid move;
• Afterwards, Gerri confronts him in the dinner and tells him not to do it because he’s well paid, but I don’t see credit in her theory. The culture seems toxic. The stock price, and long-term results all benefit from blowing this up and immediately doing something about it. You clean up the company and get credit for it;

• This is an example of coming across as very desperate and try hard. The waiter seemed intimidated, but what he could do here is simply be indifferent to Roman. Just saying, “OK, I’ll ask for her number”. Unfased;
• Both sides came across bad here. Roman comes across as try hard and petty, and the waiter comes across as afraid and stifled;
• It’s a very interesting power dynamic, where both lose. It’s pretty embarrassing to watch, actually;

• Kendall asks why he didn’t just talk to him. This is why two Dominants can never make it work in most cases. Logan would rather stick it to his son than talk to him. And Kendall would rather compromise his father behind is back rather than talking to him;
• Each side just wants to dominate the other and doesn’t care about the consequences;
• These two people, as is, are incapable of having a productive relationship. These guys may as well punch it out in a boxing ring, and then calm down and speak as humans;

Episode 05: I Went to Market

• Again, Dominant attitude. He gets to the point, he doesn’t care about others. Period;
• Logan dismisses when Kendall criticises one of his ideas, and tells him later he should be a VP in Indian or China or another country. Again, willing to blow the relationship up, just attacking in whatever way he wants with no consequence;

• Typical corporate situation. The culture is completely toxic. They are going to bury it, and they are going to find a scapegoat. I’m getting Tom will use Greg. Oh, he’s definitely going to use Greg. POOR GREG… Or not, I don’t like him. Just another privileged person;
• Also, how quickly did Tom fold? He went from wanting to shed light on the issue to keeping it buried because his wife told on him and Gerri knew on. Come on, this guy’s morals crumbled like a house of cards;
  • Remember, people, be like Matthew McFayden in Pride and Prejudice, don’t be like Matthew McFayden in Succession. But at the end, I mean, after the pride part;

• This. Quote. Summarizes. This. Entire. Show;

• Those who follow my material know exactly what this is. Effort manipulation. Make things seem simpler or faster, and people are more likely to do it;
• Perception of effort always counts more than the actual effort;
• Also, this is frequently used by bosses. “Hey, it’s just 20 minutes of overtime”. “Hey, it’s just one extra unpaid day”. In reality, it’s ten times as much. This scene is disturbingly realistic in terms of how a boss treats his subordinate. Disturbingly. I have literally seen this;
• Btw, if you have a boss like this, RUN. Especially if they deal with cruises;

• The worst possible way to do this. He masks being exclusive as a career move, instead of being honest about the fact it’s what he wants;
• Then, he states it’s amazing she’s open to this. He has no idea whether she’s open to it or not. He didn’t ask what she wanted! This scene makes me very, very uncomfortable;
• This is akin to selling something without dealing with objections. Pitching something, you see the hesitation on the person’s face, and you still make no effort to find out what’s wrong. And then when this explodes and they raise 300 problems at the last minute, you make the surprised Pikachu face;
• He should have asked about how she would see this from her point of view, what could go wrong in her opinion, and actively deal with the problems instead of dealing with them;
• Her reaction is also weird. At the beginning, she is very hesitant and clearly uncomfortable. Then, she seems happy and intrigued. But I’m still not sure she’s 100% bought it;

• He’s questioning the morals of it, but in terms of persuasion, he’s trying to get something official. He’s trying to get him to state something. Intent labeling;
• Tom was excellent in his reaction. He did the best thing possible. When someone is trying to force you to state something explicitly, to say in clear terms what’s going on, you don’t say a word. That’s how you protect yourself. You say nothing and hung up. Perfect protection;
  • He can’t say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, because that’s a lie;
  • He can’t tell Greg to proceed, because that’s being complicit;
  • The only thing he can do is say nothing and remove himself from the situation. Which he did. Perfect marks here;

• Logan, again, typical Dominant. Doesn’t let morals or ethics get in the way of him winning. Wants to win above anything else;
• This also makes very clear the dangers of a Dominant personality type. You will step over anything and everything just to win and get what you want, no matter what destruction you cause to specific people, to groups of people, to the planet. Accurate portraying;

• Although he didn’t label her, he’s calling her a gold digger. Labels are very destructive and dangerous, because they’re sticky, and especially if they proliferate, which they will among the Roy siblings, as it seems they all hate her;
• So this is a sign of bullying and destructive labeling, which seems like it’s been there for a long time, and shows no signs of stopping;

Episode 06: Which Side Are You On?

• Stewy naturally states that this can screw up the company, as it seeds division in the ranks;
• Also, I think that it will all come down to how many people in the board support Kendall. It’s not about him being right or wrong, it’s about what type of support he will obtain. Board politics at their best here;
• Personally, I think it’s a bad idea. We’ve seen Kendall talk with Gerri and Frank, if I’m not mistaken, and they support him, but not the other members. This is dangerous;
• OK so in the restaurant they’re literally discussing this. Perfect. OK, so they have some people on their side, some against. Still not a guarantee, but better. I would really focus on the people in the middle to make sure they have a victory;
• Also, I would make sure that Logan doesn’t find out about this and organise his own vote or parallel plan. Because this happens;

• This may be just coincidence, but it does seem like the President is subjugating Roy here;
• First, he’s making him come to him. The home effect. Getting him to come to him indicates power. Also, he makes him wait, and then cancels. This is clearly demonstrating power and that Logan needs him more than he needs him;

• OK, so this is an example of negotiators not coordinating. I am 99% sure that Yee is still angry at Kendall for the way he treated him and the acquisition, and that he’s still looking for revenge;
• I would not go to Lawrence Yee to try and convince him. It’s a risky gamble. It becomes about whether he hates Logan or Kendall more. I would not play on those odds;

• I would argue against this. Just because the board replaces someone as CEO, there are still corporate governance controls. They’re not just going to allow anyone in;
• But then again, Tom and Greg got hired due to nepotism, so honestly, wow, they may be right. I don’t think the writers were incompetent making Tom say this. I think it’s literally what the character believes. And you know what, he may actually be right;

• By the way, this is probably everyone’s worst nightmare. Someone is planning on doing something, especially something big such as ousting the CEO of the company, and then they suddenly say they’re late and you take over for them for a minute. This is my personal nightmare. I hope I never have to go through it;
• By the way, Logan staying while people vote is such a subtle, but such a devastating technique. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I’m sure there are people that would vote against him that don’t have the courage to do it in his face. This is a brilliant technique. “Oh, I’m sick, I can’t get up”. Of course;
• This is so painful to watch. This is like one of those assassination attempts that goes wrong and they need twenty shots to kill the guy, and people start watching, and someone grabs the shooter, but they’re still aiming, and they try again… it’s a huge mess;
• Also, this is why it’s dangerous for the CEO to also be chairman of the board. Because if he doesn’t like what they decide on, he can fire them. So the board controls the CEO, but they don’t really, because the CEO is the chairman of the board and controls them;

Episode 07: Austerlitz

• He now owns part of the company so he has a board member position, as we’ve seen, and he also needs to be involved in major decisions;
• I’m even surprised he has such a small voice in matters. A PE investment usually comes with a very big participation of the PE firm and full involvement in strategy and operations. And this is not happening here. Maybe this was just a private investment touted as PE;

• I think this is a bit overdramatised and generic. The therapist is just asking about their feelings. I would start with their background and what has happened;
• I would then also focus on the different personality types
  • Logan and Kendall are clearly Dominants, logical and fast. Roman is clearly a Passionate, emotional and fast. Shiv is harder to crack, and Connor as well. I think Shiv may be an Analyst, she’s very focused on facts and figures, and I think Connor may be a Nurturer, just because he’s very needy. But I may be wrong;
  • But I would focus on what each side wants and what they react to, and this facilitates communication;
  • Logan and Kendall like to win and they don’t take into account the feelings of others, and hate spending time with others just to spend time;
  • Roman is a Passionate, so he wants the inspiration, celebration, partying, and is bored by details;
  • Each of them can communicate with the others more easily if they speak to their personality type. Would be a great starting point. But instead, we get generic talk about feelings;

• Typical Dominant attitude. He thinks that everything that happens is about him;
• Logan telling Shiv that Tom is an inferior man. Consistent with the Dominant. He thinks he’s weak and inferior;
• Kendall telling Logan that he’s jealous of what he has given his own kids. This would be a very accurate assessment. Remember, Dominants want to win, and they want, in specific, to win what others don’t have. To be exclusive. So the worst pain to them is for someone else to have what they don’t. They are being excluded. I don’t whether this is true or not, but it is 100% consistent with Logan’s personality;

Episode 08: Prague

• This is so funny, and exactly why a negotiation with a Dominant is always a loss. The other side compromises, gives him something reasonable, and he can’t even believe it. He literally asks, “Are they being fair with us? Is this real?”. He needs a war, and he needs a kill;
• That’s why he tells Roman to go to the elevator and demand even more, just to humiliate them;
• This part is 100% realistic. To the detail;

• When Greg mentions that Tom abuses him, Logan says he doesn’t believe he had it in him. And you know what? Telling him this just made Logan probably respect Tom more. He now sees a dominant side in him. This is how Tom would convince him, not with a Patek Philippe just to show money;
• Also, Logan tells Greg that if he protects Kendall, he may get the move within the company that he wants. By now, you should know what I will say. Don’t trust him. A Dominant doesn’t compromise and he does whatever he wants. More likely, by doing this Greg just gets the opportunity to do even more for Logan until he decides that he wants to help Greg. It may require 1 more favor, 30 more favors, or never happen;
• To his credit, Logan doesn’t say he’ll do it in exchange. He says, “Take care of this, and perhaps we’ll talk”. So he’s telling him from the get go there is no promise of anything;

• The interviewer starts by trying to compromise him. By talking about the suicide of his wife, and even hinting it’s his fault. She’s trying to compromise him and break his image;
• He tries to avoid it initially, brush it aside, but she keeps insisting on the topic;
• He loses his patience and goes on attack against Logan and the network, and uses Shiv as his argument. He’s going on the offensive, but in the wrong way. ;
• See, I would have played this differently. I would have weathered the questions and kept redirecting, without ever being on the defensive. The more that he resisted it, the more that the general public would see the interviewer as biased, and they would see Gil as someone who kept his cool and persisted;
• Instead, he blowed up, made himself look like he has thin skin, and insulted the network in the process. Lots of lost opportunities here;

• Again, typical Dominant attitude. He was rejected, felt disrespected, and because of that is willing to blow up the relationship and destroy the other side;
• Another person would try to rehabilitate their image, deal with the underlying issue, and/or persist. Use different arguments, give them something as a show of good faith. But Dominants, they burn the bridge forever;
• Might have been better for the startup girls, actually. Otherwise they would be stuck in an abusive relationship where Kendall would demand more and more from them, control them, and if at any point they rejected him, he would still blow up the relationship. Better it happened at this stage, honestly;
• Also, I like the detail that he called them junkies. This is pure projection. He could have called them incompetent, corrupt, whatever, but he calls them junkies. Pure projection. When we insult others, it’s really about us. I don’t know if this was written like this on purpose, or just a coincidence, but bravo;

Episode 09: Pre-Nuptial

• Funny that now that it’s for her own gain, she wants it to come out;
• She mentions that the longer they wait until it gets out, the worst it becomes. She’s actually right. Doing it for all the wrong reasons, but nevertheless right;
• Later Tom tells her at the wedding he will tell her about the cruise stuff if she wants to. Now I don’t know what Shiv is thinking. It’s clear she wants to leak this so that Gil can use this in the political campaign, and it will immediately get back to Tom. So either she’s being naive and thinks she can keep it anonymous, or she just doesn’t care about Tom;
• Later on Tom tells her the specifics, and they discuss leaving Tom out of it
• OK so I guess they are planning it together. I don’t know whether they can insulate Tom or not. I guess they can, he’s been promoted recently. This may work;

• Smart negotiation move. Using leverage. Using the threat of the cruise situation to get Logan’s network to stop attacking Gil. Great move here. Takes away negative messaging and avoids implosion of Waystar. Great for both sides;
• Smart move. It’s kind of an ultimatum and a threat, and this erodes the relationship. But on the other hand, Shiv is not a hardcore Dominant like Kendall or Logan, so she’s more credible. Gerri can truly believe her goal is not to destroy the other side. So hey, she may actually be able to pull it off. Good on her;

• Greg tries to tell him about Shiv’s affair. He first doesn’t want to hear him, and then blows up in his face;
• This is exactly what happens when you tell someone hard news, devastating news, and it’s exactly the type of reaction that you need to expect;
• But the key is that, after they come down to earth, you can talk to them again, and they will slowly get in touch with reality and appreciate what you did for them;
• So this initial reaction is not a personal attack on you. It’s them lashing out;

• This is excellent, and something every negotiator or salesperson, or persuader should do;
• By taking the arguments that they will use and preempting them, you can disarm them and defend very well against them;
• Chris Voss has an amazing technique for this which he calls the Accusations Audit, which is taking everything negative the other side will say, saying it yourself first, and then replying to the accusations yourself. The other side is left with nothing to use. It’s brilliant;
  • It’s like going into a boxing match, taking the biggest punch they can throw in the beginning, with no defense, standing them, and looking them in the eye saying, “Is this all you got?”;

Episode 10: Nobody Is Ever Missing

• I don’t the numbers on this, but this makes sense. Usually people spring to action if they are attacked. There’s an effect in particular that states that once you’ve seen an ally of yours being killed, like a friend or family in front of you, that can lead someone who is not a killer to become a killer. But otherwise, with no reason, and especially unarmed, this makes sense;
• Also, he’s making an allegory to the fact that Kendall is attacking his dad unprotected, but his dad has done pretty cruel things in the past, so Kendall just has to imagine those. This isn’t really a perfect analogy by any means;
• Not a very realistic scene, more for dramatic effect;

• Very well executed. I am not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry for how this makes you feel. Perfect. This is exactly what you say. Showing empathy, but showing you still need to do what you need to do;
• But of course, Logan being a Dominant and all, there’s no way this would end in something other than accusations and screaming;

• This is a joke in terms of argumentation and persuasion. He used all the arguments since the beginning, he didn’t let him reply, and he immediately assumed he won;
• This isn’t even persuasion, it’s a joke;
• Gil’s reaction was great. Politely disagreeing, and removing himself from the argument. Class act, and great reaction
• Btw this is very similar to the technique Connor used to get his girlfriend to be exclusive with him. Said everything on his own, didn’t wait for a reply, and assumed he won. Whoever wrote his character made him very consistent. You can literally see the parallels here. Very congruent;

• Very true here, he may have exposure. Especially if there is proof that he put pressure on the team to make the launch happen earlier;
• It will all depend on the proof that there is, and the testimony of the people involved, I guess;

• Despite all the dysfunctional relationships in the show, one thing I admire is that they all talk it out. They stab each other in the back, in the front, it’s like the Ides of March in every episode here, but they still talk afterwards. They still ask each other “Hey, what do you want? What do you need? What do you like about this? Or dislike?”. This is a very healthy practice in the middle of these very unhealthy relationships. Credit where credit is due;
• Logan’s insults to Kendall. He’s saying he’s a nobody, that he can’t win. He’s insulting him in Dominant language. Remember, they want to win, and to win something of exclusive that others can’t. He’s saying Kendall can’t do that. That he can’t do something on a large scale, that he’s not good enough for it, and that he’s mediocre.
• It’s almost beautiful to watch. The’s taking all the things he knows he most wants, and telling him he can’t achieve any of them. It’s devastating, but it’s beautifully executed;
• This is very similar to a persuasion technique which is removing licenses. You know like in sales, someone says, “You can’t wait past this period, you can’t pay less than this price, and etc”. People give themselves licenses, permissions to do things. To wait, to not move forward, and so on. So a good technique is to remove those licenses. It’s to say, “You can’t wait”. “You can’t pay less than this price”, and so on. This is similar, but for his personal characteristics. It’s saying, “You can’t be a champion”, “You can’t win”, and so on. It’s taking everything he gives himself permission to possibly be in the future, and removing all of those;

• In public Logan defends his son, and in private he uses this to negotiate. Very smart, keeps decorum on the outside, but tells him the truth when it’s just the two of them. Very classy;
• I actually did not expect this from Logan. I’m not sure whether a Dominant would do this in real life, Yes, I get the message they’re trying to convey. He tries to subjugate and dominate everyone, including his kids, but if it’s a life or death situation, he puts his dominance aside to protect his son. In reality, I don’t know if that would be enough. I could see him still throw Kendall under the bus and destroy him just to keep his company. Honestly;