Here is one of the most famous stories in negotiation history. Two sisters are fighting over an orange. Their mother comes in. She decides the fair thing to do is cut the orange in half and give each sister a piece. Afterwards, she discovers that one sister wanted the peel to bake a cake — and threw away the fruit. The other wanted the fruit to make juice — and threw away the peel. If the mother had asked why each sister wanted the orange instead of what she wanted, she could have given each sister everything she wanted. This story captures the second principle of principled negotiation: focus on interests, not positions. A position is what someone says they want. An interest is why they want it. When two people argue over their stated positions, they are likely to end up splitting the difference — which is almost always worse than a solution that addresses the underlying interests. Fisher and Ury give another example: a tenant and a landlord disputing rent. The tenant's position is: no rent increase. The landlord's position is: the rent goes up by 20 percent. But what are the interests? The tenant's underlying interests might be financial security and not having to move. The landlord's interests might be reliable income and maintaining the property well. With this in mind, a creative solution might emerge: the tenant agrees to a small increase in exchange for a longer lease that provides security; the landlord agrees to invest the additional income in the apartment's upkeep. Both interests are addressed. Neither position wins outright, but both parties come out better than a positional compromise. The key technique: ask why. Not in a confrontational way, but in a genuinely curious way. What is driving this? What would need to be true for this to work for you? Also ask why not. What concerns does the other side have about your proposal? Understanding their hesitation is often more revealing than understanding their demands. For Emeka, negotiating with his school to adjust his assignment deadline so he can complete a vital internship: the school's stated position is no exceptions. But their interest is ensuring he produces quality work. If he proposes a concrete plan for completing the work to a higher standard after the internship, their interest is served — and the position becomes unnecessary.