Our History

The 70's

In 1979, Professor Roger Fisher of Harvard University Law School created a think-tank called the Harvard Negotiation Project (HNP). Its purpose was to study how people, organizations, and governments deal with their differences. HNP's goal was to develop theory and practices that would help people deal more effectively with negotiations and conflict.

Professor Fisher and his colleagues studied successful negotiators in corporations and governments in a number of countries. As their research progressed, they identified a range of behavioural patterns that emerged during negotiation of conflict.

They brought their results together in the groundbreaking 1981 book "Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In". It was the first book ever to suggest that differences are puzzles to be solved, rather than battles to be won. The book became an instant bestseller and still is today. A new field was born.

The 80's and 90's

In 1984 HNP created two organizations to turn their ideas into practice:

Conflict Management Inc. (CMI) – created to bring HNP’s groundbreaking methods to the private sector. CMI branched out into different areas of specialty and in 1997, several new organizations were created to focus on specific fields of interest.

Conflict Management Group (CMG) – an international non-profit group whose goal was to introduce the ideas to the public sector. CMG worked with non-governmental organizations and UN agencies such as the World Health Organization. They even helped train the chief negotiators in South Africa in the early 1990's during the negotiations that ended apartheid. CMG eventually merged with an international humanitarian aid agency called Mercy Corps and continues its work as part of that organization.

The 00's

In 2000, Peter Hiddema founded Common Outlook Consulting Inc. after spending a number of years in the United States learning about the work being done in the field of negotiation. Peter’s vision was to help people build stronger relationships and learn new skills for managing negotiation and conflict.