To Agree or Not to Agree That's the Question

A basic principle of negotiation is that it takes a meeting of the minds to have a legally binding and enforceable contract. Most of the time, meeting executives keep that principle firmly in mind when drafting their agreements. Yet every so often, people get lazy. Rather than take the time to work through a difficult issue, they put it off to the future or, worse, provide one side with unilateral decision-making authority. Either contract approach can be very dangerous and should be avoided.