BS* version

Jane and Jack are leading negotiations. The 2 groups face off. It was a merger they sought. So each could benefit from the other.

Jane: Here’s what’s on the table. Bundling our top 5 products and allowing ourselves to trail back during the kickoff and merge.

Jack: It’s attractive alright. Just not sure if we’d want to move forward with it. We want to scale back, running low on bandwidth. So, our best offer is a match on the top 3 product lines.

Silence

Huddle at Jane’s corner: So what do you think?

Crap! He just pulled a Boulwarism* ?!
Can’t pass up on the merge, not now.
Long term strategic planning is the mantra.
Clearly, there’s a disconnect!?
Are we even on the same page?
Isn’t this a CLM*, at least for him?
And we do all the heavy lifting?

Consensus.

Negotiations re-open.

Jane: Jack, here’s what we will do. Q2′s been a rough ride, but Q3 and Q4 looks good from our place. We will offer the same 3 products as you wanted. We’ll even throw in the extras with no commitment from you, and do the grunt work. Risking a winner’s curse* with this in a way.
Jack, this is a win-win. What do you think?

Silence

Jack: We can’t decide. Yet. Circle back later?

!!?!?

* BS = Business Speak.
*Boulwarism = Take it or leave it offer
*CLM = Career limiting move
* winner’s curse = An immediate acceptance of offer, though the ‘winner’ doesn’t get a good deal out of it.