Compare Pairs A/B: Context
 

Now let us contrast the approach of the Pair B negotiator with that of the developer in Pair A who bluntly asked his counterpart, “Did you draft this lease?” That question seemed to come out of the blue. Whatever that developer’s intention might have been, it had the effect of putting his tenant on the spot where he had to defend the draft and his role in it. There the counterpart responded, “I had a hand in it, but our senior corporate counsel did the yeoman’s work.” The two of them then go off on a tangent about which of them have seen even shorter clause. By contrast, as you’ll see going forward, our second pair of negotiators repeatedly depersonalize issues by using humor.