#53 – Great Lessons from the Great Depression: Negotiating In Uncertain Times

This week on S4N, we step into the turmoil surrounding the 1929 stock market crash and the international debt crisis it exposed — a moment when information was unreliable, risk was rising, and decisions at the table carried consequences far beyond the room. Using this period as a lens, we give you the tools seasoned negotiators rely on when certainty disappears. By contrasting Wall Street's speculative frenzy with the high-stakes reparations talks between David Sarnoff and German finance minister Hjalmar Schacht, Gene explores how perspective can shift a stalled negotiation, why endurance matters, and how to know whether the right people are in the room. This episode reframes negotiation as judgment, not just technique — and asks what it really takes to stay steady when everything around you isn't. Remember: negotiation is life. Mentioned in this episode: 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin