Michael A. Wheeler

Michael A. Wheeler (born July 25, 1943) has taught negotiation at Harvard Business School in its MBA program, executive courses, and, more recently, its digital learning platform HBX. His work focuses on negotiation pedagogy, improvisation in complex dynamic processes, ethics and moral decisionmaking, and a range of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes.

Early life and education Wheeler grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he still lives. He earned a BA in American Studies from Amherst College, a JD from Boston University, and an LLM in Public Policy Analysis from Harvard Law School. He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Politecnico di Torino (Facolta di Architettura), and University of Colorado Law School. Wheeler edited the essay collection Teaching Negotiation: Ideas and Innovation. He is currently co-director of the Pedagogy Initiative at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Negotiation (Harvard Business Essentials Series) Environmental Dispute Resolution (with Lawrence S. Bacow)

Art of Negotiation Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World was the subject of interviews in The Washington Post and the Financial Times, and of reviews by Professor Leonard Riskin, World Economic Forum, and Publishers Weekly, the last of which stated:

[Art of Negotiation] offers a clear-headed, creative approach to negotiation that is on a par with the canonical texts, Getting to Yes and You Can Negotiate Anything. Those titles suggest abandoning hardball tactics and turning every interaction into a negotiation. Wheeler, on the other hand, posits that the most important aspect of negotiation is improvisation and constant flexibility, acknowledging that each party goes into a negotiation without truly understanding the other person's position. Often, each party's real needs don't emerge until the negotiations are in progress. Wheeler discusses strategies for managing uncertainty and understanding the true extent to which preferences, needs, and relationships are constantly changing. He steers readers toward making wise decisions about whether or not to pursue a negotiation in the first place, conducting sufficient research, keeping their cool, and closing the deal. Wheeler's lucid, engaging voice is a major asset, and sample scripts help drive home his points.

Articles Wheeler has written over 30 articles on negotiation and public policy issues for a wide range of academic journals and the popular publications, "Crossing the Threshold: First Impressions in Psychoanalysis and Negotiation" (with Kimberlyn Leary), Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, vol. 5, no. 1 (January 2003): 81–105. "Sport Strikes: Let the Games Continue" (with James Sebenius), New York Times, (October 30, 1994), Section F, 9. "Trading the Poor: Intermunicipal Housing Negotiation in New Jersey" (with Patrick Field and Jennifer Gilbert), Harvard Negotiation Law Review, vol. 2 (1997): 1–34. "Negotiating NIMBYs: Learning from the Failure of the Massachusetts Siting Law," Yale Journal on Regulation, vol. 11, no. 2 (winter 1994): 241–291. "Primaries and Opinion Polls," Atlantic Monthly (May 1972).

Awards and honors Robert F. Greenhill Award (2004), awarded by the Harvard Business School faculty for contributions to the school's mission. and the PBS Newshour.