Yes, it does happen.
People can act totally irrational; against their own best self interests and those of the best interests of the deal, unwilling to compromise or do business because they are acting irrationally.
It does happen; we just witnessed such a meltdown.
Such irrational behavior is steeped in emotion and comes from pure ego.
It is impossible to deal with...
rationally.
There are no predictable, reliable, dependable strategies, offensive or defensive against an irrational being.
It is like negotiating with a suicide bomber...
what's the point? There is no place for this in business dispute resolution but it pops its ugly head up more frequently than one would ever imagine.
It typically ends in disaster and frequently in legal proceeding.
Unfortunately, it results in a winner and a loser; frequently, the lawyers are the winners and the litigants are the losers, both of them, as irrational behavior produces bad results.
Most often the litigants end up being the losers as nothing is ever gained from irrational dispute.
But people get into their emotion and ego and victory is all that counts.
When this happens the best advice I can give is execute a rapid and orderly retreat, find an exit, withdraw, all that will be gained is a huge legal bill and no sound resolution, it will be a war of attrition, and no one ever wins.
It no longer is a case of right vs.
wrong.
It is a case of ego vs.
ego, irrational behavior and no one ever wins this battle, other than the lawyers.
Retreat is a valuable option, a viable strategy.
Live to fight another day.
Live to fight only honorable and righteous battles -- battles worthy of fighting for.