About Karen
I am Karen S. Walch, PhD, author, educator, and the founder of the Social Intelligence Lab Practice Community.
For over 30 years I have worked with leaders, teams, and executives across 40 plus countries on the one skill that determines everything else: how to get what you need when you must work through another human being to get it.
My research and teaching career began at Thunderbird School of Global Management, where I developed the Quantum Negotiation framework, a model for understanding how social intelligence, self-awareness, and strategic agility combine to produce consistently better outcomes in any negotiation. This means any time you are sharing limited resources, creating something new or problem solving with someone, not just at the negotiation table.
I wrote the book. With my colleagues Joerg Schmitz and Stephan Markdyks. "Quantum Negotiation: Getting What You Need" (Wiley, 2017). But what I have learned since then is that books alone do not change behavior. Practice does.
That is why I started the Social Intelligence Lab: not as another course, but as a safe and professional place to rehearse, build confidence and find support from others.
Snapshot of my work history
- PhD, International Relations and Negotiation
- Professor Emeritus, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University
- Co-author, "Quantum Negotiation: Getting What You Need" (Wiley, 2017), with Joerg Schmitz and Stephan Markdyks
- Founder, Social Intelligence Lab Practice Community
- Co-creator, Quantum Negotiation Facilitator Certification Program
- Speaker and facilitator in 40 plus countries
- Quoted in Forbes / Featured on PBS Arizona / Harvard Negotiation Leadership Conference
"Quantum Negotiation: Getting What You Need"