Roger Fisher (1922–2012)

Negotiation is a crucial life skill. For some, it’s inherent to being a part of society, especially with expensive purchases or haggling in open markets. For others (like lawyers), it composes a part of their professional skillset. Either way, most people can stand to benefit from learning more about the art of negotiation. Many negotiation guides seek to maximize gains by taking strong positions. However, as these authors point out, this strategy can hurt long-term relationships by show more hurting the well-being of one party. Instead, they suggest building negotiation around a mutual appreciation of fairness. This leaves relationships and reputations in tact while getting a satisfying result.

The authors make a couple of assumptions. First, most people are most afraid of being “taken” in a negotiation. They do not necessarily want to maximize their result, but rather, they mostly do not want to lose the negotiation. Second, fair standards can anchor a negotiation by framing it objectively in a proper ballpark. Instead of taking positions, parties are encouraged to do research to look for a fair result. While this decreases the likelihood of “winning big,” it increases the likelihood of a mutually satisfying agreement. (Thus, it decreases the likelihood of a “bad” agreement.)

With these goals in mind, the authors reframe the language around negotiation to help readers achieve these results. Ample examples from a variety of settings exist within this work. They coach how to deal with trying situations, like power differentials, difficult people, and adversarial tactics. They focus on long-term benefits from reputation and win-win relationships instead of just winning one contest.

Those who value the social fabric will appreciate this book’s approach. It’s goal is to get to “yes” – that is, to get to an agreement instead of dramatically maximizing the windfall. Obviously, not everyone will agree with this style of negotiation, but it has many benefits. Most of all, it encourages fairness and politeness without turning it into passivity. It’s good training (and therapy) to think through dealing with difficult negotiation tactics ahead of time. This sets the stage for real-life encounters. After reading this book, I look back on several big, past negotiations that I could have handled better. At least I’ll be more prepared for the next one. show less

This is a surprisingly easy book to read but chalk full of information and examples. The contents are carefully structured and each chapter builds on the previous. It does not oversimplify issues, on the contrary, it recognizes the complexity of some negotiation situations but constantly refers to the same principles to show how they can be applied consistently. Finally, I appreciated the variety of the examples drawn both from common occurrences and exceptionally delicate situations, giving show more a wide range of possibilities to consider. Very dense but extremely useful, this book gives the secrets to a powerful yet human way to find solutions to tough conflicts. show less

Meh... I realize that Getting To Yes is a classic in the field of negotiation, but, jeez, this is one dry book. Real negotiation should be vibrant, engaging, and a heck of a lot more interesting than GTY makes it seem. And maybe it is, and writing about it doesn't do it justice. I'm far from an expert negotiator so treat my outsider's opinion as such.

This is perhaps the classic work in the field of negotiation, and for good reason. Fisher and Ury start by showing the many problems with conventional "positional" bargaining, then proceed to lay out a much more principled approach that instead focuses on interests, separates the people from the problem, and allows for creative problem-solving to create win-win solutions, using objective criteria to define success.

While these principles provide the greatest value in the book, sometimes show more applying them to real-world situations can be difficult. So the authors go on to provide more specific techniques to use in various sticky situations. They give lots of examples, usually realistic and compelling.

Best of all, these principles and techniques aren't just for hardball business or political negotiations, but can be applied more broadly to all of your interactions and relationships. Want to learn how to deal with colleagues and coworkers more effectively? Keep minor disagreements with your spouse or kids from escalating into destructive arguments? The tools provided in this book can help.

And if you haven't read it yet, you might want to start with William Ury's "prequel" The Power of a Positive No, as I did. It's even better.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R9VNB3K5RA7P show less