Article archive / December 2023
Originally published: . Volume 14, No. 12. Source pages: 12.
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In
My Christmas stocking stuffer would be Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury with Bruce Patton as editor, Penguin Books, second edition, 1991. Getting to Yes – Negotiating Agreement without Giving In deserves recognition as a classic. Millions of copies in at least 18 languages, this national best seller is a brief, straightforward approach to mutually acceptable agreements that meet the interest of both (dare I say all) parties when interests are not identical. The text begins by acknowledging that negotiating agreements and coping with the inevitable inherent in negotiations is simply a part of life. As such, we can all benefit from understating the various approaches to and elements of negotiation as well as how to manage the stages of what the authors call “principled” negotiation. Principled negotiators attempt to reach decisions based on the merits of the situation, allowing one to obtain what you are entitled to while treating others in a fair and decent manner. It is an all-purpose strategy for win-win negotiations. After emphasizing the importance of separating the “people” involved in the negotiations from the “interests” of those individuals, the authors provide methodologies for focusing on interests, inventing alternative solutions, using objective criteria to evaluate options, and understanding how to leverage your best alternative to a negotiated agreement.
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