Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

This is a seminal book for anyone who needs to work with parties whose position is at odds with their own. And the book seller’s description and performance were just as stated.

This book is an invaluable read. Learning principled negotiation techniques has proved to be amazingly effective for me. The lessons Getting to Yes offers are truly invaluable to those who want to up their negotiation game.

As the title suggests this is a book about negotiation. The main premise is that besides the two classical approaches to negotiation: soft or hard, there exists a third way that is neither hard nor soft. As the authors best frame it: "There is a third way to negotiation, a way neither hard nor soft, but rather both hard and soft. The method of principled negotiation development at the Harvard Negotiation Project is to decide issues on their merits rather than through a haggling process focused on what each side says it will or won't do. It suggest that you look for mutual gains whenever possible, and that where your interests conflict, you should insist that the result be based on some fair standards independent of the will of their side. The method of principled negotiation is hard on the merits, soft on the people." After presenting this central idea, the book then goes into more details as to the issues that arise when using traditional negotiating strategies of positional bargaining. Then it goes on to address four main concepts for successful principled negotiation: separate the people from the problem (people), Focus on interests, not position (interests), invent options for mutual gain (options) and insist on using objective criteria (criteria). Finally the authors attempts to answer/provide further guidance in situations where the other side is more powerful, if they won't play or if they are using dirty tricks. In doing so, one more fundamental concept is presented: BATNA. "The reason you negotiate is to produce something better than the results you can obtain without negotiating. What are those results? What is that alternative? what is your BATNA - your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement? That is the standard against which any proposed agreement should be measured. That is the only standard which can protect you both from accepting terms that are too unfavorable and from rejecting terms it would be in your interest to accept." Below are some additional excerpts I found particularly insightful: -On Perception: "Ultimately, however, conflict lies not in objective reality, but in people's heads. Truth is simply one more argument - perhaps a good one, perhaps not - for dealing with the different. The difference itself exists because it exists in their thinking. " -On Focusing on Interests, Not Positions: "Negotiating hard for your interests does not mean being closed to the other side's point of view. Quite the contrary. You can hardly expect the other side to listen to your interests and discuss the options you suggest if you don't take their interest into account and show yourself to be open to their suggestions. Successful negotiation requires being both firm and open." -On Inventing Options for Mutual Gain: "To invent creative options, then, you will need (1) to separate the act of inventing options from the act of judging them; (2) to broaden the options on the table rather than look for a single answer; (3) to search for mutual gains; an (4) to invent ways of making their decisions easy." A great book on negotiation, that is filled with practical advise. The authors illustrate their methodology through numerous examples/situations from a wide variety of fields (politics, economics etc.). If I had to have only one book on this topic, this would be the one!

I used it for my negotiations class

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars) I recently purchased a book on Amazon, which I must say is fantastic! The content is engaging and insightful, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter. However, my experience with the shipping and the product's condition was far from satisfactory. When I placed my order, I had the option to choose between a new copy for $25 or a used one for $7. I decided to pay a little extra to get a brand new copy, expecting it to be in pristine condition. Unfortunately, when the book arrived, it was clearly not new. The copy I received had water damage, aged and yellowed pages, and it was evident that it had not been new for quite some time. Feeling taken advantage of, I immediately contacted the shipper to request a replacement with a new copy, as I had initially paid for. Disappointingly, I have yet to receive a response or any acknowledgment of my request. While the book's content deserves a 5-star rating, I am giving this purchase experience 3 stars due to the shipping and product condition issues. I hope the seller will address my concerns and send me the new copy I paid for, so that I can fully enjoy this wonderful book without any further disappointment.

Gift

Looking forward to reading this book as recommended by one of my bosses... This got to me literally within a couple days of me ordering it!

Quick and to the point.

Never received the books after 5 months, nor any communication or information from the seller. Speaks for itself. Move on.

Bom preço

Lo que estaba buscando. Entrega antes de fecha y justo la edición que había pedido. Ponía buen estado, y está ok, no doy 5 estrellas por tener una mancha de tinta verde en seis páginas. Pero no es relevante. What I was looking for. Delivery before expected and the edition I was asking for. It said good condition, and it's ok, I don't give it 5 stars because it had a green ink stain on six pages. But it isn't relevant.