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A review by jack_reid
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher
3.0
Getting to Yes is the original negotiations handbook. The authors founded the Harvard Negotiation Project and spawned the modern negotiation consulting industry. I'm studying for my MBA and this was the first text assigned. I read it over a week period and then wrote a paper analyzing an in-class negotiation exercise using the book's concepts.
The text is a classic for a good reason. The authors cover the fundamentals of negotiating succinctly. For those interested, the authors' approach to negotiation is called principled negotiations, or negotiation on the merits. I list the specific ideas behind principled negotiations below.
1. People: separate the people from the problem.
2. Interests: focus on interests, not positions.
3. Options: invent multiple options looking for mutual gain before deciding what to do.
4. Criteria: insist that the result be based on some objective standard.
Like many business books, Getting to Yes is easy to read but difficult to digest. Without the in-class negotiations exercises, I doubt I would have retained much from the book. It's too straightforward and doesn't force the reader to think much while reading it. It belongs on a business leader's bookshelf for reference when knee-deep in negotiations.
I'd recommend [b:Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People|23801|Bargaining for Advantage Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People|G. Richard Shell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385056921l/23801._SY75_.jpg|24742] for those without the luxury of taking a negotiation course. I'm still reading it (as the second assigned book for the course), but the text is written to spark curiosity and instill remembrance rather than as a handbook to remain on the shelf.
The text is a classic for a good reason. The authors cover the fundamentals of negotiating succinctly. For those interested, the authors' approach to negotiation is called principled negotiations, or negotiation on the merits. I list the specific ideas behind principled negotiations below.
1. People: separate the people from the problem.
2. Interests: focus on interests, not positions.
3. Options: invent multiple options looking for mutual gain before deciding what to do.
4. Criteria: insist that the result be based on some objective standard.
Like many business books, Getting to Yes is easy to read but difficult to digest. Without the in-class negotiations exercises, I doubt I would have retained much from the book. It's too straightforward and doesn't force the reader to think much while reading it. It belongs on a business leader's bookshelf for reference when knee-deep in negotiations.
I'd recommend [b:Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People|23801|Bargaining for Advantage Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People|G. Richard Shell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385056921l/23801._SY75_.jpg|24742] for those without the luxury of taking a negotiation course. I'm still reading it (as the second assigned book for the course), but the text is written to spark curiosity and instill remembrance rather than as a handbook to remain on the shelf.