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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
If you read just one book on negotiation - make it this one!
Having recently submitted a review that slated another book on Negotiation, it is only fitting that I should write now to comment on one that deserves quite the opposite response. Getting to Yes explains what successful negotiation is all about - as you read you know that the approach described makes perfect sense - indeed in retrospect it may all seem fairly obvious...
Published on 7 Nov 2000 by rod.webb@pdc-online.co.uk
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Nothing new but worth reading
There's nothing innovative in this book. You should already know almost all of it. However, it provides with a succinct summary to which we should pay attention in negotiating. Therefore, this book may well be able to serve the purpose of a handy reminder before we engage in negotiations.
It's interesting as well to realize from this book that whether and...
Published on 23 Nov 2007 by book maniac
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
If you read just one book on negotiation - make it this one!, 7 Nov 2000
Having recently submitted a review that slated another book on Negotiation, it is only fitting that I should write now to comment on one that deserves quite the opposite response.Getting to Yes explains what successful negotiation is all about - as you read you know that the approach described makes perfect sense - indeed in retrospect it may all seem fairly obvious. In reality though, the ideas presented are quite radically different to the normal approach to negotiation. I guarantee that most readers will change or refine the way they negotiate as a result of reading this book. The points made are explained clearly and illustrated well and, in contrast to some, the authors in this case have resisted the temptation to keep padding their ideas out. The result is a work that is fairly concise (less that 200 pages) and easy to read. Add one to your shopping basket now!
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
A very practical read., 21 Jul 2001
By A Customer
A very useful and practical read which provides an extremely effective framework for negotiation which I have applied in the workplace. The strengths of the book are its clear and concise style which makes it highly readable.I have dipped into my copy numerous times both to prepare and to carry out "postmortems" when things have not gone to plan!.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Way to Overcome Communications Stalls, 30 May 2004
In virtually all circumstances where people are working together, they come to agreement in ways that short-change the interests of everyone involved. This landmark book shows practical ways to find out what other people want, and to devise better alternatives that create a "win" for everyone.The authors do a great job of overcoming the preconception that many hold that working on problems means that you have to be unpleasant. The advice to be hard on the problems and easy on the people (building a relationship) is a key concept that everyone can use. I have found this book to be one of the most helpful that I have every read, and I cite its lessons in my first book. I had a chance to use these principles in a negotiating workshop with veteran negotiators, and I was struck by how few people apply the lessons of GETTING TO YES. You will vastly improve your life if you read and practice the ideas in GETTING TO YES. A helpful related book is GETTING PAST NO.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
The best self improvement book I have ever read, 16 Oct 2006
I really cannot recommend this book enough. Of all the self improvement/education books I have read this has been the best. It clearly breaks down the subject matter into easily understandable points and supports each of these points with excellent real world examples. Furthermore, the question based format, quickly results in answering the question that come into mind when reading the book. This book is for anyone who wants to come away from a meeting, discussion, debate or negotiation better off than they do now by improving their understating and practice of negotiating skills.
I am now going straight into their next book.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
THE BOOK ON NEGOTIATION, 30 Jan 2000
If you want to buy only one book on negotiation, that's it. The books covers all the aspects of negotiation in a very readeble and enjoyable manner. Very important! Not again a book on Win/Win or Win/Loose. Not hard or soft, but rather hard AND soft. Soft with the people and hard on the issue. Brilliant!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Way to Overcome Communications Stalls, 30 May 2004
In virtually all circumstances where people are working together, they come to agreement in ways that short-change the interests of everyone involved. This landmark book shows practical ways to find out what other people want, and to devise better alternatives that create a "win" for everyone. The authors do a great job of overcoming the preconception that many hold that working on problems means that you have to be unpleasant. The advice to be hard on the problems and easy on the people (building a relationship) is a key concept that everyone can use. I have found this book to be one of the most helpful that I have every read, and I cite its lessons in my first book. I had a chance to use these principles in a negotiating workshop with veteran negotiators, and I was struck by how few people apply the lessons of GETTING TO YES. You will vastly improve your life if you read and practice the ideas in GETTING TO YES. A helpful related book is GETTING PAST NO.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Get to yes without going to war, 29 Dec 2007
1991 second edition, Penguin Books, 229 pages (of which 187 pages form the main body of the book).
If you've read any of my other reviews, you won't be surprised to discover this is another of the twenty books recommended by Charlie Munger in the second edition of Poor Charlie's Almanack (the most useful book I've read).
I have wanted to learn more about negotiation since last year, when I had particularly protracted and unpleasant negotiations over leaving my previous full time job. It was probably the most unpleasant time of my life, it went on for months and the return for that huge personal cost was very poor (for everyone except my lawyer, that is). My relations with all of the people at the firm were also destroyed by the time the mess finally ended. I figured there had to be a better way - and the sooner I learned it the better.
Having a single book on the subject recommended by a very well read and extremely effective individual in his eighties like Munger was ideal. If there is a single, most useful text on negotiation, this should be it. Fortunately, even with such high expectations, I wasn't disappointed. I would include Getting to Yes amongst the top ten most useful books I have read.
It makes an excellent companion volume to Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog, which I have just re-read. Getting to Yes tells you how to approach forming agreements between people (whether a divorce or simply which film to watch at the cinema this week). Don't Shoot the Dog shows you how to teach (whether animals, people or yourself) and learn. Between them they cover most of the important situations in which conflict is likely to occur.
Their general approach is the same: that efforts to dominate or be combative are unnecessary and usually counter-productive. The most obvious specific similarity is their suggestion that one always try to look at the situation from the other side:
"The ability to see the situation as the other side sees it, as difficult as it may be, is one of the most important skills a negotiator can possess."
Many people (previously including myself) think that if one is not being `tough' then one is being weak. Both of these wonderfully humane books show clearly that this is not the case. You can be pleasant and understanding whilst still being tough (in the principled sense) and unyieldingly fair. What a relief to know that you can be both - and be more effective.
I found Getting to Yes rather painful to read at times, as I kept comparing the advice and examples in the book with my own experiences of the previous year. Many times the authors advise acting in a certain way and warn what is likely to happen with other (more common) approaches. My book is littered with scribbled comments saying things like `oh dear - this is exactly what happened in my situation'.
Most people view negotiation (I certainly did) as simply a choice between hard and soft positional bargaining. Fortunately it turns out that this view is wrong:
"If you do not like the choice between hard and soft positional bargaining, you can change the game.
The game of negotiation takes place at two levels. At one level, negotiation addresses the substance; at another it focuses - usually implicitly - on the procedure for dealing with the substance."
This whole book is about how one changes the procedural game from positional bargaining to what the authors call `principled negotiation'. Principled negotiation involves attacking the problem independent of the people by focussing on interests rather than positions. By focussing on the interests - that literally must underlie all positions - the authors show that it is often possible to invent additional options that fulfil those interests better than the obvious initial positions. By insisting on the use of objective criteria, the authors also show how one can form wiser agreements and cope with intransigent positional bargainers (it becomes difficult to sustain arbitrary positions in the face of a negotiator who brings in objective, external standards to justify all of his suggestions).
It is welcome to see that the authors realise their methods are no panacea. They understand that the best a method of negotiation can achieve is the wisest result possible for all parties, bearing in mind the situation and the people involved.
I particularly liked the brevity and clear structure of Getting to Yes. There is a danger in `how to' books like this of being presented with so many individual pieces of advice that, whilst individually sensible, we find ourselves overwhelmed when we try to put them into practice. All the advice forms a sort of mental sludge from which little stands out.
I noted with interest the authors mention in the preface that their editor reorganised the book and cut it in half: "To spare our readers, he had the good sense not to spare our feelings." I couldn't agree more and I`m very grateful to their (clearly first rate) editor. It reminds me of a comment Elmore Leonard made about his own books: "if it reads easy, it was because it was written hard". That's the way books should be.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Great book, 24 Oct 2003
As a basic introduction to negotiating you can't go too far wrong with this book. Explains, with examples, that negotiating is not about hard-nosed tactics but good, open communication. It has certainly found a place on my bookshelf and often used for reference.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Packed with Knowledge!, 1 Mar 2004
Authors Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce M. Patton offer a seminal step-by-step guide to negotiating effectively. The authors use anecdotal examples to illustrate both positive and negative negotiating techniques. They believe that, with principled negotiation, both parties can reach an agreement in an amicable and efficient manner. Principled negotiation is based on the belief that when each side comes to understand the interests of the other, they can jointly create options that are mutually advantageous, resulting in a wise settlement. Since this is the second edition, the authors take the opportunity to answer ten common questions from readers of the first edition. If you become skeptical about these fairly rosy negotiation techniques as you read, the Q and A section is very useful. This classic text is easy to understand and you can implement its techniques immediately. We can’t ask for more than that.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The definitive work on negotiation - a "must read", 23 Jan 2009
"Getting to Yes" is the benchmark by which all other books on negotiating should be judged. Authors Fisher, Patton and Ury have penned a book that has become a classic in its class as their negotiating principles have been used and quoted again and again the world over.
"Getting to Yes" is quite deceptive at first - it seems a little light weight as it is so easy to read. In fact one could read it from cover to cover in half a day quite easily. Yet, the four principles outlined in their negotiating method whilst simple in nature are comprehensive and effective. This is one of the first books on negotiating to break away from the "hard v's soft" negotiating paradigm by introducing "principled" negotiating - ie. negotiating on the basis of both party's needs, not positions. Fisher et al, also cover very well the "What if" situations where the other party maybe more powerful, uses dirty tricks or won't play the game.
This book should be essential reading for everyone who has to negotiate with someone else over reaching a decision - and isn't that all of us?
Bob Selden,
Author, What To Do When You Become The Boss: How New Managers Become Successful Managers
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