Getting to Yes
I just read an amazing book called Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Withought Giving In by authors Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton and felt that it was a great source for our class. With Research and Development being one of our main focuses, I felt that knowing how to negotiate with others was essential within your company or group as well as outsiders you may be working with. In this book, you learn not only problems you may face while negotiating, but methods of dealing with these problems, specifically when one party is more powerful, won't use principled negotiations, and using dirty tricks.
The first thing that caught my eye in this book (besides the title) is the impressive table of contents. Fisher, Ury, and Patton set up a straight-forward, easy to follow table which makes it very easy to get from beginning to end smoothly, It begins with the problem, moves to the methods, gets more specifics with the yes, but..., and a conclusion, and finally ten questions people ask about Getting to Yes. In this blog, I am going to focus only on the problem and the methods.
The main problem with negotiating according to this book is that we bargain set upon position. This can become a problem because positioning ourselves can include agreeing to unwise and less than optimal solutions making it inefficient. Positional bargaining can hurt the relationship with one sweep because each party becomes commited to a position and ignores the interests of the other party and creates a battle. The authors suggest the best form of negotiation is through "Principled Negotiation". This idea is broken down into four areas, which is suggested by the book as guidelines to success.
The first step (or breakdown) is separating the people from the problem. It is very hard to in negotiating to remove your feelings or emotions from the issue. Breaking down these problems by perceptions, emotion, and communication is the first key to successful negotiation. Listen to each other's perceptions, act without rash emotions, and actively listen to the other party. The next step is defining or focusing on interests. A strong negotiator will understand what needs, desires, concerns, and fears that a person may have. By figuring out these interests, a better solution may be formed. They also need to discuss these interests together. The third step is generating operations for mutual gain. The book suggests brainstorming as a way to invent options for mutual gain and focus on shared interest. The final step is using objective criteria. Fair standards and fair procedures are created, causing a solution that is more amicable and efficient.
Overall, I felt this book did a great job describing how to deal with negotiation. I did not blog over the whole book because I really feel each person who reads this blog should go out and get this book. It is an easy read that gives great ideas on how to negotiate that can work in any situation.