Book Review: Getting to Yes

Negotiating is an important beginning to many projects or agreements, and no matter what sort of business you're in you will need to negotiate in one way or another with both your customers and your suppliers.

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury is a practical, informative guidebook to help you negotiate effectively.

What I liked most about this book was its focus on effective outcomes rather than 'winning'. A negotiation can involve flexibility, but the important thing is to know what you can be flexible with and what points you should not change.

The method that the authors teach has several important steps:

1. Separate the People from the Problem
2. Focus on Interests, Not Positions
3. Invent Options for Mutual Gain
4. Insist on Using Objective Criteria

The book itself is getting a little dated as even this second edition was printed in 1992, but the content is still relevant.

Relevant, but a little dry.

Having said that, I found the negotiation methods and related ideas interesting and I have used the techniques successfully on a number of occasions. While I've found it useful I wouldn't say it's revolutionised my business; but then maybe I haven't been using it as effectively as I could be.

The authors also insist that the techniques they describe are applicable to negotiations outside the business arena as well. Deciding where to go for dinner with your partner will never be the same again!