Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher

Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Parker Klein ✌️
TwosApp
2 min readMay 17, 2022

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Based on the principled negotiation method developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project

Look for mutual gains wherever possible, and where interests collide, insist that the result be based on some fair standards independent of the will of either side

Don’t take a position

Separate the people from the problem

Focus on interests, not positions

Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do

Invent options for mutual gain

Insist that the result be based on some objective standard

Put yourself in their shoes to see their perspective

Even if blame is justified, it is usually counterproductive. Under attack, the other side will become defensive and will resist what you have to say

Listening enables you to understand their perceptions, feel their emotions, and hear what they are trying to say

Basic human needs include: security, economic well-being, a sense of belonging, recognition, control over one’s life

Make a list: to sort out the various interests of each side, it helps to write them down as they occur to you. This will not only help you remember them; it will also enable you to improve the quality of your assessment as you learn new information and to place interests in their estimated order of importance. Furthermore, it may stimulate ideas for how to meet these interests

Talk about your interests and make them come alive

Invite them to state their reasoning, suggest objective criteria you think apply, and refuse to budge except on this basis. Never yield to pressure, only to principle

Ask questions. Statements generate resistance, whereas questions generate answers

#SharedFromTwos ✌️

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Parker Klein ✌️
TwosApp

Former @Google @Qualcomm @PizzaNova. Building Twos: write, remember & share *things* (www.TwosApp.com?code=baller)