Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton

"Getting to Yes" offers a concise, step-by-step, proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict--whether it involves parents and children, neighbors, bosses and employees, customers or corporations, tenants, or diplomats. Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals continually with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution from domestic to business to international, "Getting to Yes" tells you how to:

• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on interests, not positions
• Work together to create options that will satisfy both parties
• Negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to "dirty tricks."

This long-standing international best-seller describes the fundamentals of principled negotiation and provides basic background on CMI/Vantage Partners' negotiation theory and practice. The second edition, published on the 10th anniversary of the publication of the original, updates the examples and adds responses to some frequently asked questions about negotiation.

Consider the following snippet that kicks off the book's introduction, which speaks volumes about the frequency and the importance of daily negotiations: 

"Like it or not, you are a negotiator. Negotiation is a fact of life. You discuss a raise with your boss. You try to agree with a stranger on a price for his house. Two lawyers try to settle a lawsuit arising from a car accident. A group of oil companies plan a joint venture exploring for offshore oil. A city official meets with union leaders to avert a transit strike. The United States Secretary of State sits down with his Soviet counterpart to seek an agreement limiting nuclear arms. All these are negotiations. Everyone negotiates something every day." 

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For more on this topic, please visit our Negotiation page.