I’m doing a lot of reading and research related to negotiation right now for a class and one of the key books that started the contemporary discussion related to negotiation is Fisher and Ury’s Getting To YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.
For a long time I hated the idea of negotiation because I equated it with positional bargaining, which often is just a prelude to conflict. While I like engaging in ideas and discussion, I’ve always hated debate and hated positional confrontations because of how much stress it generates for me. I hate both sports and political shows where people just yell and debate. And in general – I hate bargaining too and I’m the type of person that if I tried to bargain at a store I’ll end up paying more than my starting price. Anyway – that’s what I’ve equated with the discussion of negotiation.
But – it was a game changer to begin seeing negotiation’s role in the bigger picture discussion of conflict and it’s one of the best insights I’ve gained from the PhD program I’m in right now – that a lot of conflicts never happen if people learn to negotiate well both relationally and in terms of the substantive issues that may be involved. This book is one of the first that tries to get outside of the positional bargaining box and into what we often know now as “win-win” negotiation. So the book covers positional bargaining, “win-win” or integrative bargaining, and aspects of negotiation related to dealing with difficult people and some of the nuts and bolts of a general negotiation discussion.
There’s a lot more that goes into navigating workplace negotiation and there’s perhaps even more that is required for interpersonal or social negotiation amidst polarizing diversity and social conflicts. This is what I’m exploring in the negotiation realm. This book covers a lot of ground and is a classic in the field if you’re looking to dip your foot in the waters of negotiation.
