Getting to Yes

Outline

Getting to Yes (1981) presents a method for reaching agreements that are fair and lasting without damaging relationships. Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton describe principled negotiation: separate the people from the problem, focus on interests rather than positions, invent options for mutual gain, and insist on objective criteria. The book also introduces the idea of knowing your best alternative to a negotiated agreement.

• Principled negotiation aims for agreements that are fair and lasting without damaging the relationship between the people involved.
• Separate the people from the problem, so disagreements about the issue do not turn into personal conflict.
• Focus on interests rather than positions, since what each side actually needs matters more than what it demands.
• Invent options for mutual gain instead of treating a negotiation as a fixed pie to be divided.
• Insist on objective criteria, and know your best alternative to a negotiated agreement before you sit down.

Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton are leading figures of the Harvard Negotiation Project, which studies and teaches negotiation and conflict resolution. Fisher (1922–2012) was a professor at Harvard Law School who co-founded the project. Ury is a negotiation expert and mediator, and Patton is a lawyer, negotiation consultant, and co-author of Difficult Conversations.