preview

Book Summary: 'Getting to Yes' by Roger Fisher and William L Ury

Better Essays

Overview of the Book Getting to Yes was originally written in 1981 by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury. The book is subtitled "Negotiating agreement without giving in." The book is a handbook on the concept of principled negotiation, taking an American perspective on the issue of negotiation. The book has been highly successful, and widely read in the business community. Getting to Yes focuses on the authors' philosophies about negotiation, and putting those philosophies to practical usage. The audience of this book is primarily business people, since they are predominantly focused on negotiation as part of their work routines. The book has proven popular among this audience, and as such it has successfully appealed to the target audience. One of the most important appeals for business negotiators is that they always need an edge it is important to get to yes without giving in. Thus, reframing negotiations from a win-lose proposition to one where all parties can find the benefits that they want has a very strong appeal to the business audience. This audience often enters into negotiations with counterparties, looking for mutual benefit. Thus, a style of negotiation that encourages such an outcome improves the quality of business negotiation. The book begins with the assumption that negotiations are problematic because people assume positions that are either hard or soft. This, the authors contend, are a false dichotomy. The authors instead argue that negotiations can be

Get Access