getting to yes: negotiating an agreement without giving in. roger fisher and william ury Paperback – International Edition, January 1, 2012

Did not prevent wife from leaving.

I reread this book every few years. Each time it yields more of its greatness. I am a trained mediator and negotiator and have read countless books on these subjects. Nothing, absolutely nothing, compares with this groundbreaking book. All the other good books (and most of them are offshoots of the same Harvard Negotiation School) build on this one. If you want to know how to negotiate, whether in business or in life, this is the first book you should read; and probably the book you will continually reread.

Great for someone who needs to work on their negotiating skills. There are many out there who can gain from even the basic skills as they don't realize how often what you get or earn is not the matter of your worth but how much you can negotiate for yourself. It is sad reality of the world that is build on negotiations. The more you know how to negotiate the easier your life can be.Negotiation skills are important in every aspect of life from personal to professional and business settings.The basis of negotiations is not to get what you want but to have both sides to get something and feeling good about it. That is an art.Get it, learn something. Use it. The book can pay off easily in monetary value if you use it first time you buy your car or apply for a job.

Had to purchase this book for my negotiation class, while the information is quite technical and meticulous it provides great information and In depth information on how to reach your desired solution. While boring at times, generally provides interesting and well thought out examples. Highly worth the read for classes or for everyday life

This book has been around for quite a while and is vaunted by many as THE book on negotiation. I, like many others, am unconvinced. If you have never negotiated anything in your life, this is the book for you. It's a great primer, but it's far from all-encompassing. The authors admit that it is not meant to cover everything, though. It teaches what's known as "principled negotiation," which is a non-adversarial style. It's particularly useful for business deals and personal conflicts, since it emphasizes mutual problem solving and de-emphasizes taking positions, thus allowing everyone to "win."On the other hand, anyone who has successfully negotiated even the most minor of deals (i.e. haggling), won't find this as useful. In order to be effective, you have to convince all parties to accept the premise of principled negotiation. If they don't the whole system falls apart. Furthermore, if you are in an adversarial proceeding (lawsuit, arbitration, etc.), this is fairly useless. In those proceedings, the other party either doesn't care whether you "win" or actively wants you to lose. If you come up against a manipulator, the practices in this book will prove to be more hindrance than help. I had to read this as part of a law school class. To put it mildly, other aspects of the class were far more useful than this book.Bottom Line: a good starting point. Just don't make it a stopping point.

The book has opened a world of opportunities that I could not see before. It is practical. Everyone can benefit by reading it. The method that the authors describe can be used for any negotiations, from small to big: settling differences in views with your colleagues, talking to your family members, not giving in when a client asks you for an unjustified discount, when your house contractor doesn't want to do the proper job, managing a hostage crisis and even negotiating a nuclear arms deal with another, perhaps narrow minded country. I wish I have read this book 20 years ago. I would have handled many critical situations differently. I highly recommend this book for everyone to read. Moreover, if you have children who are ready to fly out or recently left your nest- make them read this book because it may change their lives, in a good way.

I bought this one for class, never really intending to actually read it. It turned out to be a better book then I imagined. Yes, it can be slightly boring at times, but it has some great and pragmatic advice for life. Great advice on persuading other, working with others, and becoming successful. Worth reading at least once,

I first read this in 1983, when my husband was in his first year of law school. I've remembered over the years and tried to apply some of the principles that i learned in my personal and professional life. I recently attended some professional (non-legal) training, and one of the facilitators was a lawyer who led a discussion about how to negotiate when there is disagreement. As he spoke, I recognized the principles as the same ones I'd read in Getting to Yes so long ago. At the end of his presentation, he referred to this book. I decided to buy a new copy and read it again. It has been updated, and the new material is a great addition. Still a very handy tool for personal or professional negotiation.

Really enjoyed this book, probably the best I’ve read on negotiation to date. I found the well thought through logical sequence of the book easy to read and persuasive. It took me from the standard negotiating stance and explained serious errors behind this approach. There was clear guidance on how to move from a positional arbitrary approach to one directed by interests and defined criteria. I’m looking forward to trying out this new framework over the next few months.

I'm astounded that THE definitive book on negotiation has so few reviews.This is my second copy. I let someone borrow my first copy, and it never returned. But that's OK. The world would be a better place if everyone learned how to negotiate like this.If you're going to a turkish bazaar, this is not going to help guarantee you get the right price for the rug you really want. But if you live in the real world, and especially if you're in business, this will help you understand how to negotiate successfully. And it makes you think differently about how you approach different situations.Roger Fisher died recently, and I liked the obituary in the Economist. It described how there was a bitter confrontational argument in central america, with one of the parties being Ecuador I believe. Roger Fisher was asked to help in the dispute. Things improved dramatically when he asked the two presidents, who were arguing vehemently and bitterly about the border, to sit down with a map and look at the border. All the posturing disappeared as the parties understood each others concerns. As the obituary concluded, it helped that the Ecuador president had been a university student of Professor Fisher. It shows this is not academic mumbo jumbo. It has real life application.

I read this book and accomplished a negotiation course. I highly recommend the book for everyone. The book really well breaks down the negotiation process. I use new skill nearly every day now; between buying a new car insurance policy and talking to the Boss!

A classic for anyone going into a negotiation - which is all of us at some time or other, whether in business or personal matters. I had great success (including financial results) from using what I learned from this book in a situation which everyone else had said could never be won.

As a Leadership Trainer and Coach, I've been recommending this book to clients for years. The core message - to separate the people from the problem - is arguably the one that has delivered the most beneficial results over time and been the simplest to implement.