Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27978 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Whether you're negotiating with an angry boss or a difficult colleague - or, indeed, a stubborn teenager - you can learn to use your emotions to help you achieve the result you want. "Building Agreement" shows you how to control the five 'core concerns' that motivate people: Express appreciation for what others think, feel or do; Build affiliation and turn an adversary into a colleague; Respect autonomy in others and gain autonomy in return; Acknowledge status and simultaneously establish your own worth; and Choose a fulfilling role during the process of negotiating. Using the latest research of the Harvard Negotiation Project, the group that brought you the groundbreaking book "Getting to Yes", this is a superbly practical guide to mastering essential negotiating skills. It is originally published in hardback under the title "Beyond Reason".

About the Author
Roger Fisher is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law Emeritus, Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and the founder of two consulting organizations devoted to strategic advice and negotiation training.

Daniel Shapiro, Associate Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, teaches negotiation at Harvard Law School and in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital.

Customer Reviews

Guidebook for using emotions in negotiation
Far too many books treat negotiation as a rational process, as if the parties involved are calculating machines (or close to it). Authors Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro show that is not the case. They explain how emotions affect negotiating, and provide tools based on five core emotional concerns for dealing with powerful feelings at the negotiating table. This slender book is clearly written, and the authors illustrate each point in their theoretical framework with examples from their extensive experience. The result is an immediately applicable book that provides a host of practical tips. getAbstract recommends it to anyone who negotiates...and that means just about everyone.

Highly recommend practical guide with lots of good real-life examples
Good practical guide to make you think about the way you communicate with others, whether they are a family member, work colleague or complete stranger, and not just in a strict negotiation setting as the title may wrongly suggest. It must be said, the book is not about manipulating emotions, our own or those of others, but rather it provides an advice on how we can positively work with our emotions to reach agreement. The authors distinguish and focus on five 'core concerns' that motivate people: appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status and a fulfilling role. I am pretty sure each will strike a chord with you to some extent and cause you to re-assess the way you interact with others. It certainly did so for me.

A great read with lots of real-life examples that you will easily be able to relate to with your own experiences. Indeed, if you are one of those people who are always looking to do a bit of introspection and improve your character, then I cannot recommend this book for you enough.

Terrific book on dealing with emotions in negotiations
This book by Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro has rightfully won a prize offered by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the best book on negotiation. The book focuses on the important role emotions play in negotiations and offers a practical framework for dealing with them constructively. Throughout the book Fisher and Shapiro present recognizable examples, ranging for day to day situations we all encounter to political negotiations with huge impact for millions.

For me, the most interesting part of the book is were the authors explain five core concerns -- appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status and role -- and their effect on decision making. They provide sensible advice on how to use these concerns as levers to keep negotiations constructive. Here is a quote from the book giving you an example: "Perhaps the most powerful way to soothe someone's emotions is to appreciate their concerns. There are three elements in appreciating someone. You want to UNDERSTAND the other's point of view; FIND MERIT in what they are thinking, feeling, or doing; and COMMUNICATE the merit you see." I think that is a terrific way to put it!

The content of this book is one thing that makes it worthwhile. Another reason why I like it is that it is exceptionally well-structured. I like it when authors do their very best to make it as easy as possible for readers to understand their core messages. Fisher and Shapiro succeed very well in this.