Negotiating tactics: non-dry edition

January 21, 2015 6:56 AM

I'd like to read something which involves a lot of negotiating: tactics used, counter-tactics, that kind of thing. It needs to be nice and easy to read, rather than dry. Some discussion of what happened would make the perfect book. Fiction is okay too. All suggestions welcome!
posted by devnull to Human Relations (5 answers total)

Have you read Getting to Yes?
posted by janey47 at 7:21 AM on January 21, 2015

Yeah, Getting to Yes is the classic here, and it's not overly dry or a tough read.
posted by OmieWise at 7:40 AM on January 21, 2015

Getting to Yes is a good book, but it's somewhat light. If you want something meatier, you could try The mind and heart of the negotiator. Both were required texts of my college class on negotiation and conflict management.

I will also toss out the recommendation to watch the movie "Kingdom of Heaven." I found it somewhat painful to watch (perhaps you won't?), but well worth doing so at least once for the awesome negotiation scene (which you need the backstory to fully appreciate).
posted by Michele in California at 10:54 AM on January 21, 2015

Not necessarily what you want, but the movie "A Hijacking" is about the hijacking of a Danish cargo ship by Somali pirates, and the process around how the negotiation takes place. I have heard accounts that it is remarkably accurate, and has 'apparently' been shown to corporations to show how this process takes place.
posted by doozer_ex_machina at 1:58 AM on January 22, 2015

Bargaining for Advantage is a fantastic book that looks at your own personal style of negotiation, and how to use it "better." Really great book; my favorite part of my B-school negotiation course. That, and the gigantic mock negotiations we used to do.
posted by teabag at 1:12 PM on January 22, 2015