The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World

A member of the world renowned Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School introduces the powerful next-generation approach to negotiation.

A member of the world-renowned Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School introduces the powerful next-generation approach to negotiation.

For many years, two approaches to negotiation have prevailed: the "win-win" method exemplified in Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton; and the hard-bargaining style of Herb Cohen's You Can Negotiate Anything. Now award-winning Harvard Business School professor Michael Wheeler provides a dynamic alternative to one-size-fits-all strategies that don't match real world realities.

The Art of Negotiation shows how master negotia-tors thrive in the face of chaos and uncertainty. They don't trap themselves with rigid plans. Instead they understand negotiation as a process of exploration that demands ongoing learning, adapting, and influencing. Their agility enables them to reach agreement when others would be stalemated.

Michael Wheeler illuminates the improvisational nature of negotiation, drawing on his own research and his work with Program on Negotiation colleagues. He explains how the best practices of diplomats such as George J. Mitchell, dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, and Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub apply to everyday transactions like selling a house, buying a car, or landing a new contract. Wheeler also draws lessons on agility and creativity from fields like jazz, sports, theater, and even military science.

Author: Michael Wheeler
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 10/08/2013
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.24h x 6.28w x 1.13d
ISBN: 9781451690422


Award: Axiom Business Book Awards - Bronze Medal Winner


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/12/2013
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2013
Booklist 09/15/2013 pg. 10

About the Author
Wheeler, Michael: - Award-winning Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler has taught negotiation to thousands of MBA students, executives, managers, and public officials from companies and organizations around the world. Wheeler is editor of the Negotiation Journal, published by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and co-chairs the board of the non-profit Consensus Building Institute. He lives in historic Gloucester, Massachusetts, his hometown.