William Ury is a co-author of the world’s most famous book on negotiating, Getting to Yes. Read the following extract from his best-selling sequel, Getting Past No. Which of the situations remind you of something that’s happened to you?
| Daily life is full of negotiations that can drive you crazy. Over breakfast you get into an argument with your spouse about buying a new car. You think it’s time, but your spouse says: ‘Don’t be ridiculous! You know, we can’t afford it right now’.
A morning meeting with your boss. You present him with a carefully prepared proposal for a new project, but he interrupts you after a minute and says: ‘We already tried that and it didn’t work. Next item.’
During your lunch hour you try to return a defective toaster-oven, but the salesperson refuses to refund your money because you don’t have the sales slip: ‘It’s store policy’.
In the evening you need to return some phone calls, but the line is tied up by your thirteen-year-old daughter. Exasperated, you ask her to get off the phone. She yells: ‘Why don’t you get me my own phone line? All my friends have them.’
Adapted from Getting Past No by William Ury
|
