Pathways To Fruitful Negotiation

This writer has browsed some of the books on negotiation and conflict resolution authored by William Ury-one fo the world's influential experts on negotiation and conflict mediation. He is the co-author of Getting to Yes, Negotiating Agreement without Giving  In - the world’s all-time bestselling book on negotiation with more than 15 million copies sold and translated into more than thirty five languages. This book has been translated into Nepali as well and this columnist, senior advocate Matrika Niraula, among others, were the co-translators of the book in Nepali. The great thinker of our time late John Kenneth Galbraith appreciated the book saying "this is by far the best book I have ever read about negotiation. It is equally relevant for the individual who would like to keep his friends, property and income and statesman who would like to keep peace."   

William Ury has been a co-founder of Harvard’s Programme on Negotiation (PoN). Harvard’s prestigious and renowned Programme had availed its expertise to facilitate dialogue among the political functionaries and critical opinion makers immediately after the comprehensive peace accord to quell enmity and settle the underlying issues of the ten-year-long armed conflict in Nepal. Credit goes to Dr. Poorna Kant Adhikari and Bishnu Bhusal for coordinating and organising such events in Nepal. William Ury has devoted his life to help people, organisations, and nations transform conflicts around the world. He has provided his expertise as a negotiator in many of the toughest disputes of our times. He has served as a negotiation adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from US partisan battles to wars in the Middle East, Colombia, Korea, and Ukraine. 

Different jurisdictions

Getting to Yes that William Ury co-authored with late Roger Fisher lent important ideas and won quick popularity in this country too. Today, it has been used as a key handy material in conflict mediation and negotiation trainings in different jurisdictions across the world. . The core messages in Getting to Yes constitute the widely appreciated fundamentals of the curriculum for mediation training defined and standardised, among others, by Mediation Council – the regulatory and accrediting authority for mediation embodied in the mediation act of Nepal. Needless to say, the core tips undergirding Getting to Yes include as to how to  separate the people  from the problems,  focus on interests not positions, work together to create options that satisfy disputing parties and negotiate successfully  with people or parties who are more powerful and refuse to play by the rules or resort to dirty tricks. 

In the same way, another popular book by William Ury which is used as a practical guide in negotiation is Getting Past No, which offers a proven breakthrough strategy for turning adversaries into negotiating partners. The book fills with practically tested tips to deal with tough times, tough people, and tough negotiations. In this book, he offers key messages to secure what is known as breakthrough negotiation especially in intractable conflicts. Breakthrough negotiation, according to Ury, is the opposite of imposing one’s own position on the other side. 

Rather than pounding in a new idea from the outside, it is effective to encourage the adversary to reach for it from within. Rather than telling the adversary what to do it is better to let them figure it out by themselves. Rather than pressuring the adversary to change their mind, it is better to create an environment in which the adversary can learn and break through their own resistance. He writes further “the adversary’s resistance to joint problem solving stems from such barriers as anger, negative emotions and so on. Ury advises that to engage in joint problem solving, it is necessary to gain mental balance and stay focused on achieving on what is intended.      

Likewise, Ury has, of late,  authored  two seminal books that carry titles Getting to Yes with Yourself  and  Path to possible to thrive in age of conflict. In our homes, workplaces, and around the world, devastating disagreements are poisoning our relationships and paralysing our ability to discuss critical issues. But conflict doesn’t have to be negative and destructive. In fact, Ury demonstrates how constructive conflict negotiation can open up a world of possibilities. In his book   Path to Possible, Ury defines actionable new framework to approach conflict with curiosity, creativity and collaboration.

True needs

In his yet another book Getting to Yes With Yourself, Ury has pointed out that the great impediments to successful agreements and productive relationships is actually the person himself or herself. The natural tendency that every one of us possesses is to react in ways that does not serve our true needs and interests. He emphasises on the need first to learn to understand and influence oneself. This can then contributes to lay ground work for understanding and influencing others in resolving disputes. In this book William Ury draws on his personal and professional experiences from negotiating conflicts around the world to present  a practical method to help the person to get yes to oneself  significantly improving ones own ability to get to yes with others. 

In fact, according to Ury, Getting to Yes with Yourself prepares the way for getting to yes with others. The famous book, referred at the onset of this article and widely used as a seminal resource material on conflict negotiation, is about changing the outer game of negotiation, while Getting to Yes with Yourself is about changing the inner game so that outer game can be changed. According to Ury, human being are reaction machines. It is only natural to blame others and reject when rejected. However, getting to yes oneself may be challenging but it is most rewarding in negotiating settlement of conflicts. These conflict negotiation literatures are very useful in the wider contexts of federal Nepal where conflicts occur in public and private realm.   

(The author is presently associated with Policy Research Institute (PRI) as a senior research fellow. rijalmukti@gmail.com)