The Power of a Positive No

Bill Ury was one of the authors of the most important book in the negotiation field – Getting to Yes written more than 30 years ago. It challenged the win-lose model of negotiation that prevailed at the time. Bill and his partners Roger Fisher and Bruce Patton made it clear that we not only need to get agreement, when one is possible given the underlying interests of the parties, we also need to know how to defend our own interests in the face of inside and outside pressure. 

One of the reviewers of The Power of a Positive No said… show more.

To get by with less, we must learn to say no to more. It is a path where we say yes to the planet, to our relationships, to ourselves. That means just about everything else must be met with a no — whether that be unnecessary materialistic gifts or demands on our time or resources. This is the book that taught me how to do that with grace while maintaining my personal and professional relationships.

Harvard’s William Ury is one of the world’s leading experts in negotiation. He has developed this no-fail formula based on decades of research in the… show more.