Negotiation Training

Everyone negotiates; some do it well and some badly. There are lots of books on how to negotiate, which is well-developed in our culture because it is necessary for business. Here are two we particularly recommend.

A good place to start is Getting to Yes, a book by Roger Fisher and others of the Harvard Negotiation Project. Their system is strong at finding options for mutual gain. But sometimes that’s not possible, as when only one can win a promotion or an election.

The best overall negotiation book we know is Getting More, by Stuart Diamond, based on his popular negotiation class at The Wharton School of business in Philadelphia. To decide whether to spend the time and money (currently $12 for the paperback, plus $4 for delivery as of October 2026), you can read pages 1-19 of chapter 1 free on Amazon.com, even if you don’t have any Amazon account (on the book listing, click "Read sample"; but the free sample on the Kindle version has larger type, much easier to read).

Some of the book’s examples may look silly - why put effort into small issues like getting recourse for a mediocre restaurant meal that didn't meet the ad's explicit promise? But the author is teaching business students, and encourages them to practice and learn when the stakes are small - instead of making beginner mistakes later at work, which might cost an important deal, job, or promotion.

Needed now: a separate document on negotiating with or otherwise dealing with robots, including the coming flood of agents.