Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton
Contents
7 What If They Won’t Play? - (Use Negotiation jujitsu)
Overview
The chapter answers how to proceed when counterparts cling to positional bargaining or attack you. It prescribes negotiation jujitsu—sidestepping resistance to refocus on interests, options, and objective criteria—and, if needed, the one-text mediation procedure. A detailed landlord–tenant case demonstrates specific phrases and moves that shift a hostile negotiation to a fair agreement.
Summary
The chapter begins by confronting a common impasse: you seek to discuss interests, options, and standards, but the other side clings to positions or attacks. It outlines three approaches: persist with principled negotiation, apply negotiation jujitsu to redirect resistance, or engage a third party using a one-text process.
Negotiation jujitsu rejects pushback. Instead of rejecting positions, look behind them for interests and principles; instead of defending your ideas, invite criticism and advice to improve them; and when attacked personally, let the other side vent, then reframe the attack as a concern about the problem. The chapter stresses asking questions over making statements and leveraging silence to draw out answers and proposals.
When bilateral efforts stall, the one-text procedure lets a neutral (or a participant acting neutrally) gather interests, draft a proposal, solicit criticisms, and iteratively refine a single text until it can be recommended for a yes/no decision. Examples include a mediator-architect harmonizing a couple’s house plans and historical multilateral uses, highlighting reduced decision complexity and avoidance of positional entrenchment.
A detailed landlord–tenant case shows the method in action. Tenant Frank Turnbull discovers a rent-control overcharge and meets a hostile Mrs. Jones. He uses principled language—seeking correction of facts, expressing appreciation, anchoring on fairness and independent standards, separating trust from substance, asking questions, summarizing her reasons, pausing to consult, presenting reasons before a proposal, and outlining consequences if they agree or disagree. By inviting criticism and acknowledging her interests (timing of move-out), Turnbull shifts the tone from accusation to problem-solving.
The process culminates in Mrs. Jones agreeing to reimburse the overcharge and in arranging a convenient move-out, with both sides preserving the relationship. The chapter concludes that principled negotiation, reinforced by jujitsu and, if necessary, one-text mediation, can bring unwilling counterparts into a cooperative frame.
Who Appears
- Frank TurnbullTenant who applies principled negotiation and jujitsu to secure reimbursement for rent overcharge.
- Mrs. JonesLandlord initially hostile and positional, later agrees to reimburse and part amicably.
- PaulTurnbull’s roommate; referenced constituency and co-tenant affected by overcharge.
- Architect (mediator role)Third party using one-text procedure to reconcile spouses’ interests in house design.
- HusbandHouse-design negotiator; exemplifies positional bargaining before one-text mediation.
- WifeHouse-design negotiator; shifts from positional plan to critiquing a single evolving draft.
- Teachers’ representativeIllustrative negotiator asking interest-based questions in a pay and layoff dispute.
- School board chairmanIllustrative counterpart; falters under silence when questioned about layoff policy.
- President Gamal Abdel NasserIllustrative example; reaction reveals impracticality of a maximalist position.
- American lawyer interviewerProbes Nasser with hypotheticals to expose consequences of an unrealistic demand.