Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond
By Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman
Bantam 2007
A new exploration of the negotiation process is put forth by Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman in Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. The authors view negotiation as the most viable process available for allocating resources, addressing competing interests, and resolving disputes. In fact, the authors characterize negotiation as “an essential skill for success in all areas of life.”
Negotiation Genius contends that negotiation is not all art and devoid of science; it offers a systematic approach predicated upon research derived from the experiences of thousands of clients and executive students. The authors assert that their approach, which they refined in the MBA and executive education courses they teach at the Harvard Business School, provides a framework that will allow the reader to experience acceptable negotiated outcomes on a regular basis.
Interestingly, the authors strive to dispel the overly simplistic notion that effective negotiation is nothing more than reaching “win-win agreements.” They argue that in contemporary complex negotiations, which may involve multiple parties, a high level of uncertainty, and a potential for litigation, it may not be possible to determine what “win-win” means.
This new exploration of the negotiation process offers a negotiator’s toolkit, considers the psychology of negotiation and even addresses when not to negotiate. It is a practical, substantive guide to contemporary negotiating.
Other books that address the negotiation process often fail to provide the reader with strategies that are appropriate for contemporary challenges such as deception, irrationality, and anger. In Negotiation Genius, Malhotra and Bazerman do not hesitate to consider such challenges and offer practical strategies that they have proven effective.
The reader should find this book to be of real value because it imparts invaluable skills that can be learned and practiced.
