NO
The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home
By: Jim Camp
Published: June 19, 2007
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
ISBN-10: 0307345742
ISBN-13: 978-0307345745
Publisher: Crown Business
"In order to understand the power of "no", you must first understand that "no" rejects the compromise- and assumption-driven reigning paradigm in negotiation today", writes renowned negotiation coach and founder of the Camp Negotiation Institute (CNI), Jim Camp, in his results oriented and revolutionary book NO: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home. The author describes why receiving no as a response to a negotiation proposal is liberating in its honesty and as a true beginning to the real process of reaching an agreement.
Jim Camp understands that most people want to hear a yes in their negotiations. For Jim Camp, that yes sought after by most negotiators is precisely the worst response a negotiator can hear from the other side. Instead, the author considers a no reaction to be the best response. The counter-intuitive concept that hearing a no is the best answer to a proposed offer is the basis of Jim Camp's system. The concept of a no actually protects the negotiator from dangerous and unsupported assumptions of the other side's needs and objectives. The no prevents making unilateral and unnecessary concessions to the other side. Jim Camp calls seeking compromise and yes based negotiations fear based negotiating resulting from a fear of not getting a deal made.
Jim Camp (photo left) proposes an alternative negotiating system that removes the fear and other emotions from the process. The author points out that emotionally based negotiators make assumptions about what the other side wants and will do in the negotiation process. For Jim Camp, this is not only wrongheaded but dangerous as it can easily result in disastrous concessions being made to appease the other person. These unasked for concessions are not likely to make any positive difference, and are much more likely to lead to other demands. The next steps in that emotion based negotiation are usually disastrous, according to Jim Camp.
For Jim Camp, using his no-based system removes the dangers posed by emotion and needless concessions. The author believes firmly that anything from multi-million dollar transactions to parent-child relations can be negotiated successfully with his system. The no response removes the emotion from the negotiation process. Instead of letting emotion and fear induced compromises take over the negotiations, Jim Camp recommends a series of good decisions. The author also reminds the reader that the negotiation is not about you. It is about them. The no removes the neediness to make a deal, or any deal regardless of the concessions.
For me, the power of the book is how Jim Camp describes the problems associated with the usual negotiation process. The author dispels the myths of tactics and techniques as being counter-productive and dangerous. At the same time, Jim Camp emphasizes the need for a decision based system, as opposed to an assumption, fear, and emotions based foray into the unknown. Jim Camp outlines his system for utilizing a series of decisions as the basis for successful negotiations.
Receiving an no response is the start of the real negotiating process, and it frees the negotiator from emotion and neediness to make a deal of some sort. With Jim Camp's system, the would be negotiator is ready to prepare their vision of a deal and act upon it rationally without fear. The end result of applying the repeatable system is better and more satisfying negotiation outcomes.
I highly recommend the essential and paradigm changing book NO: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home by Jim Camp, to anyone seeking a no nonsense and straight talking book book on the reality of negotiations, and the critical importance of utilizing a system based on a series of good decisions. Readers of this book will no longer look at a no response as the end, but as the true beginning of real negotiations. Instead of negotiating in a fear based mode, you will be better prepared to make good decisions that will lead to a superior agreement in both your professional and personal life.
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