Born at Harvard in the 1980s with the book *Getting to Yes* by Roger Fisher and William Ury, principled negotiation is today the global benchmark. Its central idea: step out of the tug-of-war ("me against you") to tackle the problem together. Here are its 5 principles, with no jargon.
1. Separate the people from the problem
A disagreement is not a personal attack. Handle the relationship with care and the substance with firmness. To understand the other side without giving ground, reframing is your best tool. *The mirroring technique · Tactical empathy*
2. Focus on interests, not positions
A position is what the other side is asking for ("£50,000"). An interest is *why* ("to protect my cash flow"). Two positions clash; two interests can be combined. Ask the question "why does that matter to you?".
3. Invent options for mutual gain
Before you divide the cake, make it bigger. Generate as many possible solutions as you can (timescales, guarantees, volumes, services) before making a call. Reciprocity builds trust. *The give-and-take technique*
4. Insist on objective criteria
When interests genuinely collide, don't give in to the most stubborn party: settle it with an external standard (market price, expert opinion, the law, precedent). Nobody "loses" against a fact. *The objective criteria technique*
5. Know your BATNA
Your BATNA, the *Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement*, is your plan B if the negotiation breaks down. It is the BATNA, not your eloquence, that measures your real power. Improve it before you even sit down at the table. *The BATNA technique*
Put it into practice: describe your situation in the library and get the techniques that fit, or train on the AI simulator.
FAQ
What is a BATNA?
It is your best option if no agreement is reached: another supplier, another job offer, the possibility of walking away. The stronger your BATNA, the more freely you can turn down a bad deal, and so the harder you can negotiate. The first step in a Harvard-style negotiation is to put an honest figure on it.
Does the Harvard method work against an aggressive negotiator?
Yes, provided you don't let yourself be dragged onto their turf. You answer an attack not with a counter-attack, but with a question ("what makes you say that?") and by returning to objective criteria. This is what Fisher and Ury call "negotiation jujitsu": using the other side's energy rather than blocking it.
