Its conciseness is deceptive. The concepts expressed are profound. For example, I cannot count the number of clients to whom I have explained the concept of BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement, i.e. what you do if the negotiations fail) before we head into a session of mediation or other negotiation. I have reread this book several times at widely spaced intervals and have found it better than I remembered each time.

I think this particular book is also much more helpful to those who participate in negotiations that are less structured than labor or arms negotiations that are highly choreographed than was _Getting to Yes_, which at times seemed to assume that all players in the negotiation would be using the same text.


Impasse Blockbusting   January 26, 2003
 43 out of 46 found this review helpful

In his superb book, William Ury builds on the pricipals first put forth in his first book with Roger Fisher, "Getting To Yes." In "Getting Past No" Ury discusses the nuances and niceties of negotiating using a joint problem solving approach which is "interest based" rather than being "rights based" or "power based." Ury explains that the challenge is to convert a confrontational situation to a cooperative creative problem solving process, that integrates the parties in a negotiation into a cooperative mode, that results in the best long term agreements.

The specific wonder of this book, is its focus on what to do, when you don't know how to get past a problem. Ury calls his method the "Breakthrough Strategy" and is virtually totally as applicable for mediators as it is for negotiators. In fact, several times, Ury mentions that a mediator may assist the process.

Simply put, Ury contends that there are basically 5 things that one needs to do to preserve smooth negotiations and to break through an impasse if it occurs. He calls these 'steps' by the following designations: "Go To The Balcony", "Step To Their Side", "Reframe", "Build Them A Golden Bridge" and "Use Power To Educate." These simple concepts are extremely useful tools for negotiators and mediators alike.

There is no disappointment in this book. The approach and the writing style are just superb. Once again, the Harvard Group, especially William Ury, have produced a book that anyone can gain from and is almost a must for those in dispute resolution and negotiation on a day to day basis.


The 2nd Best Book on Negotiation   April 25, 2001
 28 out of 30 found this review helpful

I thing "Getting to Yes" is the best book on negotiation in the market. It sets the outline. "Getting Past No" shows how to win difficult partner over the way you think. As in "Getting to Yes", Ury uses successfully a 5 step method for his method called "breakthrough negotiation".

1) Don't react 2) Disarm them 3) change the game 4) Make it easy to say YES 5) Make it hard to say NO

5 excellent steps in winning over a reluctant negotiation partner. Simple and clear steps that can have a great impact.

Getting Past No stands on its own. You don't need to have read Getting to Yes to understand and appreciate this one. Only do I love to go back to the basics of negotiation over and over, and their is for me no supplement to Getting to Yes.

#4 of my Top 10 Books on Negotiation   January 8, 1998
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

Sometimes I'm tempted to tell people to bypass Getting to Yes and just go straight to this spin-off. It imparts the same essence of mutual-gains negotiation, and additionally includes lessons in good basic strategy for dealing with others' negotiation tactics, tricks, and attacks. While Getting to Yes gives you the foundation of principle-centered negotiation, this book focuses on what to do when that principle-centered negotiation breaks down due to the other side's deceitful, confused, or just plain difficult behavior. If this were a sales book, it would be called something like "Dealing with Sales Objections," but as a negotiation book, it's even more effective: It addresses ways of identifying and dealing with common barriers we all face when trying to strike deals.

Getting Past No has the same concise, pithy style as Getting to Yes, which makes the tactics sound a lot simpler than they prove to be when you try to put them into practice. But as an analysis of difficult negotiation and as a general roadmap to the land of "Don't get mad, don't get even, get what you want!", it really can't be beat.


The greatest book on negotiation, conflicts and life   June 28, 2000
 18 out of 22 found this review helpful

This book should be a must-read for anybody interested or involved not only in negotiation, but also in business, conflicts, diplomacy and interactions between people.

It is several years ago I read the book the first time, but still every week, if not very day, I find use for its principles.

This book along with Frank Bettger's classic on selling have proved to be the most important all-purpose books to my life and career.