Getting to Yes Book Discussion Kick-Off

Fisher and Ury's book Getting to Yes offers a win-win negotiation model (when possible). The book makes the following points:

Negotiation is a way to settle differences. There are ways to make it easier. There are principles to start with:

1. DON'T bargain over POSITIONS
2. Separate the PEOPLE from the PROBLEM
3. Focus on INTERESTS not positions
4. Invent OPTIONS for mutual gain
5. Insist on using OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.
6. Develop or determine your BATNA (Best Alternative to No Agreement).

Right off the bat I got one key point from the book: If possible negotiate HOW you're going to negotiate before you negotiate WHAT you're going to negotiate. What do you think?

There are four pressures impacting any negotiations: Power, time, knowledge and leverage. How does the book address these? Specifically:

POWER - How does BATNA address power?

TIME - Traditionally, 90 per cent of negotiation occurs in the last 10 per cent of time. Will this book's techniques mean better use of time? For you? For the other party?

KNOWLEDGE - A lot of negotiation seems to be, "You show me yours - then I'll show you mine". How does this book view knowledge? In this book, is it knowledge or understanding that make the difference?

LEVERAGE - Can there be mutual leverage if negotiation is done by the book (this book)?

These are starter questions. Feel free to inject personal experiences that may apply to the above.

Thanks to Esther Camacho for facilitating our discussion of When Fish Fly.

Our next book will be the classic work on negotiation Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (ISBN 978-0395631249) by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton.

This discussion will be facilitated by Michael Fisher of the Weslaco Public Library. Our discussion of Getting to Yes will will be on May 18 to 31.

If you have not read this book yet, take the opportunity to read it and join in our discussion at the end of May.

When Fish Fly

Hello everyone, I’m your blogger for “When Fish Fly.” Before I get into this book, I want to apologize for my tardiness. Since I did not meet the deadline, my question to you is what were your internal conversations? Did you think…“She’s ruining it for all of us … She’s irresponsible ….She better not visit my library!” OR did you decide to change those negative internal conversations and make a world famous difference? This book is an extension of the previous book, Fish. John Yokoyama discusses the importance of having a vision, created by the team, and committing to that vision. World Famous Pike Place Fish employees decided to be world famous not by seeking personal fame, but by making a world famous difference to their customers and people that encountered by listening and choosing conversations that empower and create an environment for people to thrive and have great lives. They coach each other for greatness and create a culture of empowerment by merely changing their conversations: they suggest and recommend – not order. They see each problem as an opportunity to make a difference. They strive to listen with respect to everyone’s point of view so that the outcome is agreed by the team; thus, creating a positive impact on themselves and the people they encounter. John Yokoyama provides great examples of the situations he has encountered and turned them into opportunities to make a positive impact. Now that you have read the book, how are you going to make a world famous difference for yourself, your library and your community?

Next Discussion: When Fish Fly (March 18 - 31)

Many thanks to Bob Larremore for facilitating our blog discussion of Fish. The next book we will read is entitled When Fish Fly (ISBN 978-1401300616). It was written by John Yokoyama and Joseph Michelli. Yokoyama is the owner of the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market discussed in Fish.

Esther Camacho of Texas A&M University-Kingsville will be our facilitator for this discussion, which will take place on this blog between March 18 and 31, 2009.

Read the book and join our discussion.

Discussion of Fish Coming Up

As announced back in November 2008, Robert Larremore of Laredo Community College has agreed to facilitate a discussion of our next title, Fish. Our discussion of this title will take place between January 19 and January 30, 2009. It is a quick and interesting read for those who have not read it yet. Those who read it sometime ago might want to dust off their old copy and review it.

Below are the bibliographic details for the book:
Title: Fish
Authors: Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen
ISBN: 978-0786888825

About the District 4 Book Club

At the Texas Library Association Annual Assembly District 4 meeting in July 2008 members agreed to establish a District-wide book club focusing on management and leadership issues. We hope that this book club will provide District 4 members with a forum to stay informed about management and leadership trends. We also hope that the book club will serve as a forum for members to share ideas about common professional concerns.

The District 4 Leadership and Management Book Club operates as follows: Any member may volunteer to lead a discussion on a management/leadership title. Please contact a book club coordinator [Kate Horan (khoran@mcallen.net) or Jesús Campos (jcampos@weslacopl.us)] with your proposal. The book to be read is announced on this blog a couple of months prior to the discussion. The last two weeks of the month following the month when the book was announced is the period during which the online discussion takes place. The facilitator will begin the discussion with a question or comment and contributors will post their thoughts and observations to the blog for the benefit of the group. The facilitator will moderate and guide the discussion where appropriate.

In addition to our online discussion, we schedule an in-person Book Club meeting in conjunction with our Fall District meeting.

The book club began with a discussion through the TLA District 4 Members blog in October 2008 of Jim Collins' Good to Great and the Social Sectors. We also discussed this book at our Fall Meeting in November 2008. We have since moved the discussion to this blog location to make it more easily accessible to TLA District 4 members and others interested in participating.