Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

by Chris Voss

“[I]t is self-evident that people are neither fully rational nor completely selfish, and that their tastes are anything but stable.”

It was a reminder to my colleagues and me that until you know what you’re dealing with, you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

“No deal is better than a bad deal.”

That’s why negotiation is often called “the art of letting someone else have your way.”

you have to be willing to walk away. Never be needy for a deal.

the most vital principle to keep in mind is never to look at your counterpart as an enemy.

“You fall to your highest level of preparation,”

Prepare, prepare, prepare. When the pressure is on, you don’t rise to the occasion; you fall to your highest level of preparation.

Set boundaries, and learn to take a punch or punch back, without anger. The guy across the table is not the problem; the situation is.

Remember, never be so sure of what you want that you wouldn’t take something better.

People who expect more (and articulate it) get more.