Breakthrough Business Negotiation is a simple to read book by Michael Watkins, professor at Harvard Business School. Simple book means simple summary. Here are some worthy highlights:
- Build character in your employees, not just skill. This is particularly important when you start outsourcing your work.
- Professional buyers can lie, be wary.
- Hire attitude, train aptitude.
- Give folks a fair deal.
- Build company character instead of culture.
- Bonus tip: Differentiate between value adding cost vs non value adding cost.
Some useful proverbs to provoke your thoughts:
- It's useful to walk a mile in another shoes but you must first remove your own shoes.
- Every failure teaches you a lesson that could be the seed of the next great idea.
- Humor is an important factor for building an environment of trust and openness.