Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight Paperback – April 12, 2011

I just read this book with my book club and, unanimously, it was a hit. The story format was incredibly engaging and effective, and I learned a process and skills which will be useful at work and in life.Among members of my book club, one said that she loved "every" chapter. A couple members have MBAs, have read other books on negotiation and found the stories a useful, interesting and vivid way to present points on negotiation. This book helped two others directly by encouraging them to reach out and/or analyze before reacting emotionally (i.e. utilize Spock): one manages many people, and faced a frustruating situation to which she was going to respond immediately. Instead, she solicited opinions from each member of her group first, and made a different, and what she considered better, decision. She said that she wouldn't have done that had she not just read this book, and appreciated the advice. Another is a high-level professional involved in a difficult political situation at work. She's been quietly looking for another job (for a variety of other reasons, too). She said that this book caused her to step back, analyze her value and contribution, and plan to negotiate first.The group really liked the WW2 and Mandela chapters and the juxtaposition of the situations. I found these and the S.F. Symphony chapter the most interesting. I also enjoyed IBM vs. Fujitsu chapter with Mnookin's creative solution. The Divorce and Sibling chapters were great for showing the traps, and are quite relatable (happily not immediately!)Overall, this was a surprisingly fun read, with the bonus of a first-rate education in negotiation.

The cases tend to be wordy and not too straight to the point but the book achieves to apply the proposed framework with real life cases.

This is a staple of any good book collection, it provides me with a reference to guide me in difficult situations… the bottom line is I’m forever changed in my interactions, and difficult situations because of this book. I should read this book over and over again, I’m sure there is a lot that I missed.

I wish I read this book years ago. It is a quick read but there is so much information in it. The author has a sense of humor but his experience is very telling. It's one of the few times I've highlighted sections

Mnookin begins Bargaining with the Devil with the important and timely question of whether you should negotiate with parties you view as evil and uncompromising, and ends with the simple and commonsensical answer: "Not always, but more often than you feel like it."For examples of negotiating with "evil," Mnookin divides the book into "global devils," "business devils," and "family devils." In the section on global devils, Mnookin explains why he thinks Rudolf Kasztner was right to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann, why Winston Churchill was right not to negotiate with Hitler, and why Nelson Mandela was right to negotiate with the apartheid regime in South Africa. In the other two sections, Mnookin draws on his experience as a mediator and relates more difficult but successful mediations involving IBM v. Fujitsu, the San Francisco symphony, and family law disputes.While Mnookin's political examples are well-researched and interesting in revealing the details of the decision-making process of the various actors, and while his examples of difficult business and domestic mediations exhibit him as an adept and successful mediator, conspicuously lacking from the book are developed or detailed theories or principles of negotiation that weave the examples together. As a result, the book seems forced and fails to come together as a whole.Praiseworthy for its ambitious topic and call for conflict resolution, Bargaining with the Devil remains worth reading. But the book's lesson also remains simple: Don't demonize your opponent or overly-moralize your own position or you may end up worse off.If you're looking for a detailed book on theories and strategies of negotiation, you should look elsewhere, like to Mnookin's own Beyond Winning or Fisher's Getting to Yes.Ryan VlasakBracamontes & Vlasak, P.C.

I now have a great insight on negotiation.

Business books tend to approach subjects in a way that is textbook and not necessarily how things really happen. This one goes a long way towards bridging that gap but does tend to forget that not everything goes according to plan all of the time. The reality of the situation is that negotiating, especially with "The Devil" often requires a much more aggressive approach than what authors wish to advocate.

The author provides examples, from business, politics and war, of conflicts between opponents who start out demonizing each other and then find, or fail to find, common pathways to resolution. The book is a plea for restraint of initial impulses to fight - in court or on the battlefield - while each side puts itself in the other side's place to figure out what concessions can reasonably be expected.The section about Nelson Mandela is for me the centerpiece of the book. The story of his heroic endurance through years of imprisonment, his deep understanding of his opponents, and his skill at negotiating while balancing passion and thoughtful restraint, mark him as one of the truly great figures of history. I am grateful to Mr.Mnookin for teaching me so much more about this remarkable man than I already knew.

This book is just marvelous. It illustrates negotiations in three different environments (politics, corporate, and family matters). Very easy to read. After reading the book you can see why Mnookin is the guru of negotiation.

N'apporte rien, juste des histoires.

I'm new ti negotiation and needed some help for daily basic negotiation techniques with not really friendly people. I must say that this book is helping me, both to approach the negotiation and get with it.

Good book

This is not the typical book about negotiation techniques. Although it goes through some basic tips about negotiation, its main focus is about negotiating in difficult situations and with irrational counterparts, giving brilliant historical examples.