1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Zen and the Art of Negotiation, May 26 2004
I first heard, and heard of, Herb Cohen on the radio when Don Imus interviewed him one morning this past year. He sounded like a late great-uncle of mine: mild-mannered and self-effacing, with an endearing Yiddish-inflected speech pattern. (And the photo on the dust jacket reinforced this connection for me, although there's no facial resemblance.) But this "average schlub" -- my phrase, not his -- has been at the helm of some of the world's most tension-fraught negotiations in the last several decades. When you read "Negotiate This!", you can see why.
Most of my praise for this book would merely echo that left by others, but I did want to touch on two matters. To answer the two or three people who panned it: This isn't an instruction manual, nor is it meant to be, any more than a Zen ko'an is a detailed instruction on how to live life along the lines of shari'a. In fact, the title of this review typed above would have been a great alternative title for the book. If you want blow-by-blow instructions and nothing else, check out his earlier books or those written by others. This book tells you not only the *what*, but the *why* -- and is highly entertaining, too.
I noticed that only one other reviewer went into detail about Cohen's having tried to negotiate the Iranian hostage crisis on behalf of ex-president Jimmy Carter, or his experience in high-profile, high-stakes international negotiations in general. I think those in and of themselves are reason enough to read the book, even if you don't feel you could stand to brush up on your negotiating skills (though I can't imagine anyone who couldn't use a little such fine-tuning). As the other reviewer remarked, Cohen predicted long, long ago that we'd be having much more trouble with that part of the world in the future.
Needless to say, he was right. And his attempts to solve the hostage crisis were frustrated at every turn because "Dhimmi" Carter refused to play the game, out of both a pathological sense of "honor" -- Cohen doesn't use this word, but I got the sense that Carter considered hard-nosed wheeling and dealing beneath his dignity -- and his delusion that because the mullahs were of an "Abrahamic faith," we could appeal to their "better nature" (my phrase) rather than bargain as if we were in a souk or bazaar, as they expected us to all along. Cohen's version of the story echoes the frustrations of many of us today who see others in the West grossly underestimating the threat posed to us by Wahhabi Islam.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The master, playing the game with you while you read..., Feb 9 2004
Given some of the detailed comments of other reviewers, I won't go into too much detail in my review. However, it needs to be pointed out that Mr. Cohen applied his theories for negotiating to his book with quite a lot of success, to the point where you are convinced of what he's telling you. I want to clarify that I do not disagree with his strategies for negotiating: indeed, I think they work so well, it is hard to distance yourself from the book enough, to the point where you can realize that Cohen is a master at getting (most) people into buying into his ideas.
All in all, this is a book I highly recommend for readers of all types: the MBA type who's going through a Negotiation class, the manager who faces a tough face-to-face with someone (s)he needs to convince, the mother or the father who needs to talk the kids into something, or simply the casual reader "passing by" who feels like having a good time flying through the pages of this highly enjoyable and very useful book by one of the world's most respected negotiators. Otherwise, you can imagine how tough it can be to receive praise such as the one printed on the book's backcover, from the likes of Donald Trump, Mario Cuomo and Larry King.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
NEGOTIATE THIS HITS THE BULLSEYE, Dec 7 2003
By A Customer
Herb Cohen has given us an impressive book that is lively and readable. It's filled with realistic and amusing anecdotes that make his points come alive. Not only is this the best book ever written about negotiating but decades from now it will be regarded as a classic in psychology, sociology and the human condition. On the scale of 1 through5, "Negotiate This" is a six.
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