Book Review: No by Jim Camp

I've seen plenty books on business and writing, but this is one of the rare times I'd rate a title a must read. That isn't because the writing is so exemplary (though it's decent enough), but because you need to hear what it says. No: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home is about negotiation strategy and theory as described by someone who has been teaching and conducting negotiation successfully for large businesses for 20 years.

The title is striking and a deliberate contrast to the word yes, evoking the image of "Getting to Yes" and other win/win-based negotiation strategies. Camp argues that long-standing approach to negotiation actually leads to terrible negotiations. It's not that Camp suggests a take-no-prisoners attitude. On the contrary, he argues that a negotiation is a deal that any participant has the right to veto. That's the key - being able to say no to something that really doesn't work for you, and being able to hear no from the other party.

Win/win strategies can develop an unconscious premise that you must work out a deal - that both sides have to compromise. Therefore, you go into a negotiation ready and even determined to compromise, even if you don't need to. I had always thought of myself as negotiating in this style, but when I read Camp's book, I realized that it's not the case. Perhaps that's why I have taken so strongly to this book - it reflects my own experiences, including the need to be able to walk away from a deal, not appearing needy, understanding that you don't need to be liked by the other party, and recognizing your own value and not compromising on that.

Camp's emphasis is to take the emotion out of negotiation and, instead, to work from a reasoned approach based on sophisticated communication (like putting things in a way that speak to the other party's experience) and strong personal purpose. To his mind, almost everything is negotiation, including sales, and he has some interesting and, I think, valid views, like focusing on the process of what you are doing and not trying to control outcomes that you have no power over. An example is the sales person looking only at a quota and not realizing that sames come as a result of right selling effort, and to improve and expand the effort will, in and of itself, improve the results.

The book, just out in June, is going for as little as under $13 at Amazon. This will be one of the best and cheapest investments you can make in your career.