Creating Option C

One of my favorite authors, Lawrence Susskind, father of the Consensus Building Institute, wrote a blog yesterday about "winning in a win-win context." Apparently it is the theme for his new book, which I just added to my reading list, and refers to the idea that negotiators always do best when they are invested in the success of their counterparts across the table - even if they aren't versed in or prepared to do "Principled Negotiation."  The notion of prevailing in a negotiation seems to have gotten under the skin of some win-win purists, but I agree with Susskind that they should go back and re-read Getting to Yes, the classic work that describes the method and process for creating new options to satisfy all parties.  There's nothing wrong with winning. There is a problem with forcing the others to lose.  Link to his response here.

These guys are the masters of Creating Option C and Professor Susskind's new book is a good excuse for me to revisit two of my favorites:

Breaking Robert's Rules: The New Way to Run Your Meeting, Build Consensus, and Get Results by Lawrence E. Susskind

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Robert's Rules probably helped large deliberative bodies make decisions together back in the 19th Century when they were developed, but this system for managing meetings is highly inappropriate for a group of eight volunteers working to plan a community event in 2014.  So why does nearly every non-profit organization embed a reference to Robert's Rules in their bylaws?  Habit.  Not knowing how else to do it. Somebody in the group liked how another group's structure worked and they attribute it to Robert's Rules. The lawyer said we should. Whatever the reason... Professor Susskind has a better way.  If you serve on any kind of board or committee, run to the nearest bookstore and pick this one up.  Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

My summary for this one is six pages long because it contains a four-page chart outlining the essential steps of consensus building. Download it for free with a quick click here.

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Here's a great read for anyone who has ever found themselves locked in a battle of wills they didn't ask for, who is simply trying (from their own perspective) to get another to accept what is fair or right.  The book was a best seller in its day, and is now a classic from the Harvard Negotiation Project.  Accessible, practical, and clear, Getting to Yes provides the step-by-step how-to of negotiation for those who have no interest in playing hardball.  But also for those who don't want to cave in just to maintain a relationship with the person on the other side.  It's a process for win-win, and it works.

Click here to download a two-page summary written by me!

I reserve the five-star rating for books that changed my life, and Getting to Yes certainly qualifies.  The name of my consulting business, Creative Option C, expresses my highest value in organizational development, the idea that there is always a way to create an option that works for everybody.  The "A" people don't have to defeat the "B" people to get their way... they have to work with the "B" people to invent a new option that everyone loves.  When both are committed to the relationship, and when they work a tried-and-true process, they can always, always, always succeed.  Fisher and Ury gave us the process back in 1981. 

This book is worth going to again and again.  I recommend it to one and all.  In fact, I am taking 13 copies of it to meeting tomorrow.