#721: Master Negotiator William Ury — Proven Strategies and Amazing Stories from Warren Buffett, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong Un, Hugo Chávez, and More

William Ury, cofounder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, is one of the world’s best-known experts on negotiation. He is coauthor of Getting to Yes, the all-time best selling negotiation book in the world; the author of one of my favorite books on negotiation (Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations); and author of the new book: Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict. Please enjoy! Timestamps for this episode are available below. Sponsors: Helix Sleep premium mattresses: https://helixsleep.com/tim (25% off all mattress orders and two free pillows) AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://drinkag1.com/tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase.) Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business: https://www.shopify.com/tim (Start for free, then get your first 3 months for $1/mo.) Timestamps: [00:00] Start [06:53] Connecting with Roger Fisher. [10:08] Devising Seminars. [12:31] Negotiating the Camp David Accords. [18:23] Writing the other side's victory speech. [21:17] Writing Kim Jong-un's victory speech. [26:20] Pondering possibilities in the modern Middle East. [29:26] Lessons from iconic possibilist Nelson Mandela. [32:17] Going to the balcony. [36:11] Mitigating the risk of emotional spiraling with Hugo Chávez. [40:50] The power of silence. [44:09] Respect and saving face. [51:08] Best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA). [1:02:49] The trust menu. [1:06:29] The positive no. [1:12:14] Closing on a positive note. [1:14:56] What prompted William to write Possible? [1:19:38] Negotiating as a creative endeavor. [1:22:48] Sabbatical considerations. [1:23:56] Exercise and self-care routines. [1:29:27] Uncovering interests, not just positions. [1:35:18] Hopes for the impact of Possible. [1:37:25] Parting thoughts. * Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2024/02/13/william-ury/ For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast. For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday. For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts. Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books. Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss  Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.