#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 .