Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It

Many of the techniques discussed in Never Split the Difference rest on generalized psychological models of human behavior, implying that the same principles of negotiation can be used in personal, political, and professional situations, as well as across cultural boundaries. Is that a safe assumption? Are there any techniques that might require adaptation under certain circumstances? Find evidence from the book to support your conclusion.

After the first, each chapter deals with one main principle of negotiation. Considering the book’s overall structure, why might Voss and Raz have ordered the chapters as they did? You might consider how the ideas in each chapter connect to adjacent chapters.

Voss defends his techniques against allegations that they are manipulative by separating them from the outcomes that they are used to support. Should Voss’s techniques be considered amoral (existing outside of moral categorization), or is it possible to raise legitimate concerns about manipulative strategies? Which strategies may be problematic? As you draft your response, consider citing a philosopher or ethicist of your choice.

Voss disagrees with the US federal government’s choice not to negotiate with terrorists (see Chapter 10, Page 232). Drawing on principles in his book, consider why he might hold that opinion. Are there any circumstances under which Voss would likely refuse to negotiate at all?

While many of the principles Voss discusses can only be applied in face-to-face negotiation, some can be used in textual forms of persuasion, even in a book. Write an essay exploring how Voss’s text embodies—or perhaps diverges from—the principles of negotiation he encourages readers to use.

Although Never Split the Difference is not a literary text in the traditional sense, Voss and Raz do employ a variety of literary devices, particularly anecdotes. Select and analyze any one anecdote as a literary artifact, identifying any additional literary devices, then demonstrate how those devices contribute to the anecdote’s overall purpose and function in the text.

Portrayals of negotiation in film and TV may differ from how similar scenarios play out in real life. Using the principles in Never Split the Difference as a standard, evaluate one sequence from a movie or TV show in which two or more characters negotiate with one another. Write an essay considering how Voss might respond to the sequence in question, including any feedback he might provide to the participants.

Near the end of the book Voss encourages readers to “embrace regular, thoughtful conflict as the basis of effective negotiation—and of life” (242). In what ways is negotiation at the heart of a meaningful life, according to Voss? Which principles, anecdotes, and examples from the text support this claim?