Developed by Lawrence Susskind and colleagues at the Consensus Building Institute (Breaking the Impasse, with Jeffrey Cruikshank, 1987; Dealing with an Angry Public, with Patrick Field, 1996), extending Roger Fisher and William Ury (1981).
A five-step negotiation process (prepare, create value, distribute value, follow through, and learn) in which parties invent joint options before anyone claims a share.
When to reach for it
Three or more parties with ongoing ties who must reach an agreement that still has to hold up through implementation, such as a restructuring or partnership.
How it runs
- Prepare: clarify each party's interests, alternatives, priorities, and authority.
- Create value: develop options jointly before anyone claims a share.
- Distribute value with objective criteria and trades across issues.
- Write monitoring, contingencies, and renegotiation triggers into the deal.
- Debrief afterward and carry the lessons forward.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Breaking the Impasse: Consensual Approaches to Resolving Public Disputes, Basic Books, 1987
- Dealing with an Angry Public: The Mutual Gains Approach to Resolving Disputes, Free Press, 1996
- Getting to Yes, 1981