Negotiation glossary
What is Principled negotiation?
Published 8 October 2026 · 2 min read
Principled negotiation is the method described by Roger Fisher and William Ury in Getting to Yes (1981). It rests on four principles: separate the people from the problem, focus on interests rather than positions, invent options for mutual gain, and insist on objective criteria, with your BATNA as the safety net.
Principled negotiation decides issues on their merits, not through a contest of will. Roger Fisher and William Ury of the Harvard Negotiation Project described it in Getting to Yes (1981) as an alternative to both hard bargaining and soft, relationship-first concessions.
The four principles
| Principle | What it means | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Separate the people from the problem | Deal with emotions and relationships apart from the substance | Acknowledge frustration, then return to the issue |
| Focus on interests, not positions | Look for the needs behind each demand | "Why is that date important to you?" |
| Invent options for mutual gain | Generate several solutions before deciding | Put two or three packages on the table |
| Insist on objective criteria | Use standards neither side controls | Market data, published bands, comparable deals |
The book adds a safety net: know your BATNA, the term it introduced, so that you never accept a deal worse than your alternative.
An example
A landlord asks for a 23 percent rent increase. A positional reply argues the number down. A principled reply asks what the increase is based on, proposes to use the rents of three comparable buildings as the reference, and explores what the landlord needs (a longer lease to cover two empty floors). The final agreement uses the comparable rents for the price and a five-year lease for the landlord's interest.
Where it helps, and where it is not enough
It works well when there are several issues and an ongoing relationship, which is where integrative negotiation creates value. When there is one issue and a one-off deal, the negotiation stays largely distributive; objective criteria then become the main tool to keep the division fair.
Common misreadings
- "Principled means soft." It is firm on interests and criteria, only soft on people
- "Never make a first offer." The book does not say that; it says to justify offers with criteria
- "Everything can be win-win." Some value still has to be divided; the method says how to divide it fairly
Negosim's AI counterparts defend positions and hidden interests at the same time, which makes them a practical place to train the interest-based questions this method relies on.
Related terms
- BATNA: Your BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) is the best option you already have if this negotiation ends without a deal. Any agreement worse than your BATNA should be refused; any agreement better than it is worth considering.
- Integrative negotiation: Integrative negotiation is an approach where the parties look for agreements that make both better off, by putting several issues on the table and trading what is cheap for one against what is valuable for the other. It contrasts with distributive negotiation, where a single fixed amount is divided.
- Distributive negotiation: Distributive negotiation is bargaining over a fixed quantity, typically a price, where whatever one side gains the other loses. It is sometimes called win-lose or positional bargaining; the tools that decide it are the anchor, the pace of concessions and each side's walk-away point.