Never Split the Difference
Chris Voss & Tahl Raz
Chris Voss is renowned for his extensive career as a former FBI hostage negotiator and his expertise in international crisis and high-stakes negotiations. Born in 1957, Voss joined the FBI in the 1980s and eventually became the FBI's chief international hostage and kidnapping negotiator. His career involved dealing with challenging negotiation scenarios, including terrorist kidnappings and high-profile criminal confrontations, over which he developed a set of negotiation techniques that leverage human psychology to gain an advantage in negotiations.
After retiring from the FBI, Voss founded The Black Swan Group, a consulting firm that provides training and advises Fortune 500 companies through complex negotiations. He has also shared his expertise as a negotiation instructor at leading universities and through various public speaking engagements. Voss's approach to negotiation emphasizes emotional intelligence, empathy, and the use of tactical empathy to understand and influence one's counterpart.
Tahl Raz is an author, journalist, and corporate speaker known for his work on business, innovation, and personal growth. Raz has contributed to various publications and has been involved in several best-selling projects that explore the themes of success in the modern world. His work often focuses on providing actionable insights and strategies that can be applied to improve personal and professional outcomes. Raz brings a wealth of experience in storytelling and content creation, having worked in both the journalistic and business spheres, which complements Voss's negotiation expertise in their collaborative writing.
"Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It" is a book co-authored by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz. Published in 2016, the book offers a groundbreaking approach to negotiations, drawing from Voss's extensive experience in high-stakes negotiations. The central thesis of the book is that traditional negotiating tactics, which often advocate for compromise and finding a middle ground, may not always be the most effective strategy. Instead, Voss proposes a method that prioritizes understanding the emotions and psychology of the opposing party to achieve one's objectives.
The book is structured around a series of principles and tactics that Voss developed and used throughout his career. These include the use of tactical empathy to better understand and influence the counterpart, mastering the delivery of a "no" that actually progresses negotiations, the power of strategic silence, and the crucial role of carefully chosen words to ensure a favorable outcome. Through a mix of theory, case studies, and real-life examples from his FBI career and consulting work, Voss demonstrates how these techniques can be applied not just in hostage situations but in everyday life, whether in business negotiations, disputes, or personal relationships.
“Never Split the Difference" is an exceptional and insightful book that challenges conventional wisdom on negotiation. I have studied negotiation formally and have spent much of my career in negotiation positions and I definitely feel like I learned a lot from the book.
One of the book's strengths is its accessibility; Voss and Raz have managed to distill complex negotiation tactics into clear, actionable advice that readers can easily apply to their own lives. This book is relatively short and easy to read and is one of the most likely books I have read in some time to be actionable for improving your business and personal life. Highly recommended.