Customer Reviews

Cheetah Negotiations (Cheetah Success)

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...and it's the Speed, not the Spots! Negotiations are critical to business success, and are often the Achilles Heel for many of us. This book is well-written and accessible with techniques that gave me insight into both my professional and personal negotiations. After reading Cheetah Negotiations, I feel better prepared and more confident to handle negotiations at any level.

Now here is a book for everyone! ---- easy to read, great examples and useful tips! One of the most effective books I have read. It can be put into use right away -- with the grace and speed of a cheetah!

This book is a fantastic read. It outlines an easy-to-follow process for successful negotiation, giving you a guide for any situation. The examples and exercises demonstrate the methodology in real-world settings perfectly. It's full of not just theory, but practice, as well as lots of advice and useful tips. I've read it through and through - it's such a valuable resource!

Cheetah Negotiations: How to Get What You Want, Fast by Michelle LaBrosse, PMP and Linda Lansky, PMP. MAKLAF Press LLC, Carson City, NV, 2005 ISBN: 0-9761749-2-8.

Spock, Sarek, Tapal and Tuvok would all agree, as would all Trekkies everywhere, that this book is the essence of logic. Its message is simple and clear and it is presented in a manner which is equally simple and clear. Although authors LaBrosse and Lanksy don't anywhere specifically say it in these words, after reading their little (169 pages) book, one is certainly left with the impression that there is little that is magic or hidden in the fine art of successful negotiations.

This book presents a comprehensive look at negotiating and is equally useful, whether you are entering negotiations on a multi-million dollar development contract, a pay raise with your boss, a difficult divorce, or your child's latest gift request list. How can it do that? By keeping things simple. The authors break negotiating down into four basic elements and then carefully walk you through each one of them, explaining it, showing you how to do it, providing tools, techniques and templates for you to use, giving you exercises to practice practical application, and throwing in some tips, hints and examples to guide you.

They begin at the beginning, a very good place to start. The first element is knowing who you are and knowing with whom you are negotiating. The authors present a very welcome and much overdue simplified explanation of the Myers-Briggs personality types. Finally, not only is Myers-Briggs understandable, but you can see its practical and useful application. Know your own personality type, know the other guy's or gal's personality type, and you will then have a pretty good idea about how your personalities will interact. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that knowing in advance how the other side is likely to react gives you a bit of an edge. Add in some techniques for speed-reading the personality types with whom you're dealing and, therefore, how to best present certain issues to them so you can manage their reactions, and you begin to appreciate that this book presents some pretty powerful and useful techniques.

Next they turn to the heart of the matter: what do you want, what do the other guys/gals want, and how to get prepared for the actual negotiations. Naturally, it is not enough to simply know what you want, you must know what it is you absolutely cannot surrender. What is your GUAL (Get Up And Leave) point? What is your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)? What is the ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement)? What is the impact of the importance of your relationship with the other party? All these are explored and explained. In addition, they also take you through preparing for negotiations, the importance of physical exercise, stretching and breathing, techniques for stress relief, roles to play during negotiations and when (e.g., good cop, bad cop), and even the physical aspects of the negotiating/meeting room environment.

The third element focuses on the actual negotiations themselves. The authors take you through and explain the five "scenes" that are common to every negotiation: planning, introduction, bargaining, agreement and closure. Project Management Professionals (PMPs) will easily and intuitively recognize and identify with these. This section of the book is probably the most tip-filled area, covering such techniques as when and how to use, and the impact of, permission-based questions, building commitment, consistency, reciprocation, social proof, authority, likeability, scarcity as well as handling and countermeasures for a whole array of other negotiation tactics (e.g., threats, insults, bluffing, intimidation, emotional appeals, lying, extreme demands, etc.). This is a very useful section all by itself.

The final element is putting it all together. It is here that money issues, and strategies for dealing with them, are addressed. Also covered is the importance of papering and codifying the agreement, including what must be included in the agreement as a minimum to make it binding and enforceable (sort of Introduction to Contracts 101). It closes with taking you through an entire negotiation process from start to finish, using all of the tools and techniques and templates that have been introduced in the book, and then does it again by allowing you to follow a sample or case study negotiation process applying all of the book's tools, techniques and templates.

It is rather amazing that the authors have been able to cram such a comprehensive overview of the negotiating process, as well as insights, tips, hints and templates, tools and techniques, into what is a relatively short book. The logic of the approach and presentation is impressive. All project management staff, whether negotiating contracts with suppliers, staff availability with functional authorities, scope and budget changes with sponsors, etc., would benefit from reading and applying the lessons learned from this book. Buy it and keep it handy in your library.

Reviewed by Frank Townson, PMP
PMI-OVOC Chapter

Michelle's book on negotiation techniques is well worth the money. I bought two copies and sent one to my son in Law School and the other to a friend. For those people seeking their Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, Cheetah is the BEST place to take the exam prep class. I did and passed the first time. Read the book and apply her proven techniques for winning your own negotiation sessions.

This book is a very good complement to other books covering negotiations in general. It covers negotiations soft skills, including personality assessments. It focuses on projects, but can be used in other contexts. There are many useful tools and templates.