Harvey Johnson Quotes

The fundamental problem of society is that demands are infinite and resources are always limited

No two men ever devised plans of action to accomplish a particular object without finding that there were differences in their plans. That is peculiarly the case in international affairs.

Negotiation is empathy. It's almost trite to say that if you can't put yourself in the seat of the other person you're speaking with, you're not going to do well. It's not about being a bully, not about making offers people can't refuse.

Solutions must be based on compromises.

We had many more points of agreement than we had points of difference, but we did differ, and the bigger we got, the more insistent we got that each one of us should have his way.

I'm just not a purist. You set goals and you have to work with everyone to figure out how to get what you can.

My job is to come up with something that you like and you agree with that you would play wholeheartedly. If we disagree, I may not be doing my job correctly.

The only way to conduct an effective collaboration is to debate the things upon which you disagree. If one doesn't manage to bring the other around to his point of view, then whichever collaborator feels the most passionate about the thing being debated ought to get his way.

Compromise, contrary to popular opinion, does not mean selling out one's principles. Compromise means working out differences to forge a solution which fits the diversity of the body politic.

It's always the organizations that are resource constrained that come up with the good ideas to win.

I think two people with strong points of view can appreciate each other even more.

That is where consensus-building begins-with the idea that you have your own truth, but that the negotiator on the other side of the table has his own truth as well.

Compromise is the key element. The more constraints you have, the more compromise you have to have. But, I personally believe that, when that happens, you have to get more creative, and you end up with something that is even better.

I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table.

Also, differences of opinion can be creatively stimulating as well as frustrating.

One of the problems of being a prime minister is that you can't do what people want all at once.

In any negotiation, my goal is to be the most unreasonable person in the room.

We cannot always do what is absolutely best. Those with whom we act, entertaining different views, have the power and the right of carrying them into practice

Because the resources available to the U. S. military will be increasingly limited, the objectives must be too.

Negotiation is not trading. Negotiation is creating new and original solutions.

If we can afford tremendous sums of money to win the war, we can afford to invest whatever amount it takes to win the peace

Negotiation or Compromise can get you beat.

It ought not to be beyond the intelligence of even the most hidebound local politician to see the benefits of imaginative compromise.

If there are differences of views or divergence of ideas, they can be resolved through discussion and dialogue.

Yes, negotiating is about money and the bottom line, but a lot of times, it's much more emotional and complex than that. Realizing that the economic outcome may not be the other party's top priority gives you more chips to play with and will enable you to achieve better results than you may have anticipated.