Who’s Bill?
William Ury is the author of the bestseller “Getting to Yes“. He offers in this speech @ TED an elegant, simple (but not easy) way to create agreement in even the most difficult situations: from family conflict to professional one.
William Ury is a mediator, writer and speaker, working with conflicts ranging from family feuds to boardroom battles to ethnic wars.
William Ury is co-founded Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and is currently a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project.
18 camels…
This is a really amazing story…
A man who left to his three sons 17 camels. And to the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a ninth of the camels. Well three sons got into a negotiation. 17 doesn’t divide by two. It doesn’t divide by three. It doesn’t divide by nine. Brotherly tempers started to get strained. Finally, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woman thought about their problem for a long time, and finally she came back and said, “Well, I don’t know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel.” So then they had 18 camels. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.
A man who left to his three sons 17 camels. And to the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a ninth of the camels. Well three sons got into a negotiation. 17 doesn’t divide by two. It doesn’t divide by three. It doesn’t divide by nine. Brotherly tempers started to get strained. Finally, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woman thought about their problem for a long time, and finally she came back and said, “Well, I don’t know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel.” So then they had 18 camels. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.
His mission…
“Now finding that 18th camel in the world’s conflicts has been my life passion” (William Ury)
Why you should listen to him?
William Ury has taught negotiation to tens of thousands of corporate executives, labor leaders, diplomats and military officers around the world. He helps organizations try to reach mutually profitable agreements with customers, suppliers, unions, and joint-venture partners.
And, maybe, he could be helpfull to you too…
His speech @ TED
Anyone as best as he can!
Have Joy
Giannicola