Getting to YES arose from the Harvard Negotiation Project, a program at Harvard University’s School of Law. The program was founded in 1979 by law professor Roger Fisher and two students, anthropology PhD candidate William Ury and law student Bruce Patton. The ongoing purpose of the Project is “practice-focused research, involvement in ongoing high-level deals and disputes, as well as education and training” in the field of negotiation (“Harvard Negotiation Project”).

In 1978, Professor Fisher participated in the Camp David accords that generated a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. There, Fisher developed the concept of the “one-text” agreement, a form of shuttle diplomacy that allows the parties to negotiate bits and pieces of an agreement without committing to it until the end. This format became a common technique in international diplomacy.

The Harvard Negotiation Project also developed the concept of Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). Using BATNA, negotiators clarify their best path forward if no agreement is reached, decide whether the other side’s best offer is better than no offer, and use any leverage their BATNA provides to try to improve that offer.