Today I finished reading Herb Cohen's You Can Negotiate Anything:
How to Get What You Want. Its main points were:

• Almost everything is negotiable.
• Recognize negotiating tactics and deal with them.
• Be personal.

I liked how the book listed common negotiation ploys. If I recognize
the trick someone's trying to pull on me, I can laugh it off and turn
the situation to my advantage. I can also try to avoid the bad
negotiation habits I might've picked up as a kid. The book had a lot
of good advice.

I think negotiation is a very useful skill that is well worth learning
even for techies. I was never keen on negotiating because I didn't
like the idea of haggling, but now I see how the process of
negotiation can bring out other win-win scenarios that might not have
been considered in a straight deal. Negotiation isn't just for project
costs or schedule commitments; it's for relationships and day-to-day
work as well. Fun stuff.