ever read a book that made you nod along and roll your eyes within the same chapter? welcome to my journey with ‘never split the difference’ by chris voss.
the pitch that pulls you in
the premise of this read is simple: former fbi negotiator chris voss shares his life-saving negotiation techniques with the reader, helping them improve their own skill set. because if your skills are good enough to keep people from dying, they’ve got to be pretty valuable, right?
right!
what actually works
so far, so good. voss’s tools and techniques do seem easy enough to incorporate into daily life, and i’ve actually tried a few of them on the rare occasions i remembered to. i can confirm they’re both actionable and worthwhile.
when the shine starts to fade
and that was about it for the good parts. for me.
i’m sure there are plenty of people out there who enjoy testosterone-fuelled anecdotes with values straight out of a hollywood action blockbuster. i do too… on movie nights.
but after a while, the humblebrag stories that constantly position voss as ‘the man’ just became dull and repetitive. i’ll admit, i had a few eye-roll moments getting through the book.
is it just me?
at one point, i wondered whether this whole ‘negotiate hard’ attitude just rubbed me the wrong way because of my own social conditioning to always be the accommodating ‘nice girl’. and that is a possibility.
however, there was just something about the combination of outwardly aggressive tactics with supposed empathy that felt… off. in his defence (which he probably doesn’t need), he does address this. and yet, the feeling persisted.
the writing… oh my
and don’t get me started on the writing. that too seemed straight out of an action film — despite the involvement of a co-writer named tahl raz.
still curious?
should you still be interested in reading it, i do have one consolation for you: it’s a quick and uncomplicated read.
don’t expect rocket science — or any other science, for that matter — and you’ll be fine.
