William Ury, "Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict" (Harper Business, 2024)

Nov 15, 2025

William Ury, an international negotiator and co-author of the best-selling book Getting to Yes, shares insights from his nearly 50 years of experience in conflict resolution. He discusses his belief in the power of hope as a choice and explores the importance of seeing humanity even in war zones. Ury emphasizes creativity in negotiation, the necessity of understanding interests over positions, and the significance of emotional preparation. He also offers advice for aspiring peacemakers, urging them to start locally and embrace small opportunities for mediation.

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INSIGHT

Possibilist Mindset

William Ury calls himself a "possibilist," believing humans can transform conflicts into constructive outcomes.
He cites historic turns like the fall of the Berlin Wall as evidence that seemingly impossible changes can occur.

ADVICE

Choose Hope As Action

Treat hope as an active choice you make in how you approach conflict rather than a passive feeling.
Choose to transform conflict into constructive dialogue, negotiation, or collaboration instead of destructive fights.

ANECDOTE

From Anthropology Paper To Negotiation

Ury recounts being a Harvard anthropology student who sent a paper to Roger Fisher and was invited to work on negotiation.
That chance led him to a lifelong practical career applying anthropology to negotiation.

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The author of the world’s best-selling book on negotiation draws on his nearly fifty years of experience and knowledge grappling with the world’s toughest conflicts to offer a way out of the seemingly impossible problems of our time.

Conflict is increasing everywhere, threatening everything we hold dear—from our families to our democracy, from our workplaces to our world. In nearly every area of society, we are fighting more and collaborating less, especially over crucial problems that demand solutions.

With this groundbreaking book, bestselling author and international negotiator William Ury shares a new “path to possible”—time-tested practices that will help listeners unlock their power to constructively engage and transform conflict. Part memoir, part manual, part manifesto, Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict (Harper Business, 2024) offers stories and sage advice from Ury’s nearly 50 years of experience on the front lines of some of the world’s toughest conflicts.

One of the world’s top experts in the field, Ury has worked on conflicts ranging from boardroom battles to labor strikes, from the US partisan divide to family feuds, from wars in the Middle East, Colombia and Ukraine to helping the US and USSR avoid nuclear disaster. Now, in Possible, he helps us tackle the seemingly intransigent problems facing us.

In Possible, Ury argues conflict is natural. In fact, we need more conflict, not less—if we are to grow, change, evolve and solve our problems creatively. While we may not be able to end conflict, we can transform it—unleashing new, unexpected possibilities.

Successfully tested at Harvard University with almost a thousand participants from business, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, Ury’s “Path to Possible” proved so valuable that Harvard’s Program on Negotiation selected it as its inaugural online daylong in April 2022.

Possible introduces Ury’s methods and makes them available for everyone. Combining accessible frameworks and powerful storytelling and offering dozens of examples, it is an essential guide for anyone looking to break through the toughest conflicts—in their workplace, family, community or the world.

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