Asked about the Middle East, Ury says there may be no final solution or end to conflict, but there can be a different beginning. He reframes the challenge around how Israelis and Palestinians might live alongside each other with dignity and security, drawing hope from transformed conflicts in South Africa, Northern Ireland, and Colombia.

Possibilism looks for openings without denying painful reality
A transformed conflict does not require conflict to disappear
Dignity and security create a different framing from incompatible positions

“even though there might not be a solution there could be a process”
William Ury · 24:00

“there's no ending of the conflict but there's a transformation of the conflict”
William Ury · 25:30

#possibilism#middle east#conflict transformation

Explainer· 1

Explainer05:00

Harvard's Devising Seminar Asked What Leaders Could Do Tomorrow

Roger Fisher convened faculty from different disciplines and visiting diplomats over dinner to invent practical next moves in major conflicts. Rather than stopping at prediction or analysis, the group focused collective intelligence on an operational step a decision-maker could take the next morning.

The seminar combined academics from multiple disciplines with practitioners
Questions centered on immediate action in live conflicts
The format treated negotiation design as an inventive discipline

“what can this President do tomorrow morning”
William Ury · 05:00

“what practical step could someone do tomorrow morning”
William Ury · 06:00

#harvard#practical action#peace negotiation

Story· 3

Story02:00

The Weekend Call That Put William Ury Into Peace Negotiation

At 22, Ury wrote an anthropology paper proposing fieldwork on a Middle East peace negotiation and sent it to Harvard law professor Roger Fisher. Fisher called on a cold January weekend, said he had shared Ury's central chart with the assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, and invited Ury to work with him.

Ury chose anthropology to understand people and apply it to war and peace
Fisher treated a student's idea as potentially useful to practitioners
The invitation set the course of Ury's career

“I wanted to apply anthropology to something practical and I thought what about the subject of War and Peace”
William Ury · 02:00

“that phone call that generous phone call that generous invitation from Roger to come”
William Ury · 03:30

#roger fisher#career#anthropology#peace

Story1:01:30

How Trust Reduced a $500 Million Negotiation to 30 Seconds

Ury recounts Warren Buffett discussing terms for a $500 million ABC transaction by phone with business partner Charlie Murphy. Buffett asked Murphy what the terms should be and accepted his answer because each trusted that the other would propose something fair, illustrating the efficiency Ury calls the speed of trust.

High trust can eliminate months of defensive bargaining
Both people expected fairness regardless of who named the terms
The transaction later proved beneficial to both sides

“end of negotiation 30 seconds $500 million negotiation”
William Ury · 1:02:30

“they could operate at the Speed Of Trust”
William Ury · 1:03:00

#warren buffett#trust#abc#deal making

Story1:29:30

The 1,500-Mile Abraham Path Uses Walking to Change How People Talk

Ury describes a 20-year effort to develop the Abraham Path, a long-distance walking trail through the Middle East with about 1,500 miles of trails. He argues that walking changes the physical and psychological frame of a difficult conversation: people move side by side toward a shared horizon rather than facing each other like opponents across a table.

The Abraham Path is envisioned as a hundred-year project
Walking places people side by side in a common direction
Negotiators have long used walks in the woods for breakthroughs

“when you walk you talk you talk differently”
William Ury · 1:30:00

“you're side by side facing a common Direction”
William Ury · 1:30:30

#abraham path#walking#middle east#dialogue

Tool· 1

Tool38:30

Silence Gives the Other Side Time to Digest Your Position

Ury argues that filling every pause can weaken a request or a no. Relaxing into silence lets the other person think, allows discomfort to work without extra pressure, and may support more collaborative outcomes; he cites MIT colleague Jared Curhan's recorded-negotiation research linking more silence with mutually cooperative results.

Following a no with extra words can weaken it
Pauses give human minds time to digest an argument
Silence can support cooperative rather than merely tactical outcomes

“just let it hang in the air let them work through it”
William Ury · 39:30

“silence is one of your very best tools in a negotiation”
William Ury · 40:30

#silence#pausing#negotiation research

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway41:00

Use Objective Criteria to Escape a Contest of Wills

When two sides argue from incompatible preferences, negotiation can become emotional and turn into a test of who will hold out. Ury recommends shifting attention to persuasive external standards—such as market rates in a salary discussion—so both parties can work together on what is fair rather than requiring one person to give in.

Personal demands can turn disagreement into a status contest
Relevant market evidence provides a shared reference point
External standards make agreement feel less like surrender

“let's look objectively at the market rate”
William Ury · 42:00

“you're in a collaborative exercise to figure out what's a fair resolution”
William Ury · 42:30

#objective criteria#fairness#salary negotiation

Takeaway43:30

Respect Costs Nothing but Can Change the Entire Conversation

Ury calls basic human respect the cheapest concession because dignity may mean everything to the other side even when it costs the negotiator nothing. The simplest behavioral expression is listening: asking what the person really wants, showing interest, and gathering the information needed to pursue an outcome that serves both sides.

Basic respect is a birthright rather than a reward that must be earned
Listening lets the other person feel seen and heard
Learning even a little of another person's language can signal respect

“it costs you nothing and it means everything to them”
William Ury · 45:00

“successful negotiation is far more about listening than it's about talking”
William Ury · 45:30

#respect#listening#dignity#language

Takeaway1:25:00

Why Walking Is the Foundation of Ury's Physical and Creative Life

At 70, Ury describes daily walking and hiking as the foundation of his routine, supplemented by weights, yoga, or stretching. He says walking supports fitness, lowers stress, helps him gain emotional distance, generates book ideas, and provides beauty and awe after work in difficult conflicts.

Ury walks or hikes every day and often first thing in the morning
He records ideas that arrive while walking
He estimates walking from roughly one and a half to three hours a day
Walking meetings add social time without abandoning movement

“I walk all my books”
William Ury · 1:27:00

“the foundation of it is I hope to walk to the day that I die”
William Ury · 1:28:00

#walking#creativity#fitness#stress

Frameworks in this episode

BATNA

One Text Process

Path of Possible

Position-to-Interest Drill

Positive No

Separate Invention from Evaluation

The Other Side's Victory Speech

Trust Menu

Insights & moments

◆Hot Take· 1

Why Ury Looks for a Beginning Instead of a Final Solution

✶Explainer· 1