Books V2

Self help

The Coward’s guide to conflict

This book has a very interesting topic. It claims to have “empowering solutions for those who would rather run than fight and win”. And it starts with a quote from Ken Blanchard, “If you are a coward like me when it comes to conflict, then this book would be perfect for you. I now appreciate the need for conflict, and I am getting even better dealing with it”.

But the book doesn’t deliver what it promised.

“Many times our first response to an upset individual is to quite our voice and stay calm. Does this really calm the other person down? In most cases it doesn’t have a calming impact because the person feels like you don’t understand how upsetting the situation is to him.

A better approach is to match the intensity (voice volume, rate, etc) of the conversation without verbally attacking, and then slowly soften your voice.”

This is the only take-away from this book for me; though I am not sure if I would really shout the next time :) As such the book is written in a lucid way, with lots and lots of practical examples and real life situations. But what it lacks is to prove that those many examples were worth the effort in reading them.

Good one, if you are interested in the topic, have plenty of time to read, and don’t expect miracles.

Kumar Rahul Tiwary

Book:                The coward’s guide to conflict

Author:             Timursiny

Publication:       Magna publications

Price:                Rs 175

Edition:             2003

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