Customer Reviews

The Eight Essential Steps to Conflict Resolution

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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This book should be on everyone's personal reference shelf. I read it several years ago, and have incorporated the steps into my daily interactions with others. I go back to the book when I find myself in a difficult situation and need a framework to think through how to deal with it. Many conflict resolution approaches perpetuate our misconception that conflict is an event. The Eight Essential Steps focus on conflict as a state in a relationship. The prescriptions it contains are extraordinarily useful for building productive and healthy relationships.

Weeks certainly has an amazing background in conflict, and his book reflects it. I found his principles (the eight steps) to be best applied to long-term group conflicts, such as contractual disputes between companies or labor vs. management strife. The eight steps are also helpful for individual conflict, but less so.

As I completed the book, I sensed a need to distinguish between the two kinds of conflict and thus devise targeted steps for individual conflict of a short-term nature.

That aside, this book is not pop-whiz-bang fluff. It is hardy stuff from an academician with bountiful real-world experience in the subject.

Dudley Weeks spells out the Conflict Partnership method of conflict resolution in this brilliant book. Anyone who is currently in conflict with a loved one, co-worker, City Hall, what-have-you, should read this book, learn and practice the skills. Not only will it help you resolve your personal conflicts, but will help you help others, too, whether it be your kids or your PTA or your local planning commission. The book is accessible, thorough, and a delight.

This book teaches the reader a process towards better conflict management. It is not a hard process to learn; its not an easy process to use all the time, though. That being said, I recommend this book HIGHLY, especially to anyone who is looking for ways to make their home life, work life, or community life more enriching.

Dudley was a professor of mine in undergraduate. He's a great man, and this is a *great* book.

As a mediator, I enjoyed reading the application of the 8 steps as they apply to many types of relationships. I especially appreciated the Appendix "Frequent Problem Areas" addressing the "yes, but what if this happens", e.g., anger, stubborness on one side, resistance, etc. This book is for the more evolved who are open to peacemaking and ready to move beyond impasse in their conflicts.

When you're waaay past "Looking out for #1" or "Winning Through Intimidation," when you're more than a few miles down the road from "Getting to Yes," when strengthening and developing all of your relationships has become far more important to you than "winning" or getting your way or creatively persuading the other person to do your bidding....then perhaps you're ready for this book. That's right, when you're ready for peace, even if you're the one who'se going to have to change, here's a framework, a process. But not until you're ready.

This book was for a class, but I recommend it for anyone who is having difficulty communicating with someone in their life.

I used this book in the leadership and management course for student nurses. It was effective but now Dr. Weeks has written a long requested follow up, "Life in the Quality Lane: The LifeSkills to Make Each Moment Matter." The new book shortens the process to 5 steps, updates examples and case studies, and is written in an even easier vocabulary. If I had had Life in the Quality Lane I would have had students buy it for a text because it is not expensive and the process is equally good for resolving issues and developing an effective, cooperative development plan to use both professionally and personality. I believe anyone using it will be using it the remainder of thier lives.Life in the Quality Lane: The LifeSkills To Make Each Moment Matter

'Conflict Resolution' is a good look at this often neglected aspect of human interaction. This book focuses on creating solutions to conflict that are mutually beneficial to all parties, to prevent future conflict and/or 'revenge' attitudes, as well as building on the relationship to learn and grow from conflicts. Some of the ideas seem pretty basic and based on common sense, but this makes it easier to see how they can be applied in a variety of situations. Each idea is well presented and exhaustively demonstrated with case studies and examples. In fact this may be my only complaint, that the book has some simple ideas that are demonstrated to too deep a degree. It is clearly written and without condescension, or seeming patronising. This can be used in business, community or personal settings and there is something to help everyone. This is a clear book that has some great ideas to move beyond the bargaining or conquest style of conflict most often exhibited and should have something to offer most readers.

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This book was part of my graduate course on Managing Diversity & Conflict. I will not be selling this book as it is a keeper and well worth the read.