What I’ve Been Reading

This book is all about how we influence others, and how other people influence us. It is full of fascinating information, case studies and practical strategies. The chapters cover how our existing information impacts on our willingness to change our minds, the role of emotion, incentives and curiosity, the double-edged sword of agency, the impact […]

This book is a wealth of information and resources about how our brains work in conflict and how to work with them during conflict management and resolution. It includes well-researched and accessible content, as well as links to videos and other useful resources. The book introduces readers to foundational concepts in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, personality

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to read a final draft of this book before it’s officially published. I have been a huge fan of Michael’s work since reading his and Alison Taylor’s book The Making of a Mediator over 20 years ago. This book was a turning point in my approach

This book is not new, it’s been around since 2009, but it remains one of the few books about how to work with conflict that is not resolvable, or that may take many years to resolve. The book introduces the role of the conflict specialist (in contrast to the more limited ‘conflict resolver’ and their

This book, written by a physicist, a philosopher and a psychologist/lawyer  is basically about how to apply the “thinking tools” used by experts in these disciplines to everyday life and decision making. It’s about managing information overwhelm, and learning how to think.  The book developed from a UC Berkeley course called “Big Ideas” that taught

This book is about how we easily we become habituated to our surroundings, and how this can be problematic for many reasons (although it’s also practical in some ways). We can habituate to good things, and then reduce our appreciation of them. We can also habituate to bad things, and then become less motivated to

John Gottman is a very well known researcher in the field mental health and relationships. Julie, his wife, is an award winning psychologist. Together, they founded the Gottman Institute, which includes the “Love Lab” in which they have observed over 3,000 couples interact, especially when in conflict. Their analysis of these couples’ behaviours has enabled

I honestly cannot say enough about this book.  This book is ESSENTIAL reading for anyone working in the conflict space. There is a lot of current interest in topics like trauma-informed practice, neurodiversity, difficult people, high conflict personalities and mental health.  This book cuts through the often misguided popular culture and easy fixes and gets

Brian Grazer is an American film and television producer, who founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard.  While you may think him an usual candidate for authoring a book about curiosity, it turns out he is perfect for this task.  For the past 35 years, Grazer has been sitting down and having ‘curiosity conversations’

This book focuses on the importance of curiosity in business, for transformational leadership, and for personal growth. Hamilton asks: How do we recognize the things that hold us back from exploring our curiosity? How do we maintain and develop our natural sense of curiosity? How do we keep our spotlight bright and ready for deployment?