As a manager in the government for many years I did a multitude of course on Conflict Resolution but none of those courses came close to the quality and applicability as Rory’s ComCon.
Rory’s book is definitely applicable to avoiding a violent encounter just as Chris Robert’s book but I feel Rory’s book applies to pretty much any conflict communication be that in the home or the office or anywhere.
Rory builds a solid foundation of conflict and goes deeply into how we get caught up in certain responses (scripts.) He provides solid information as to why we end up in conflicts and how to get off that script.
I know I have used his work and even once when being called to testify I found both sides of the issue in a conflict with the Adjudicator because they didn’t recognize that in that room all the power lay with the Adjudicator. They were all caught up in trying to gain control and blaming the Adjudicator for being biased against them and that was both sides which rationally can’t be. I thought the Adjudicator was being fair and that is how I handled the communication which meant I had no conflicts – well at least with the Adjudicator. This just shows how far reaching into life this book can be of great value.
For me this is an absolute must read if you want to learn about conflict communication.