Optimal Outcomes by Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler - A Review

Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler

"...using a conflict-oriented word such as counterpart, party, or opponent to define your relationship with someone doesn’t represent the complex nature of most relationships and doesn’t leave much room for your relationship with that person to change over time."

Optimal Outcomes does not just focus on ways to resolve conflicts. The author believes conflict is a fact of life - we need it to understand ourselves and grow as a human. However, the author ultimately points out that perpetual conflict is abnormal and thus, maps out ways we can free ourselves from its shackles.

WHY I LOVE THE BOOK
The book is full of examples of ways we fall into perpetual conflict and the reasons why. This is not a book on how to win arguments or how to please people so they leave you alone. This is a work that acknowledges that we might not be able to appease or negotiate with some on difficult issues. Optimal Outcomes helps us deal with those situations without being dragged down by emotions such scenarios generate.

DISLIKES
Optimal Outcomes is manual-like. It sometimes reads like a printout for a work meeting. This is not a book to read for pleasure.

WHO IS IT FOR
Those in mediation or in the position of leadership might benefit from this book.

Many thanks to HarperCollins for a review copy.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator by Sofia Warren - Book Recommendation

Image
Books that discuss politics can be boring to some, but such people might want to make an exception for this one. Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is a first-hand witness account of a cartoonist's time with Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate in New York. Most of what the book material is about are what the cartoonist witnessed during the first year of Salazar's term by embedding herself with the young senator's team for about a year. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK One of the best tools of journalism is witnessing a situation about which you are reporting first-hand. This way, you get to understand your subject with little or no filtering. Radical is a book with lots of eye-opening information on politics, money, and how these forces have an impact on everyone's lives... more than we know or care to admit. DISLIKES None. WHO IS IT FOR This is for any adult who wants to understand politics without getting bored. Many
Read more

Forgotten Blade by Tze Chun & Toni Fejzul - A Review

Image
Forgotten Blade is a fantasy story set in the land of Five Rivers. It is a tale of a female magician who enlisted the help of a mercenary to topple a theocratic government in revenge for the curse placed on her two children. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK Forgotten Blade is a beautifully drawn book. The uniqueness and style of the art stand out in the midst of a tale that seems familiar. DISLIKES The plot is predictable and holds little or no surprise. WHO IS IT FOR Fans of epic fantasy may enjoy the art and possibilities Forgotten Blade has to offer. Many thanks to TKO Presents for providing a review copy.
Read more

Yellow Cab by Benoît Cohen & Christophe Chabouté - Book Recommendation

Image
Going into a new career as a middle-aged person can be disorienting or empowering, depending on your circumstances or outlook on life. One thing that cannot be dismissed is the insight and understanding a new career or employment gives. It has the potential to open us to a side of life we may have overlooked or never noticed before. Yellow Cab is an autobiography (graphic novel) of a filmmaker called Benoît Cohen who, devoid of inspiration for his next film, decided to become a New York City taxi driver. What follows is his insights and documentation about the streets of New York - its people, its prejudices, and its politics. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK The characters in the book are interesting and mysterious. Even though some of them appear for a brief time, there is a liveliness to them that makes me hang on to their every word. The art has this kind of depressing quality to it... I expect it to bum me out but I quite like it actually as it fits the mood of the book. DIS
Read more