As a successful attorney and businessman I have long taken pride in my skill at resolving conflicts, but I have also been haunted by some puzzling failures. As is normal, I tended to attribute those to the failings of the people I had to deal with. This book very quickly (in less than an hour) helped me to see what I might have done differently and how I contributed to the failures. It also conveyed this information gently enough so I could hear it! The book is positive--it suggests effective technics rather than attacking problematic behaviors. The book is about process and it convincingly conveys the notion that in conflict resolution process is the key--how we deal with differences is more important than the specific disputes over facts or logic. A successful conflict resolution is one in which all parties feel good about the resolution and about each other. In this respect, it is consistent with another marvelous short book, "Justice is Conflict," which first helped me realize that in maintaining civilization and civility, the process for decision making is more important than the substantive differences between hotly disputed issues.

The book would have benefited from one more round of editing to eliminate some very minor but irritating clerical errors, however this did not detract from its value enough to cause me to reduce its rating from five stars.

This title belongs on your bookshelf, next to "Guerilla Marketing." The author has packed valuable information into this volume and done it very concisely, often breaking down the text to simple, easy-to-digest lists and bullets. Owners and managers of small stores will find this information easier to apply than the broad, theoretical stuff that fills most retail how-to's. Cross-promoting is often the easiest and least expensive way to take your business from the minor leagues to the majors. I've worked in and around marketing for years, and this book compares favorably to many that cost five times as much. (I noticed in Amazon.com's list of other buyers that one of the top authorities on nonprofit retailing bought this book!) After several decades working in and around marketing, I learned a lot myself.