You only need to read one of Rosenberg's books to learn everything you need to know about Nonviolent Communication, and of the two I think this is the better one -- it is more recent and his thinking is more developed than in the original manifesto, "Nonviolent Communication." Rosenberg's work fascinates me and has been extremely useful to me. I'm working on putting together a workshop for people who work in homeless youth services about how his ideas can help us make our programs more user friendly and ethical. There are also aspects of his work that trouble me and frustrate me, the most important being that I generally distrust all self help systems that promise that all your problems can be solved in ten steps or less by following a tightly structured program. More on this later, let's start with what Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is and what parts of it I have found useful.
NVC is a style of conversation that tries to help people connect more deeply and authentically by focusing on their feelings, needs, and shared human experience rather than their intellectual paradigms and points of conflict. As a worldview, it is deeply rooted in Asian traditions as filtered through the American New Religious Movements on the left/progressive/liberal end of the spectrum. (If your worldview already aligns with that, you will like NVC; if not, it will drive you up the wall). NVC is "a giving and receiving of messages that center on two very important questions: What's alive in us? and What can we do to make life more wonderful?" The technique centers around avoiding judgments and blaming, while articulating feelings and needs without blame or criticism. The intention of NVC is "to create the quality of connection with other people and oneself that allows compassionate giving to take place." NVC accepts as an axiom that human beings are basically good, and that evil arises from ignorance of our true natures and miseducation concerning how to properly communicate with ourselves and others.
One useful idea in this book is the reminder that there is often a disconnect between what we think is motivating our thoughts and behaviour, and what the actual motivation is. We move through life, and emotions arise; we make up stories in our head about where those emotions come from, and what to do with them. These stories may or may not be accurate or helpful. When we are having a conflict with another person, it is sometimes useful to focus on the feelings and needs behind the story, rather than the story itself.
This book has a lot of useful advice and strategies that can be added to your "communication toolbox," but by itself it is not a complete set of communication skills, and taken literally and at face value, I don't think it is a very healthy and balanced diet of communication strategies. Sometimes, it is good to avoid judgment. Sometimes, the most compassionate, honest, and appropriate thing to do is call bullshit. It depends on the motivations and context. Another (fabulous!) book I read this week was "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In talking about how her liberal Dutch boss tried to censor her when she first started writing editorials (because he felt they were too inflammatory), she writes, "I was learning that in these extremely civilized circles, conflict is dealt with in a very ornate and hypocritical manner." At its worst, NVC is ornate and hypocritical.
That being said, the book has had a positive, radical, and transformative impact on my thinking, because I have been obsessing all week on this question: What if, every moment of every day, I did remain completely focused on how to make life as wonderful as possible for as many people as possible? What if, in every exchange with another person, I consistently looked for the words and actions that would have the greatest positive impact on our lives, both my life and the person I am talking to? And I don't just mean finding the words to diffuse tension right this second, but in the biggest possible sense of using each moment to teach and learn and share and connect?
This book is most helpful if you pay attention to the spirit and motivation behind it, and take it with a grain of salt, ignoring the sometimes fundamentalist and rigid language that is used to express the concepts the author is trying to get across. (Ironically, Rosenberg uses words like "always" and "never" a lot). NVC is sometimes called compassionate conversation. Compassion is crucial, but it is not enough. We need compassion AND wisdom, kindness AND honesty, open-mindedness AND rational discernment. Sometimes it is good to just observe and avoid judgment. And sometimes, as Ayaan Hirsi Ali demonstrates, we move more quickly and efficiently towards social justice when we are honest, strong, and brave enough to stand up and firmly articulate our experience and beliefs, even when that leads to anger and conflict. Avoiding unnecessary conflict is skillful and compassionate. Selling out our ideals in order to avoid necessary conflict is narcissistic and cowardly.