Rosenberg teaches how to talk to others in an empathetic way. But above else, he shows the need for compasionate self-talk, and deep understanding of our own desires and needs. While his verbal forms sound a bit artificial and forced, after some practise, you will be able to include the non-violent style of communication in your own relationships. After all, what is the use in conversing if not to understand each other.

The authors start from the premise that every organizational problem is in fact a “people problem”. Fredrick and Squirrel, hosts of the podcast Troubleshooting Agile, help the reader debug their conversations. The book is mostly targetting software professionals, though the techniques discussed are usable, and valuable, for anyone that spends most of their time working with other people.