The Absurdity of Compromise: The Art of Resolving Conflict so Everyone Wins
People think compromise is a good thing.
How can anything be “good” that pushes everyone involved to sacrifice something they value?
Compromise has long been accepted as the preferred way to resolve our differences. We do it at work, as entrepreneurs, to settle squabbles between spouses, or when a mother battles a teen. No matter the problem, we go for the compromise. You ever wonder why?
In The Absurdity of Compromise, Donald Grady, a master facilitator of dispute resolution, employment agreements, hostage negotiations, and who was selected to help mediate crises in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq, examines the drawbacks and challenges of conflict and explodes the myth that compromise is the win/win it’s proclaimed to be.
- Avoid the pitfalls of talking past other people
- Learn to listen intelligently and empathetically understand the perspective of others.
- Stop fighting and compromising to everyone’s mutual dissatisfaction.
Want better results but haven’t quite figured out how to get there? This is the book for you.
What Others
Are Saying
“Author Don Grady has helped resolve seemingly intractable conflicts around the world, including in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1990s as well as in cities, businesses, and universities throughout the U.S. Now he offers a fresh perspective on conflict resolution based on these real-life experiences.
Today’s practices often present antagonists with one-sided solutions, leaving each feeling like losers. In Grady’s peace-building schemata, everyone comes away a winner. He uses the Socratic method to bring out the best in his protagonists, showing us how to build win-win outcomes in the complex and evolving field of conflict resolution.
I recommend this lively book to anyone enmeshed in a conflict needing a resolution, foreign or domestic.”
Robert W. Farrand,
U.S. Ambassador (Retired)
Deputy High Representative,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1997-2000

About the Author
Donald Grady is world renowned as a creative, innovative public-safety executive and reputed expert in the design and implementation of social reforms. He’s a master facilitator in dispute resolution, employment agreements, hostage negotiations, and was selected to help mediate crises in places like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq. READ MORE ABOUT DONALD