This book is written in German - so rather unusual for my book reviews. Sebastian Klipper summarizes various practices and explanations on how to handle, avoid and manage conflict situations in his 193 pages long book. It focusses on security professionals. Within the first chapter Mr. Kippler sets the scene and defines the role and responsibilities of security professionals in medium to large companies. Based on this definition of a “security professional” he continues to discuss the psychological forces of every conflict. His explanations cover a wide range of scientific approaches to explain human behavior and even include Kahnemanns “Thinking fast and slow”.

The remaining chapters focus on different ways of communication and advices which kind of wording you should employ in which situation. Also the different phases of a classical conflict and possible ways to stop it from escalating at each one are provided. Finally Sebastian Kippler closes this book with a chapter on crisis management. In my opinion this is the most important part of the book! Clearly a security professionals main objective is not public relations. However it is important to understand how these people do their job and learn from them. Especially when you need to manage some delicate situations or a major breach and the wealth of your company is at stake. But all the theory is nice to read and useless without practice. I honestly miss some advices on daily practice and some motivation to do so from this book.

However, Mr. Kippler describes a very hands on approach. So I highly i recommend it. Since the author is German you must expect some long and complicated sentences - but they are rare. The illustrations provided are exhilarating and well placed within the context of each chapter.

Summarizing his approach you should take care about the following things:

1. Try to see your self as a security catalyst – you help to make the right decision and to do the right things by:
   • Focus on motivation.
   • Leave the person you talk to space to make her own decisions.
   • Stay objective and do not leave the topic.
2. Talk, Talk, Talk . . .
   • Provide information and knowledge to avoid misunderstandings.
   • Market yourself – avoid being seen as the scapegoat without any success.
   • Build up a good standing with management.
3. Establish a clear path of escalation
   • Only when your colleagues know your game they can play with yourself.
   • A clear path also help to solve conflicts before they reach the final destructive stadium.

As a short summary: Understanding your counterpart and having a transparent, motivating communication should help you to enjoy your day to day job more. Without your intrinsic motivation and joy in your day to day job it is very hard to be good a conflict management.

If you have some time or are interested in improving your communications skills - take a look at this book.

Cheers!