Chaos Review: The Anatomy of Peace
About the Author
Mike Lindberg
- Published
- in Book Reviews
Peace is rare. Creating peace from conflict is near impossible.
Chaos puts us in conflict with others, which is where we often lay the blame. In our relationships, our workplace, and even our technology, the blame needs to be someone or something else.
What if the external is not the problem? What if the root cause of conflict is our own hearts?
The book “Anatomy of Peace” explores the nature of peace, and how we can strive to live in peace with the external. We can accomplish this by rewiring how we see ourselves and others.
Book Details
The Anatomy of Peace
Author: Arbinger Institute
Book Website: https://arbinger.com/Landing/AnatomyOfPeace.html
Intended Audience
This book’s target audience is those who want peace in their lives but can’t seem to change the situation enough to see the change in others. It’s for those willing to be reflective on where a person can develop peace and those who dare to look into themselves to recognize their part in the picture.
Book Format
This book is a fictional story that follows a family. This family is going through much strife due to a single issue they perceive. It follows this family as they explore this issue and learn the foundation that rests in each person. The book skillfully shows multiple perspectives and draws out many recognizable feelings each of us has in our daily lives. For many of us, we will connect with the feelings of most of the characters and see the facets of conflict that exist within our heads.
The book is broken into four parts:
- The Heart of Peace
- From Peace to War
- From War to Peace
- Spreading Peace
Parts 1-3 each have seven chapters exploring the topic in detail. Part 4 changes the structure and is much shorter but provides the meat of how the reader can move forward with everything they’ve learned.
In the fourth edition of The Anatomy of peace, an appendix at the end of the book provides tools for the reader focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion topics to help with some of the more current issues.
Defining Chaos
The book spends a great deal of time defining chaos as primarily an internal problem. How we see others is effectively a representation of how we see ourselves and how we feel about the decisions that we have made. Chaos is living in a position where our hearts are at war. When our hearts are at war within ourselves, then our view of the world is shaped by this war.
Addressing Chaos
Addressing chaos means addressing our hearts. It means seeing the world differently and seeing the humanity in others instead of vilifying them to feel better about themselves. In effect, we address chaos by not allowing ourselves to put others “in the box”; instead, we manage them and their concerns to see the person as a person, not an object.
When we can first acknowledge that others are not objects to do our will, then we can explore the idea that maybe – just maybe – we should treat others the way we want to be treated. In all circumstances.
We need to understand the cause and change our behaviors to address chaos.
Who would receive the most significant benefit?
The funny thing about this book is that it fits so many different situations. It could be a book on marital and parent-child relationships, as much as it could be a book for political leaders. The honest fact is that we all have the same fundamental shortcoming – our identity. More specifically, how we make our identity shapes how we feel others treat us and how we respond to that.
Favorite Quotes
- “Collusion: A conflict where the parties are inviting the very things they are fighting against”
- “The deepest way in which we are right or wrong is in our way of being toward others.”
- “Because when I betray myself […] I create within myself a new need – a need that causes me to see others accusingly, a need that causes me to care about something other than truth and solutions, and a need that invites others to do the same in response.”
- “As we betray ourselves over time, we develop characteristic styles of self-justification”
- “We have a different word for people others follow only because of force or need. We call them tyrants.”
- “In conflicts simply between you and another, I think you’d be surprised by how fully a solution to the inner war solves the outer wall as well.”
Thoughts to Ponder
How is your general attitude toward others?
Are there specific people that you find yourself especially negative towards?
How do you betray your own emotions?
When in conflict with others, do you feel an inner war? If so, how do you generally address this feeling?
