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Overview
From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—hailed as the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century—The 3rd Alternative introduces a breakthrough approach to conflict resolution and creative problem solving. One of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Dr. Stephen R. Covey has helped millions transform their lives. In The 3rd Alternative, Covey turns his formidable insight to a powerful new way to resolve professional and personal difficulties and create solutions to great challenges in organizations and society.
In any conflict, the 1st Alternative is my way and the 2nd Alternative is your way. The fight usually boils down to a question of whose way is better. There are many methods of “conflict resolution,” but most involve compromise, a low-level accommodation that stops the fight without breaking through to amazing new results. The 3rd Alternative is about more than just an armistice—it’s about creating a new and improved reality. A departure from the usual approaches to conflict resolution, negotiation, and innovation, this book reveals a new way of thinking that will be embraced not only by the many fans who have flocked to Covey’s prior books, but also by anyone who is seeking solutions in their professional or personal lives.
The 3rd Alternative transcends traditional solutions to conflict by forging a path toward a third option, a 3rd Alternative that moves beyond your way or my way to a higher and better way—one that allows both parties to emerge from debate or even heated conflict in a far better place than either had envisioned. With the 3rd Alternative, nobody has to give up anything, and everyone wins.
To a world of escalating strife and contention, 3rd Alternative thinkers like those Covey profiles here bring creative solutions, peace, and healing. Through key examples and stories from his work as a consultant, Covey demonstrates the power of 3rd Alternative thinking. His wide-ranging examples include: a Canadian metropolitan police force that transformed a crime-plagued community by abandoning their “them vs. us” mentality and changing the whole definition of police work; a father who rescued his troubled daughter from years of despair and near suicide in one surprising evening; a judge who brought a quick, peaceful end to one of the biggest environmental lawsuits in American history without setting foot in a courtroom; the principal of a high school for the children of migrant workers who raised their graduation rate from a dismal 30 percent to 90 percent and tripled their basic skill levels; a handful of little-known people who are quietly finding new ways to bring peace to the Middle East; and many others. These various groups and individuals offer living examples of how to create new and better results instead of escalating conflict, as well as how to build strong relationships with diverse people based on an attitude of winning together.
Beyond conflict and compromise, The 3rd Alternative unveils a radical, creative new way of thinking. It is a groundbreaking but practical work that demonstrates why 3rd Alternative thinking represents the supreme opportunity of our time.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
In most problems and negotiations, the first alternative is my way; the second, your way; and the third, the highway. Bestselling author Stephen R. Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) wants us to look beyond our either/or blinders and create a third alternative that provides true conflict resolution. But crafting a successful, non-traditional plan requires imagination and a clear sense of strategies. To simplify your task, Covey provides real life solution examples from innovative thinkers in fields including business, politics, education, family, law, policing, and health. The 3rd Alternative builds morale, but it is also a deeply practical book for problem-solvers.
Publishers Weekly
Rather than my way or your way, Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) argues for a third way around any given situation. "The 3rd alternative" is conflict resolution technique that can "apply equally well to a playground, a battlefield, a boardroom, a legislative chamber, or a family kitchen." It isn't compromise per se, Covey says, since everyone loses something by compromising. Instead, the 3rd alternative offers a significantly better answer—synergy, i.e. "what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand!" Synergy can and has been used in the past at work and at home, in classrooms, cities, and the world at large. Covey describes, for example, the collaboration in recent decades among activists, politicians, property owners, and city planners to rejuvenate New York's Times Square. While synergy may not be an entirely new concept, the enthusiasm and urgency with which Covey introduces and explains it gives this volume its substance. (Oct.)From the Publisher
“Even in our conflicted times, now and again we catch a glimpse of the better thing. Dr. Covey shows us how to seek that better thing and transcend our deepest disputes.”
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“You can ‘get’ Stephen Covey’s message in five pages—or less. But I dearly hope you will carefully read and apply every page. Stephen has given us a precious gift—but, like most profound ideas, it is the daily, conscious practice that can or will transform your life.”--Tom Peters, author of The Brand You 50 and Re-imagine: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age
“In The 3rd Alternative, Dr. Covey inspires us to think differently about solving problems than we ever have before. We must set aside our differences, including our boundaries, languages, economics, politics and cultures and work hand in hand together to create solutions which are greater than the problems we now face.”
--Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner 2006
“In The 3rd Alternative, Stephen Covey urges us to chart a course beyond the suboptimal solutions to all our crises – beyond left and right, and beyond the many false choices in front of us. The 3rd Alternative is a wise and welcome echo of Einstein’s warning that the problems we’re facing today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
--Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group
“Once again, Stephen Covey has nailed it. In this latest book, he offers meaningful advice for navigating life’s toughest challenges. It’s not about ‘my way,’ or ‘your way,’ but seeking out ‘our way.’”
--J.W. Marriott, Jr., Chairman & CEO of Marriott International, Inc.
“In this book, Covey reaches out way beyond his familiar domain, to the Universe, and has come up with a social vaccine capable of addressing if not resolving the existential agonies and angst that we all face, as individuals and to the organizations and societies that we live and work in. In this Olympiad vault, Covey has written his most ambitious and hopeful book, in my own view, a masterpiece to benefit all of us doing our best to live in peace and justice in this messy world.”
--Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, University of Southern California and author of the memoir, Still Surprised
“A most compelling approach for addressing the most challenging issues of the day. It is an inarguable formula for success in the corporate world and beyond.”
--Douglas R. Conant, retired CEO, Campbell Soup Company, and New York Times bestselling author
“Dr. Covey has done it again. The 3rd Alternative is not only powerful reading—it answers some of life’s most challenging questions. A must-read for all future leaders.”
--Jon M. Huntsman, Sr.