NVC Paradoxes
When one perspective limits what we see I first came across Nonviolent Communication more than twenty years ago. At the time, I found a way of understanding human beings, both others and myself, that made a lot of sense to me. Instead of dividing people and actions...
Human Beings Enjoy Giving, When It Is Their Own Choice to Give
Human Beings Enjoy Giving – But to Whom? “Human beings enjoy giving, when it is their own choice to give”. This is one of the assumptions of Nonviolent Communication that I find both beautiful and challenging. Beautiful, because it points towards something many...
Level of Needs
How Our Relationship to Needs Evolves How is it that we can share the same universal human needs, yet experience, express, and prioritise them in such different ways? And could exploring human development help us understand how our relationship to needs evolves...
The Needs of Every Person are Equally Important
Reading the assumption “the needs of every person are equally important and can at least be taken into consideration” touches different parts of me. Sometimes I read it from the perspective of someone with less influence – for example, as an employee, a patient...
All Human Beings Share the Same Universal Needs
Same Needs, Different Worlds: The Double Edge Sword of Consciousness I have, for more than 15 years – ever since I first encountered Nonviolent Communication (NVC) – held the assumption that all human beings share the same universal needs. And even before...
Needs Awareness
Why do people so often misunderstand each other, even when both sides are intelligent, well-intentioned, and well-meaning? Why do the same situations trigger completely different emotional reactions in different people? In this short series, I’m exploring the...
All Actions Are Attempts to Meet Needs
When I listen to the news and hear some politicians speak, I’m sometimes stunned by what I see as deeply distorted beliefs. It’s like being inside a bizarre movie – except that reality is more extreme than fiction. Their words and actions can land so far outside...
All people have good intentions
Sometimes you are not included in these intentions. “What are your hidden motives?” My colleague looked sceptically at me after I offered to take on an unpopular job task. My first reaction was irritation and disappointment. I wanted to contribute and was met with...