Wired for Peace

Traditional conflict resolution approaches (e.g., facilitated dialogue, communication training, mediation, etc.) often fail because they address symptoms rather than causes. Jeremy Pollack, PhD, a social-organizational psychologist who leads North America's largest workplace conflict resolution consulting firm and has coached executives at Fortune 100 companies and major nonprofits, draws on neuroscience, social neuropsychology, and predictive-processing theory to reveal why conflict escalates and how sustainable peace is actually created. His research-grounded framework shows that lasting resolution begins with understanding the autonomic nervous system and the brain's threat-prediction mechanisms.

Wired for Peace illuminates the internal neural architecture that determines how individuals perceive danger, construct narratives, react to stress, and choose between protection and connection. You'll discover how the autonomic nervous system, predictive processing, and neuroplasticity influence the 5 C's of conflict resolution: curiosity, communication, care, collaboration, and creativity. The book reveals why conventional modalities frequently fail unless underlying neural mechanisms are managed first.

Each chapter includes practical tools designed for anyone experiencing persistent conflict and especially useful for leaders, coaches, and conflict practitioners. You'll learn the real organizational costs of dysregulated systems--culture erosion, burnout, turnover, chronic mistrust, and impaired decision-making--and gain a complete framework for building more resilient individuals, teams, organizations, and communities through the science of safety, prediction, and connection. These tools address the evolutionary and neurobiological foundations that all forms of conflict share.

Written for leaders of all human systems, from families to workplaces to communities, and employees at every level in companies and nonprofits, Wired for Peace provides essential techniques for anyone experiencing persistent conflict and seeking to address its root causes rather than its surface symptoms. Community leaders, conflict resolution practitioners, and executive coaches will find research-backed techniques to add to their conflict management toolbox--approaches grounded in how the brain actually processes threat and creates the conditions for genuine peace.