Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
ByDouglas Stone,Bruce Patton,+1 more
1999 • 250 pages
Ratings11
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings11
Average rating3.7
The 10th anniversary edition of the classic guide to handling life's toughest conversations What is a difficult conversation? Asking for a pay rise, saying 'no' to your boss or spouse, confronting a friend, apologizing. We all have conversations that we dread and find unpleasant. But can we develop the skills to make such situations less stressful and more productive? Based on fifteen years of research and consultations with thousands of people, Difficult Conversations pinpoints what works. It teaches us to work through them by understanding that we're not engaging in one dialogue but three: - The "what happened" conversation (what do we believe was said and done) - The "feelings" conversation (the emotional impact on everyone involved) - The "identity" conversation (what does this mean for everyone's opinion of themselves) Use this ground-breaking, step-by-step book to turn your difficult conversations into positive, problem-solving experiences.
Reviews with the most likes.
I started reading this book to figure out how to deal with a problematic colleague. That situation has since resolved itself, so I'm unable to speak directly to the effectiveness of the advice. I like a lot of the ideas; some of them might be hard to get others to buy into.
One thing that did bother me a bit: they used example situations to demonstrate that their techniques work, but... those situations and conversations are made up wholesale. Sometimes they were persuasive, and you can see how a conversation might go that way, but other times, those conversations can seem unrealistic and overly pat.
