"Crucial Conversations"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the book "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High," written by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Stephen J. Covey. The paper describes the authors' seven key principles to make crucial conversations a true exchange of information that is conducive to productive action, rather than a source of conflagration and discord. It provides two examples to illustrate the points that it makes.

From the Paper:

"Although persuasion and articulating your 'path' is the goal of dialogue, such honesty does not mean one must be abrasive, cruel, and generate negative emotions. Speaking persuasively and not abrasively means stating one's path in a truthful fashion, but still being able to: explore the other person's 'path,' and even if it might not seem fair, and keep listening, even when the other party grows angry or silent. Again, it is easy to listen when things are going your way, the hard thing may be for the hurt wife to remain silent and hear her husband's explanation of the credit card bill, or for the employee to wait out that uncomfortable moment of silence in the bosses' office when the employee first mentions the long overdue raise."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, & Stephen J. Covey. (2002). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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