Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler

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Book Review of Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, & Al Switzler

Having difficult conversations, speaking honestly in conversations, conflict in conversations, and being able to think clearly and hold onto myself in those conversations is one of my biggest weaknesses. I’m terrible at it. I seriously need help! I usually fall apart, apologize, take back my opinion, or just withdraw. When I heard about Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler I knew I had to read it! Maybe they could help me!

Blurb:

This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever. The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation―especially difficult ones―leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, it teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person.

This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to: Respond when someone initiates a Crucial Conversation with you Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it Communicate more effectively across digital mediums When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results. Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, Crucial Conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you’ll never have to worry about the outcome of a Crucial Conversation again.

My Book Review:

This book is chock-full of great information! It’s written in a way that makes it easy to understand—difficult to apply, but easy to understand! The authors lay out the information in a thoughtful and helpful way, with ideas progressing from basic to more complex.

I learned a lot! A lot. They use many acronyms in an effort to make the information easier to remember, which I applaud, but still can’t always remember (Palm to forehead). I think I need to print out notecards to remind myself.

I really like the ideas, though. You start with adding more information to the pool of thought/knowledge/information. Dialogue needs to be safe in order for everyone to risk adding their thoughts to this pool. You can do this through shared meaning. The bigger this pool, the smarter the conversation will be because you’re likely to have better and more accurate information.

You begin by starting with yourself. What problems am I contributing to the problem or the dynamic? The only person we have control over or can truly change is ourself, so it doesn’t help to blame others. So, start with the right motives and stay focused. You do this by staying focused on your goals and not getting sucked into a sucker’s choice (either/or choices p30). In order to do this, you need to know what you really want.

This is just the tip of the information iceberg in Crucial Conversations. The authors give many real-world examples and walk you through each step of the process. They’ve simplified it as much as possible, and although it’s a LOT of information, it’s very helpful. At the end of the book they discuss many of the most difficult situations and help you use their process in each case.

Also, at the end of the book they discuss how many people will learn the info, think it’s great and helpful, and then not do anything with it. Haha. I liked how this part was built in. I’m ashamed to say that that might be me. This is so difficult for me, and I cannot remember all the steps on the fly when emotions run high. Don’t worry, though, they’ve added strategies to help you not be one of those people. Hold me accountable, ok?? I will get better at this, I will get better at this, I will get better at this…