Crucial Conversations

Crucial Conversations

Business in this country is undergoing turbulent change: restructuring, reorganization, downsizing, titles changing, organization chart changing, but little has been done “on the people side.” We have failed to give people tools to cope with these major problems. Mike Hammer in his book, Reengineering, writes that 80% of all a company’s efforts fail to achieve expected results, and of all the reasons, the number one neglected issue is people.

Though people tend to handle routine business communication effectively, when it comes to crucial conversations, things “bog down, go haywire,” yet such conversations have “incredible potential.” McMillan says, “Whenever you’re stuck, there’s a crucial conversation keeping you there.”