We've all been there We know we must talk to a colleague our boss or event a friend about something we know will be at least uncomfortable & at worst explosive So we repeatedly mull it over until we can no longer put it off & then finally stumble through a confrontation when we could have had a conversation Difficult Conversations is the definitive work on handling these unpleasant exchanges based on 15 years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project It teaches us to work through them by understand that we're not engaging in one dialogue but three the "what happened" conversation (what do we believe was said & done) the "feelings" conversation (the emotional impact on everyone involved) & the "identity" conversation (what does this mean for everyone's opinion of themselves) In a world where asking for a pay rise saying 'no' to your boss asking a favour or apologizing for a mistake can be a horrendous nightmare Difficult Conversations deserves its position as a business classic