This is a mainstay title in the business/managerial self-help genre. Patterson et al begins by defining crucial conversations as those interactions that have high emotion and potential for high impact on life or business. Then they give steps to help people keep dialog open by creating a safe place for conversation, seeking commonality, avoiding common pitfalls, etc.I didn't find this book as helpful as The Power of Moments, or Smart Trust. Really, the main message of this book is "Don't be a jerk". If you were the kind of person who has trouble with your mouth running away from you when you are upset, this could be a useful resource, though, as the authors state in the end, it would take a lot of practice and focused effort for someone to truly internalize these principles. If done on a more superficial level, some of the phrases and practices the authors suggest could come off sounding really insincere and condescending. The tone of the writing is kind of flippant. I think that was meant to be amusing, and it is, but after a while it gets a little tiresome. Still, the book is readable enough, and has enough good ideas that I would recommend this to certain kinds of people who have certain kinds of communication issues.(240 p. 2002)
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