Crucial conversations are characterized by high stakes, strong emotions, and varied opinions.

Why are they important?

Because there’s a direct correlation between crucial conversations, dialogue, and success.

When people are in the throes of a high-risk conversation, much hangs in the balance. Fortunately, when people are able to honestly and accurately discuss all the relevant issues – including facts, opinions, theories, and feelings – they make better choices. They identify problems early. They make better decisions. They take better action. They strengthen relationships.

In short, they get better results.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High is based on research repeated in two dozen industries involving more than 20,000 employees.

This research has correlated crucial conversations practices with:

• Increased productivity
• Improved quality
• Reduced defects
• Increased leadership effectiveness
• Greater inter-and intra-team cooperation
• Accelerated change implementation
• Enhanced individual influence
• Improved diversity practices
• Reduced safety incidents
• Etc., etc.

In a nutshell, here’s what the researchers found:

• All relationships, families, teams, and organizations have problems.
   
• The difference between good organizations and the best is not how many problems they have – it’s how respectfully and rapidly problems get solved.
  
• People’s ability to confront emotionally and politically risky topics (crucial conversations) with each other is the #1 predictor of rapid problem-solving.
   
• If you want to become unstuck and improve your results and relationships, you need to improve your ability to deal with crucial conversations.
   
• When faced with crucial conversations, you have only three options – avoid them, deal with them badly, or deal with them well.

Crucial Conversations teaches the skills for dealing with them well.

What Others Are Saying About Crucial Conversations

"Revolutionary ideas ... opportunities for breakthrough." - Stephen R. Covey, author of the best-selling Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

"Brilliant strategies for those difficult discussions." - Soledad O'Brien, Co-Host of CNN's Morning Edition

"These skills have generated new techniques for working together in ways that enabled us to win the largest contract in our industry's history." - Dain M. Hancock, President, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, recipient of the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter Program

"... extremely helpful tools to operate in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment." - Karie A. Willyerd, Chief Talent Officer, Solectron

“We use Crucial Conversations training because it’s all about getting great results. It focuses on personal accountability. It helps us separate facts from assumptions and identify the real root causes of performance issues. Like everyone else in the industry, we hire smart people. To get the most
   Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan    from that valuable human resource, we need an
   is a Master Certified Trainer     environment where people feel safe in speaking
   in Crucial Conversations    their minds and challenging the status quo in a
                                          positive, productive way. Crucial Conversations training provides the right skills. In an atmosphere of mutual purpose and mutual respect, our people are better able to meet the high performance standards required in the nuclear industry.”  – Rick Muench, President & CEO, Wolf Creek Nuclear

Click here for a free download of
the first chapter of the book.

To get a copy of Crucial Conversations at a 32% discount,
click here.

For more information on Crucial Conversations training,
click here.

All materials related to Crucial Conversations^® are derived from the copyrighted works of VitalSmarts, L.C. The Duncan Company is an authorized and licensed associate of VitalSmarts.