Difficult Conversations in Startups

Recently I started reading the book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. The authors are a research team at Harvard working on the Harvard Negotiation Project, which has been in the works for several decades. In all aspect of life, and especially the startup world, as with any fast-paced leadership situation, there are a number of difficult conversations with team members, customers, investors, and more.

One of the areas that resonated with me was around why we each see the world differently and how to better understand another person. From the book, here are three reasons why we see the world differently:

1. We have different information
   – We notice different things
   – We each know ourselves better than anyone else case
2. We have different interpretations
   – We are influenced by past experiences
   – We apply different implicit rules
3. Our conclusions reflect self interest

If you’re looking for advice and guidance on being a better leader and communicator, this book is for you.

What else? What were some other takeaways from the book for you?