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Zero to One Full Chapter Book Summary

Zero to One Full Chapter Book Summary
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Every entrepreneur is eager to know what kind of startup can gain a foothold in the business world, and understand how to make innovative products, face competition, assemble teams, sell products and services, and ensure a company's sustainable development. In this book, Peter Thiel, known as the "Silicon Valley venture capital godfather," gives the right answers based on his entrepreneurial history and experience. In his opinion, startups must find unique ways to innovate if they want to succeed.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future.”
 
For those who are interested in starting a business, they will always be anxious before starting a business. What kind of entrepreneurial project is more likely to succeed? Should they enter a red ocean to participate in the competition or strive to find a blue ocean to explore the unknown world? Going into a red ocean means that there are existing and successful cases that can be learned from and referred to. But when faced with many competitors, it is not easy to survive and win. However, choosing blue oceans is not necessarily better than red oceans. Although there is not much competition in blue oceans, if the market is not developed, the road ahead will be full of unknowns and challenges for any pioneers. Whether they can keep going depends on their determination and capabilities.
 
Every entrepreneur is eager to know what kind of startup can gain a foothold in the business world, and how to make innovative products, face competition, assemble teams, sell products and services, and ensure a company's sustainable development. This book gives the right answers to these critical and highly practical questions.
 
The author, Peter Thiel, who is known as the “Silicon Valley venture capital godfather” and a thinker in the investment world. Which companies come to our mind when we think of the most successful startups in the past decades? Probably Facebook, LinkedIn, and Tesla? All these startup stars are closely related to Peter Thiel.
 
Peter Thiel is a successful entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal in 1998 and sold it to eBay for US$ 1.5 billion in 2002, bringing e-commerce to a new era. But what is more commendable is his investment foresight for startups, as we mentioned in another bookey “The Facebook Effect” in which we introduced him as the first Facebook investor. He then co-founded Founder Fund, which has provided early funding for LinkedIn, SpaceX, Yelp and dozens of outstanding technology startups. Former colleagues ran many of these companies. They have been dubbed the “PayPal Mafia,” which includes Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla.

Why Nations Fail Full Free Audio Book Summary

Why Nations Fail Full Free Audio Book Summary
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Why are some nations wealthy and others poor? Why is it that vastly different institutions can emerge in two nations of similar backgrounds and origins, with a huge disparity in the respective quality of life of their citizens? Just what exactly determines a country’s future? This book combs through the developmental history of human civilization and analyses the case studies of over twenty countries in great detail to show us why different countries have different institutions, and how good and bad institutions can influence a nation’s destiny.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty.
 
What is the greatest challenge facing mankind today? Every person has a different answer to this question. Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the bestselling sociology classic Guns, Germs and Steel, which we have unlocked for you in a previous bookey, believes that the problem of income disparity among various countries around the world can be considered the greatest challenge facing humanity today.
 
The per capita income of Egypt is only 12% that of the United States – this is a shocking figure, and it is arguably one of the key factors for Egypt’s political instability. However, this example is not even the largest disparity known to exist between countries. The gap between the per capita income of the United States and that of the poorest countries in the world is much larger – in those countries, even a full meal might be considered a luxury.  
 
What exactly causes this disparity? Why are some nations prosperous with a flourishing population, while others are impoverished with their people in deep suffering? Can poor countries ever change their destiny, or are they doomed to fail? Since the dawn of time, countless experts have tried to answer this question. The book Why Nations Fail provides us with a short answer: institutions.  
 
While this answer appears to be deceptively simple, it is full of complexities. It took the authors of this book fifteen years of dedicated research to arrive at this answer. Both authors are leading economists: Daron Acemoglu is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recipient of the prestigious John Bates Clark Award, and James Robinson is a professor at Harvard University and world-renowned expert in Latin American and African studies.
 
Over the course of fifteen years, these two experts pored over thousands of years of human history, and compared the developmental processes of over twenty countries. They came to the conclusion that differences in institutions are responsible for the different fates of various countries around the world. In this book, Acemoglu and Robinson analyze volumes of historical case studies to show us why different countries developed different institutions in the first place, how the earliest institutions came about, and how good and bad institutions can influence a nation’s destiny.

When Breath Becomes Air Full Free Audio Book Summary

When Breath Becomes Air Full Free Audio Book Summary
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After many years of hard study and medical practice, Paul finally caught a glimpse of his own Promised Land. He was poised to receive a tenure-track professorship and a chance to start his own neuroscience lab from the Stanford University School of Medicine. At that moment, he joined the 0.12 unlucky people out of every ten thousand who contracts lung cancer before the age of 36. From then on, he began to explore the truth behind death as a doctor and a patient. While we listen in to this bookey, Paul, its author, has already passed away. His breath has turned into air, yet the courage he possessed in the face of death lives on.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book When Breath Becomes Air.
 
For every ten thousand people in the modern world, of those under the age of 36, only 0.12 will contract lung cancer. The book’s author Paul Kalanithi happened to be one of this tiny unfortunate minority. At Stanford University, Kalanithi attained dual honors in his Bachelor’s degree in English literature and human biology. He went on to earn a Master of Philosophy in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Finally, at the Yale School of Medicine, his stellar research was acknowledged with a PhD. During his six to seven years of residency, he worked a hundred hours a week. For his efforts in this period of intensive research, the American Academy of Neurological Surgery acknowledged him with their highest award. In short, at Stanford University, he was hailed as one of the most gifted doctors. However, in his final year of residency, as he was poised to receive a tenure-track professorship as well as an opportunity to head his own neuroscience lab at Stanford University School of Medicine, Kalanithi was denied the time to savor the fruits of his years of hard labor. He was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and forced to confront his mortality.
 
Death itself is not shocking but having life snatched away prematurely often leaves people with a tragic sense of regret. From the moment when a person is diagnosed with cancer, they will inevitably yearn to set the clock back and live their life again. Yet, a fact is a fact. Going back to the old life, as well as the future that one imagined, is now seen to be nothing more than extravagant dreams. What should one do in this predicament? Merely wait for death to come? No. Paul Kalanithi decided to continue living as he would have lived had he not been given his tumultuous cancer diagnosis. The Paul of the past had wanted a child. After much deliberation, a post-cancer Paul made the same decision to extend his family, even if this might make saying goodbye even more excruciating.
 
Paul had always regarded medicine to be his life-long mission. After his diagnosis, Paul went back to the operating theatre whenever his physical condition allowed. Paul had always wanted to write. So, despite suffering intense physical pain from his condition, he propped himself up and forced his weakened frame to write ceaselessly. And finally, he completed When Breath Becomes Air. Although cancer had the effect of accelerating Paul’s life to its end, he remained faithful to his heart’s desires. He kept asking himself what was meaningful, what was truly important. Then, he channeled all his remaining strength and spirit into those enterprises.  
 
When he finally came to the brink and faced death, he smiled. Paul said, ‘I am ready.’ He passed away with tranquility. His attitude was constant. He ended his life in the same spirit that he set out on his final arduous journey; calm, accepting, and positive in the face of the unimaginable. He never thought to ask, “Why me?” but rather would think, “Why not me?” What happened to Paul was heartbreaking, but he never painted it as a tragedy.

The Silk Roads Full Free Audio Book Summary

The Silk Roads Full Free Audio Book Summary
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Were you under the impression that the Silk Road was just a trade route? Or a ‘belt’ around the world? The history of the Silk Road is a condensed version of world history. The historical journeys of countries don't happen in isolation – but are instead all inextricably linked to the Silk ‘Roads’. The book’s author redefines world history from the perspective of the Silk Road. By reading this book, you will discover that the Silk Road not only encompasses the history of humans, but also determines the future of the world.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we'll unlock the book The Silk Roads: A New History of the World.
 
When discussing the Silk Road, most people view it as an ancient trade route that connects the East with the West. History bestowed it with a great deal of mystery and legend: camels and goods travelled on the trade route; merchants of different races, different countries, and diverse cultural backgrounds interacted and traded with each other; Chinese silk and porcelain flowed along this trade route to various countries in the west. Silver from western countries also moved to the east on the same path…
 
This account of The Silk Roads that we will uncover today uses multiple threads to tell the stories that took place on the Silk Road, starting more than 2,000 years ago. The book begins its story with the creation of the Silk Road. Using a broad time frame, it recounts the stories of countries from their peak to their decline, and from humble beginnings to becoming entities that wield absolute power. It has shaped world history into a brand-new system. It reveals to people that for much of history, the world's axis revolved around the Silk Road. Each countries history doesn't evolve in isolation and is more or less associated with the Silk Road. From the Silk Road, we can see that the world is smaller and more accessible than we've previously imagined. World history has been redefined.
 
Once the book The Silk Roads was published, it quickly became a best-selling book around the world, and was even listed as No.1 in World History on Amazon UK! It was also no.1 in the genre of Historical Geography on Amazon US and no.1 on the list of non-fiction best sellers in India. It was also recommended by various organizations and figures. The People's Daily in China recommended it twice in 19 days, which was an unprecedented move by the most influential Chinese publication. The Times commented on the book saying: “Many books have been written which claim to be ‘A New History of the World.’ This rare one fully deserves the title.” The Economist stated: Frankopan uses exquisite and intelligent language to interpret a world history revolving around the East. The famous British historian William Dalrymple lavishly praised the book by saying: “ambition that is rare … a remarkable book on many levels, a proper historical epic of dazzling range and achievement.”
 
Peter Frankopan is the author of this book and a famous British historian. He has received considerable attention from mainstream academic historians around the world because he's shown a talent for examining the anatomy of the contemporary world from a perspective that differs from European history. For this book, The Silk Roads, in particular, he consulted all the literary and historical resources that he could find in libraries around the world. Finally, he wrote this well sourced book which included nearly a hundred citations for each chapter on average, as can be seen from its numerous endnotes.

The Millionaire Next Door Full Free Audio Book Summary

The Millionaire Next Door Full Free Audio Book Summary
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This book is a comprehensive first-hand research conducted on America’s millionaires. The authors explain simple spending and saving habits to attain financial independence. They debunk the myths about the millionaire lifestyle, showing us that most times we are misinformed about what actually means to be rich. The key to this book shows that the millionaire next door is usually frugal, saves regularly and invests wisely.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy.
 
After years of research, in this book Stanley and Danko share strategies or secrets of ordinary American people that have accumulated wealth to the point of becoming millionaires.
 
Its main premise is that people who look rich may not actually be rich, they overspend often on symbols of wealth, but actually have modest portfolios and, sometimes, big debts. On the other hand, actual millionaires tend to live in middle-income neighborhoods, drive economical cars, wear simple watches and buy suits off the rack.
 
Let me ask you a question, what is your impression of millionaires? Do they go to high-end venues; wear luxury watches; drive exotic cars; buy yachts; live in mansions; build wine cellars; and enjoy luxury brands?
 
If your answer is yes, chances are you’ve been duped by the carefully created image of the rich in the media. Real millionaires don’t look like this. They don’t splurge. They’re frugal and low-key. They may even be living next door.
 
Those who wear gold and silver are the “typical rich”; illusion created by the consumer market, which poses two problems. First, it makes us feel that the kind of life wealthy people have is unattainable to us, which means is far away from us and no matter what we do we wouldn’t be able to keep up with that. Second, it induces us to imitate the “typical rich” model deliberately, and embark on the road of high consumption as the “pseudo rich”. Once falling into the consumption trap carefully arranged by the consumption age, a person can hardly rely on their own consciousness to get out.
 
The Millionaire Next Door also reveals the truth about the pseudo rich. What is a pseudo rich? It’s someone who has high income but also high consumption of their      made-up needs making it difficult or nearly impossible to save and accumulate wealth regardless of what he or she does. They cater to the “typical rich” illusion of the age of consumption. As a result, they may seem to have a high standard of living but will never achieve financial freedom. In contrast, true millionaires do not get caught up in the lifestyle of appearances.
 
The book is a highly statistical exploration of America’s millionaires, which consists of households who have a net worth of 1-10 million dollars. The authors, both of them being scholars, were studying and researching the profiles of the wealthy and accidentally found a very interesting pattern of consumption, investment and savings within them, what they like to call ‘the hidden secrets of the wealthy’.
 
As a result, Stanley turned these observations into a series of best-sellers of wealthy people, the most influential of which was The Millionaire Next Door. After it was published in 1996, it stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for 88 weeks and sold for more than a million copies.
 
He explains that the public’s view of wealth is wrong. Income and wealth are not the same. Both the rich and the pseudo rich have high incomes, but the rich accumulate much more wealth than the pseudo rich. Second, one can hardly become a millionaire through luck, inheritance, high social status, or even high intelligence. Still, one can accumulate wealth through self-restraint, frugality, and hard work, eventually becoming a real millionaire.

The Courage to be Disliked Full Free Audio Book Summary

The Courage to be Disliked Full Free Audio Book Summary
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Can people change themselves? Who do we actually compete against? How can we be free? What does happiness mean? Should we pursue being the best or embrace being ordinary? It is not difficult to find answers to these questions over the course of these five nights of conversation between a youth and a philosopher. In this dialogue, the youth represents you and me; the philosopher is an incarnation of the psychologist Alfred Adler. Together these two personas explore some of life’s fundamental truths. If you seek enlightenment and want to understand how you can live in a less complex and confusing way, with a freer and more joyous mindset, this book will be of great help.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book The Courage to be Disliked.
 
The book starts with a question. Is the world simple or complicated?
 
A young person holds the view that the child’s world is almost certainly a simple one, but, with age, the world gradually reveals its complexity. The romantic ideals of childhood soon vanish. With age and experience, in the blink of an eye, brutal realism sets in. As people mature, they are beset with complicated interpersonal relationships. They become tangled up in all sorts of responsibilities. Despite this perception, a philosopher continues to advocate, and with great earnestness, that the world is, in fact, extremely simple. This philosopher claims that everyone can achieve happiness at any time. The youth, who cannot accept such a perspective, visits this philosopher, seeks a debate and wants to shatter the philosopher’s Utopian fantasies.
 
This youth introduces some examples of various types of suffering in the real world. Yet, the philosopher is steadfast. His answer remains the same, believing that the world is not complicated. Instead, it is the youth who perceives the world to be complicated. The philosopher believes that we do not live in an objective world but, rather, a subjective world built on an individual’s experience of it. Hence everyone perceives the world differently from the next person. Such a subjective perspective can be understood by considering the different feelings people will have in different seasons when they touch the water taken from a well. Underground water almost always holds a stable temperature of 18 degrees all year round, summer and winter. However, people tend to perceive this water to be cool and refreshing in the summer and mild and warm in the winter. On the surface, this appears to be just an illusion brought about by changes in the environment, and yet, it is not fully an illusion. To every person who drinks the water, the coolness or warmth of the well water is an undeniable fact. Such an undeniable reality is what the philosopher is referring to when he says that each person’s world is subjective. Nobody can escape the reality of their own perceptions and the subjectivity of their lived experiences.   
 
The philosopher highlights that the youth’s belief that the world is complex, chaotic, and incomprehensible has nothing to do with the world itself. It is something inside and has to do with the youth’s worldview. If this young person wishes the world to be simple, He needs first to take off his tinted glasses and make some other adjustments. Following the philosopher’s mind, not only will the world become simple, but anyone, without exception, can enjoy that simplicity and, through it, achieve happiness at any time.

Tess of the D’Urbervilles Full Book Review

Tess of the D'Urbervilles Full Book Review
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Written in the British critical realist style of the 19th century, the tragic story of Tess of the d’Urbervilles is probably Thomas Hardy’s most famous work. Tess, the novel’s heroine, is a peasant girl, pure in heart and attractive. The hardships she experiences in the story eventually destroy her. Tess’s life is quite impoverished. She must work to support her poor relatives. Previously, Tess’s family were of aristocratic descent, but at the start of the book, they have fallen from favor and lost their fortune. Alec d’Urberville, the lascivious heir to a significant inheritance, takes advantage of Tess’s naivety. His seduction leads to her being disgraced. Tess’s true beloved, learning of her lost virginity, abandons her. Afterwards, Tess’s life spirals down, in cruel steps, to ruin.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock Tess of the D'Urbervilles by the British realist author Thomas Hardy.
 
Hardy was born in 1840. His father was a stonemason in Dorset, England. Hardy didn’t move away and settled to live in this part of the British countryside for most of his life. He loved nature and derived a great deal of inspiration for his books from the landscape and the outdoors. Most of his novels are set in the countryside, presenting a strong local flavor. The ancient name of his home region was Wessex. He often referrers to Wessex in his novels to define the local character. With Hardy Wessex Novels became a whole genre of English literature, but Hardy always held the title of the genre’s preeminent writer. Tess of the D'Urbervilles is an exemplar of this phenomenon. The novel is regarded as the peak of Hardy's creative career.
 
The story of Tess relates the tragic life of a pure woman beset by hardships, suffering, and abuse. The book’s heroine, Tess, is born into a poor peasant family, victims of the economic recession that hit Europe in the 1870s, known as the Long Depression. Tess's father stumbles upon the knowledge that he may be a descendant of the noble d'Urberville family. He sends Tess to these wealthy relatives in order to stake a claim that they are of the same family thereby overcome their current economic misfortune. Tess gains employment on the d'Urberville estate, but the lascivious d’Urberville son, Alec, forces himself on her and rapes her. From this point, the real tragedy begins.
 
This novel was written at the end of the 19th century in England’s Victorian era. When it was first published, it caused a great stir for several reasons. Firstly, Hardy created an impressive female figure who rebelled against many forms of social oppression. Hardy lambasted the traditional moral standards of Victorian social classes and added a controversial subtitle to his piece - “A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented”. Hardy was severely criticized by the public for this subtitle as his heroine is a woman who, in their view, was impure because she lost her virginity. Hardy responded to this criticism in the preface to his book’s first edition. He quoted the words of St. Jerome, the Latin translator of the Bible, “If an offence come out of the truth, better it is that the offence come than that the truth be concealed.” The way he stood up for his narrative shows Hardy's courage and his rebellious spirit against the rotten religious morality of the time.

Getting to Yes Full Book Review

Getting to Yes Full Book Review
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Negotiation is closely related to our lives. Buyers and sellers bargain over the price of a product. Employees strive for a promotion or a pay raise from the boss. Children debate their parents over what time to go to bed at night. These are all familiar negotiation scenes in our daily lives. Everyone is a negotiator, and those who are better at negotiation meet their needs more efficiently. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In presents the research results of the Harvard Negotiation Project. This book will teach you how to negotiate more efficiently and help you achieve win-win outcomes!
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today, we will unlock the book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.
 
Negotiation is closely related to our lives. Every one of us is a negotiator in the sense that we all face various negotiation scenarios every day. Thus, negotiation is an essential skill that we should master.
 
However, negotiation is not simple, and it is often hard to achieve good results. You may have encountered awkward situations like the following: Neither you nor the seller is willing to budge an inch while bargaining. Your boss rejects your request for a promotion or a pay raise. You argue with your colleague over differing proposals. So, is there any negotiation method that defends our interests while also satisfying the other party?
 
Of course, there is! The book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In proposes the “principled negotiation,” a general strategy that applies to various negotiation situations. This so-called "principle" refers to the inner appeal of interests. The key is to treat your negotiating partner as a collaborator and focus on basic interests. Then, search for solutions that satisfy both parties’ common interests based on objective standards to achieve win-win outcomes.
 
This book was published in 2009 and has been a bestseller ever since. It has also been recommended by John Kenneth Galbraith, the advisor to three U.S. presidents, Cyrus Roberts Vance, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and Ayn Rand, a famous writer from the U.S.
 
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In was written by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton. They are three senior experts from the Harvard Negotiation Project. They are not only researchers but also practitioners in the field of negotiation. They provide professional negotiation consulting services for many individuals, companies, and even government agencies.

Eat That Frog! Full Book Review

Eat That Frog! Full Book Review
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In our workplace, each day we meet with various tasks of different complexities and deadlines. How do we allocate time for these tasks? Time management guru, Brian Tracy, shares the idea of eating the ugliest frog first, which is to tackle the toughest, most important task first.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.
 
Here’s a common challenge we all face at work: There are two very urgent and difficult tasks in front of you, how should you choose? A newcomer in the workplace would usually get themselves in a knot while working on two tasks at the same time. But this is not very efficient. When doing one task, you worry about the progress of the other one. As a result, you can do neither tasks well. So, what is the correct approach? It is very simple. To complete both tasks quickly, you have to deal with the more difficult and arduous task first, complete it and then do the other.
 
But there aren’t always just two urgent tasks at your work each day. You may arrive at work in the morning and have multiple tasks to be done, each with different urgency. Then how do you choose? Time management guru Brian Tracy offers us a tip: eat the ugliest frog first.
 
What does it mean? Here, the frog is the most difficult and important task for you. "Eating this frog" is to complete the most important and difficult task. As American writer Mark Twain once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” If there are two, eat the uglier one first.
 
This rule of eating the ugly frog first doesn’t match the daily work habits of many people. Think back to when you arrived at your office in the morning, would you choose to complete the simple tasks first? Then, when you are ready to solve difficult tasks, psychological fear and resistance may lead you to play with your phone and relax. If some trivial tasks are temporarily added, such as sending emails and reimbursing expenses, then "eating this frog" will become a drag. Most people find it difficult to resist the temptation of doing first the easy then the difficult. After all, you can get obvious results by completing simple tasks first. But doing so will neither improve work efficiency, nor performance, because you can easily drag important and difficult tasks to the last minute and end up having to hastily complete them. In the bookey of Deep Work, we also analyzed other disadvantage of such a choice. Feel free to listen to it. As a result, if you want to use time more efficiently, improve work efficiency and performance, you must learn to eat that frog.

Crucial Conversations Full Book Review

Crucial Conversations Full Book Review
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Inevitably, there will be “crucial moments” in our lives that are difficult to solve but will have a significant impact on the overall course of our life. However, most people handle these moments poorly, and even choose to avoid them. This book teaches us practical skills to handle crucial conversations, avoid unnecessary arguments, and achieve effective communication. This book is based on over 20 years of empirical research and data gathered from more than 100,000 people around the world. The skills described here have been adopted by more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, and the book has sold 3 million copies in the United States.
 
Overview | Chapter 1
Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we’ll unlock the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.
 
When people first hear the term “crucial conversation,” it may conjure up images of Apple and Google’s lawyers fighting a patent dispute in court, or politicians from various countries gathered at a round table in Geneva to hold an international conference. Although discussions like these indeed have a wide-sweeping impact, they’re not the subject of this book. The crucial conversations we’re referring to are interactions that everyone experiences. They’re the day-to-day conversations that affect your life, such as the following scenarios: Imagine that you are facing harassment from your boss, and if you choose to tolerate it, he will continue; if you fight back, the next day, he may fire you for walking into the office with your left foot first. Or at home, imagine that your spouse intentionally or unintentionally alienates himself or herself from you. If you choose to let the situation escalate to a cold war, then your marriage will be on the rocks. But if you fight back, it may just make your spouse withdraw even more. These situations are actually crucial moments in our lives, and the result of these conversations will have lasting positive or negative effects, leaving a huge impact on the quality of our lives. Unfortunately, most people do not handle crucial conversations in the right way. In this case, the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High proposes two principles: clarify what you really want and create a safe atmosphere that helps us seize every crucial moment in our lives.
 
This book is co-authored by a team of four authors. Kerry Patterson did doctoral work in organizational behavior at Stanford University. He is a recipient of the 2004 William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. Joseph Grenny has been a senior consultant in the field of corporate change research for more than 30 years. He is also a co-founder of a non-profit organization, which works to eradicate poverty around the world. Ron McMillan, an acclaimed speaker and senior consultant, is the co-founder of the Covey Leadership Center, where he serves as Vice President of Research and Development. Al Switzler is on the faculty of the Executive Development Center at the University of Michigan and has helped dozens of Fortune 500 companies. After 20 years of research involving more than 100,000 people around the world, the team selected a group of great conversationalists, analyzed their common characteristics and behaviors in crucial conversations, and narrowed down a set of effective methods, which are the basis of this book.