Hearing the Unsaid

As with other human endeavors, managing a business consists of having critical conversations. The essence of effective group decision-making is having these conversations with those who have knowledge, expertise, and experience.

A critical conversation is one where a meaningful exchange of information and opinion occurs; that critical conversation is also likely to be an emotional and therefore difficult conversation. Unfortunately, everyday conventions of conversation and emotions of the moment often serve to divert and prevent critical conversations from taking place.
Even over years of being in business together, many business owners have not had critical conversations, or, if they have, the conversations have gone badly. In many cases despite prior failed attempts, owners can become aware of the basic skills of critical communication and facilitate critical conversations.