One of the best models on communication, and spotting issues in organizational culture and communications, that I've ever read. Their model is based on describing how communications fall on a continuum (pretense, sincerity, accuracy, and authenticity).

I recommend reading some of their work on these 4 things first before purchasing, but I've noticed this same pattern across many other models you'll see people use, these guys just describe it better. For example Intel's successful "Disagree and Commit" as well as what Ed Catmull's "Creativity, Inc" (president of Pixar animation and now Disney Animation) describe are essentially based on the same principles, that helped build Pixar in to what it is, and what Disney Animation has been able to achieve on their last 4 movies. It also underlies much of what's cool about what Valve Software does in their organizational culture.

It's a structure for spotting and helping to fix issues in the way teams communicate with each other.

If you can help people to communicate well, they'll generally be able to figure out nearly any issue they may run across, this model helps you understand what's happening, and spot issues. I think it's wonderful and have applied aspects of it for the last 10 years.

Conversation is like the air we breathe. It is all around, always present, and taken for granted. In Communication Catalyst Mickey Connolly and Richard Rianoshek create a communicate model that points to the fact that we are suffocating from lack of oxygen--meaning we are gasping for meaningful dialogue--in our lives, in our families in our work environment. Conversation is the most available and most underutilized resource that we have to create what we want in our lives. Through their model you can learn how to be mindful of the conversations around you and even more powerfully how to be mindful of the conversation you are having in your own head. Is this conversation creating "value"; therefore, empowering? Or is this conversation creating separation, confusion or fear, which equals "waste"?
"In organizational life the community is potentially much smarter than any individual. However, your ability to release the potential brilliance of the community depends to a large extent on to the quality of interaction between individuals. In today's business world, the ability to engage in high-quality conversations represents a real competitive edge."
To leverage this competitive edge, we must become masters of coordinating action. The more variables, the greater the need for clarity. We all know this. But how do you design for clarity in coordinated activity? The answer is lies within the Communication Catalyst's conversation meter. Just like Jack Welch says that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. This tool enables individuals to evaluate the quality of the interactions taking place within any given system. The meter is a dashboard with a horizontal axis from 1-100:
0-25 Pretense Focus:
Avoid Difficulty A direct conflict between what you say in one situation and what you say in another (lying, withholding information).
25-50 Sincerity Focus:
Be honest, defend my honest opinion An honest report of my point of view; includes thoughtless certainty that my view is accurate.
50-75 Accuracy Focus:
Reveal facts and compare explanations for value Separating mutually observable facts from explanation of those facts. Includes the recognition that my perceptions are not reality.
75-100 Authenticity Focus:
Clarify several essential purpose and reveal intersections for action Genuine appreciation of various views and factors, researching where they intersect for new insight and opportunity.
Most people communicate to either entertain, convince or advise. When you become more mindful to conversation you learn that the level of effectives is a direct result of the level of listening. According to Connolly and Rianoshek the true litmus test for listening is that learning has occurred. Learning? Yes, learning. How can you learn while you are defending a position? That is exactly the point.
In order to create progress and momentum in whatever goal you are coordinating through others, you must be able to create a pathway to action that includes the worries, concerns, and perspective of the others involved--this "pathway to action" is called the intersection. In order to design and intersection in conversation, one must internalize these core axioms:
All humans have purposes, concerns, and circumstances.
When people perceive you are unaware or opposed to their purposes, concerns and circumstances they resist, producing waste.
When people perceive you are aware of and sensitive to their purposes, concerns and circumstances they communicate and collaborate, producing value.
When we come to conversation with a mindset to learn and respect these axioms, we can reduce fear, confusion, and create authentic and actionable outcomes.
The Communication Catalyst is full of real examples that demonstrate not only the philosophy behind the communication model but application. Truly a breath of fresh air.

Jennifer Sertl
Co-author Strategy Leadership & the Soul
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585.704.5202

The book arrived on time and in the expected condition.
This is an outstanding book on communication with emphasis on converting wasteful conversations to valuable and productive ones. Its lessons are ones I draw on almost daily in working with people. We've used this book in our company for years and I'm sorry it is out of print.

Timeless and priceless wisdom for anybody who deals with other human beings and has to accomplish results in collaboration with others.
Practical tools and examples make the book so valuable, an accompanying story and chapter summaries make reading easy and entertaining.
I know this book for 12+ years and can confirm that understanding grows every time you open it. A must-read for leaders, project Managers and everyone in business.

Excellent insights into how to stop wasting time and get things done creatively and quickly when working with teams, projects or just working together with the people in your life.

I have been a lifelong student of listening and value based conversation. The authors have taken material we all know, added new and relevant insights and put it all together in a way that makes this a valuable read and tool for both business and personal life. The format is entertaining and provides real tools that will produce results.

Connolly and Rianoshek take the view that any issue, no matter how seemingly intractable, can be resolved through effective communication. The ideas and tools in this book back up that view. The writing is clear and the organization will make it available to a variety of learning styles. Excellent book!

The concepts of the book are solid, however, there is a lot of repetition. Also, in the early chapters they miss defining some of the concepts and then just throw them out there in the later chapters. With a solid professional edit this book could be 5 star.