Praise for Breaking Through Gridlock

“A field manual for change agents on how to build bridges across differences and move from talk to action.”

—Adam Grant, Professor of Management, The Wharton School, and New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

“This book is not for the fainthearted, but if you truly want to change the world, it’s essential. It challenges us—as advocates, as citizens, as humans—to identify our own motivations and assumptions to create common ground with those we oppose or avoid. It asks us to abandon certainty and righteousness to allow for new and different paths toward our goals. And it gives us the tools and the inspiration to do so.”

—Gwen Ruta, Senior Vice President, Climate and Energy, Environmental Defense Fund

“Our country’s future depends on our ability to reach beyond our echo chambers. Jay and Grant guide us through starting the conversations so crucial to our democracy.”

—Van Jones, cofounder and President, The Dream Corps; CNN contributor; and author

“We need the creativity that can be harnessed from competing perspectives to craft a thriving organization and a thriving society. This book gives people the tools to take that on.”

—John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market

“Jason Jay and Gabriel Grant single out authenticity as the key to breaking through the conversational gridlock that afflicts so many of our public and private interactions. They highlight the traps we fall into, as well as promising pathways for working our way out of them. It won’t be easy, but you can use the exercises they offer to practice sidestepping the polarizing moves we make without even being aware of what we are doing.”

—Lawrence Susskind, founder of the Consensus Building Institute; Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, MIT; and Vice Chair, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School

“Whether you’re hoping to shift your company, your community, or even yourself, Jay and Grant have produced an accessible and practical guide that will make you chuckle with recognition—then motivate you to get to work.”

—Christine Bader, author of The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist