There is a lot of rich literature about communication; and we share some of our favorite sources below.
Articles
The following articles describe tools for analyzing conversations, only some of which were included in this book.
•Eight Behaviours for Smarter Teams by Roger Schwarz (https://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/917018/Eight-Behaviors-for-Smarter-Teams-2.pdf)
•“Putting the ‘Relational’ Back in Human Relationships” by Diana McLain Smith (https://thesystemsthinker.com/putting-the-relational -back-in-human-relationships/)
•“To the Rescue” by Roger Martin from the Stanford Social Innovation Review (https://ssir.org/articles/entry/to_the_rescue)
•“Skilled Incompetence” by Chris Argyris from the Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/1986/09/skilled-incompetence)
Books
Difficult Conversations by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen is a gentle introduction to the techniques we describe in Agile Conversations.
The Skilled Facilitator by Roger Schwarz and Discussing the Undiscussable by Bill Noonan are more advanced guides to conversational analysis, covering many applications and including real-world examples.
The Elephant in the Room by Diana McLain Smith and The Responsibility Virus by Roger Martin cover specific applications of conversational techniques to complex business relationships, such as those burdened with a long history of poor interaction or with confusion over roles and responsibilities.
Action Science by Chris Argyris, Robert Putnam, and Diana McLain Smith is the seminal work on the Action Science methods that provided the bedrock for this book and several of the other resources in this list. It is more academic and theoretical than other writings cited here, and has the additional virtue of being freely available online.
I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Now What?: Break the Impasse and Get What You Need by Dr. Xavier Amador describes the model he developed while providing therapy for people in denial to the general public: LEAP (Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner). This approach is conversational and, we believe, is both similar to and applicable for the methods we describe in this book.
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD, is more than an approach to communication; it is a philosophy for living. However, even people skeptical of this philosophy can find some very useful exercises to reflect on their communication and their mind-set.
Video and Audio
Every week on the Troubleshooting Agile podcast (https://troubleshootingagile.com), we discuss relevant, current topics in Agile, Lean, and DevOps teams, offering ideas and solutions for improving delivery and communication in software teams.
The weekly Feeling Good podcast by Dr. David Burns (https://feelinggood.com/list-of-feeling-good-podcasts/) regularly provides excellent real-life examples of how changing conversations changes relationships. Particularly relevant are the episodes covering The Five Secrets of Communication and the Interpersonal Model.
The companion website for this book, ConversationalTransformation.com, has follow-up materials, videos, a mailing list to join, and much more.
In Person
The London Organisational Learning Meetup, (https://www.meetup.com/London-Action-Science-Meetup) meets monthly in London. It is run by Jeffrey Fredrick, and is an excellent opportunity to practice and improve your conversations with others who are interested in changing culture.