Why Are We Yelling? (the Art Of Productive Disagreement)

By (author) Buster Benson; By (author) Benson, Buster
Short description/annotation
A practical guide to having more honest and constructive arguments, featuring whimsical illustrations and real-world examples of arguments-gone-wrong.
Description

‘This is a life-changing book. Read it three times and then give a copy to anyone you care about. It will make things better’ – Seth Godin, author of This Is Marketing

Why Are We Yelling? is Buster Benson’s essential guide to having more honest and constructive arguments.

Have you ever walked away from an argument and suddenly thought of all the brilliant things you wish you''d said? Do you avoid certain family members and colleagues because of bitter, festering tension that you can''t figure out how to address?

Now, finally, there''s a solution: a new framework that frees you from the trap of unproductive conflict and pointless arguing forever.

If the threat of raised voices, emotional outbursts, and public discord makes you want to hide under the conference room table, you''re not alone. Conflict, or the fear of it, can be exhausting. But as this powerful book argues, conflict doesn''t have to be unpleasant. In fact, properly channeled, conflict can be the most valuable tool we have at our disposal for deepening relationships, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas.

As the mastermind behind some of the highest-performing teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Slack, Buster Benson spent decades facilitating hard conversations in stressful environments. In this book, Buster reveals the psychological underpinnings of awkward, unproductive conflict and the critical habits anyone can learn to avoid it. Armed with a deeper understanding of how arguments, you''ll be able to:

* Remain confident when you''re put on the spot
* Diffuse tense moments with a few strategic questions
* Facilitate creative solutions even when your team has radically different perspectives

Why Are We Yelling? will shatter your assumptions about what makes arguments productive. You''ll find yourself having fewer repetitive, predictable fights once you''re empowered to identify your biases, listen with an open mind, and communicate well.

‘All you need is Buster Benson. His methods are instantly actionable, [and] his writing is funny and relatable’ – Adam Grant, author of Originals

Review quote
This is a life-changing book. Read it three times and then give a copy to anyone you care about. It will make things better
Review quote
Conflict can be ugly. But if you follow the precepts of Buster Benson, you’ll discover that it’s also inevitable, necessary, and even helpful . . . everybody can learn how to argue better and more productively with this provocative book
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All you need is Buster Benson. His methods are instantly actionable, his writing is funny and relatable, and his book is the ideal companion to Difficult Conversations
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I’m a sucker for frameworks, and this is one of the greats. You’ll learn to turn the messy, frustrating, emotional experience of arguing into a fine art. You’ll watch the quality of your collaborations – and your ideas – go through the roof
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In today’s polarized climate, ‘productive disagreement’ often feels like an oxymoron. Benson brilliantly challenges this idea, offering a thoughtful guidebook on how to lower our voices, tolerate tension, and have the constructive dialogue our world needs
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Buster Benson turns everything you know about arguing on its head. Before reading this book, I never thought I’d be looking forward to my next disagreement. Productive disagreeing is the most unde