“Provides practical ways to intentionally create 'good conversations' in our organizations and everyday life.” (*)

This text offers students a breakthrough approach to recognizing that differences among people are resources for organizations to tap as they strive to anticipate change and adapt rapidly in today's unpredictable world.

Catalytic Conversations provides a conceptual framework for understanding how complex communication patterns of social networks influence, and are influenced by, organizational structures. It discusses how to enhance the quality and viability of groups and organizational life by paying attention to how people talk—and do not talk—to each other. The author distinguishes between conversations that support organizational enhancement and others that inhibit innovation, and explores the complexity of organizational communication in detail.

Endorsements:

"Reinforcing time-tested knowledge that communication is the most valuable resource in group, organizational and societal life, Ann Baker's new book, Catalytic Conversations: Organizational Communication and Innovation, builds on her previous work. Her latest book provides us with practical ways to intentionally create 'good conversations' in our organizations and everyday life. It describes how to create hospitable conversational spaces that allow us to embrace and explore differences for productive gain and insight. This new book provides us with both conceptual frameworks for understanding how differences can be vital resources to catalyze innovation and substantial learning, and it provides a range of concrete ways to encourage these kinds of interactions in group and organizational settings." — David A. Kolb, Case Western Reserve University (*)