This text outlines an approach to business communication by two Harvard-based educators, trainers and consultants. Kegan and Lahey show us how the way we talk in the workplace can be understood as seven different types of speaking, seven languages that reveal our attitudes and expectations.

"In this simple brilliant book, Kegan and Lahey not only deal with the how of transformation . . .they deal with the most central issue of all: How and why people (and organizations) are committed to not changing. . . a must-read for all individuals and organizations that truly wish to grow into their own greater possibilities."
— Ken Wilber, author, Integral Psychology

"A genuinely 21st century book! Kegan and Lahey create a dynamic alternative to merely coasting on the momentum of the information age. Why do we know so much and yet so little lasting change actually occurs— in ourselves and in our organizations? This book doesn't just answer the question. It shows us a way out of the problem."
—Michael Murphy, founder, Esalen Institute and author of The Future of the Body

"Leaders trying to 'drive change' miss the deeper forces that might naturally enable it, forces which Kegan and Lahey reveal powerfully and practically."
—Peter Senge, author, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

"Lucid, accessible, and immensely satisfying, this provocative book is plainly the product of a very deep understanding of why people behave the way they do. . . . an approach to change that is at once systematic and humane. . . . Breakthrough thinking. . . compelling and inspiring."
—Tony Schwartz, contributing editor, Fast Company, and author, What Really Matters

Why is the gap so great between our hopes, our intentions, even our decisions-and what we are actually able to bring about? Even when we are able to make important changes-in our own lives or the groups we lead at work-why are the changes are so frequently short-lived and we are soon back to business as usual? What can we do to transform this troubling reality?

In this intensely practical book, Harvard psychologists Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey take us on a carefully guided journey designed to help us answer these very questions. And not just generally, or in the abstract. They help each of us arrive at our own particular answers that can solve the puzzling gap between what we intend and what we are able to accomplish. How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work provides you with the tools to create a powerful new build-it-yourself mental technology.