In a riveting discussion, Vernā Myers, Netflix’s former vice president for inclusion strategy, shares her experiences navigating tough conversations at the company, particularly following a racially charged incident. She highlights the vital role of establishing ground rules and emotional connections to foster safer dialogues. Joined by psychologist Jay Van Bavel, they delve into strategies for tackling the hardest chats, encouraging listeners to confront their anxieties and transform personal narratives into bridges for understanding.
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The Netflix N-Word Incident
A Netflix executive used the N-word during a meeting, intending to illustrate the harm of offensive language.
This incident led to his firing and sparked internal divisions within the company.
insights INSIGHT
Overestimating Conversation Difficulty
People are bad at predicting how hard conversations will go, often overestimating their difficulty.
This anticipatory anxiety leads to avoidance of crucial discussions.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Setting Ground Rules
Establish ground rules for disagreements, even if unspoken.
Recognize and respect conversational norms to facilitate productive discussions.
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In this book, Charles Duhigg explores the secrets of 'supercommunicators' who excel at connecting with others. He delves into the three distinct types of conversations—practical, emotional, and social—and provides practical strategies and case studies to illustrate how to recognize and navigate these conversations effectively. The book includes examples from various contexts, such as jury deliberations, CIA recruitments, and workplace interactions, to demonstrate how communication can be improved. Duhigg emphasizes the importance of active listening, identifying complex emotions, and matching the type of conversation to enhance connection and understanding.
The final installment of our series explores the conversations that most of us dread, like frank discussions of our differences or a negative performance review at work. We often anticipate that these chats will go badly—and end in hurt feelings or embarrassment—but there are proven ways to make them easier to navigate.
Host Charles Duhigg talks with psychologist Jay Van Bavel about strategies for having the hardest conversations. And: Vernā Myers, Netflix’s former vice president for inclusion strategy, tells the story of what happened inside the company after an executive was fired for using a racial slur.
This Slate miniseries dives into the art and science of meaningful conversations, inspired by Duhigg’s bestselling book, Supercommunicators. The guides we mention in this episode can be found at charlesduhigg.com/tools/
Supercommunicators was produced by Sophie Summergrad and Derek John, who also did the sound design. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer.
How To! 