How to Work with (Almost) Anyone

Building the Best Possible Relationship

By: Michael Bungay Stanier

Narrated by: Michael Bungay Stanier

Your happiness and your success depend on your working relationships

The people you manage. How well you work with your boss. The way collaboration happens with colleagues and peers. How you connect with important prospects and key clients.

But the hard truth is this: most of us leave the health and fate of these relationships to chance.

We say “Hi,” exchange pleasantries … and hope for the best.

But every relationship becomes suboptimal at some point, whether it’s a good one that goes off the rails or one that was poor from the start.

Mostly we are resigned to the fact that this is what happens: relationships always get a little broken, or a little stale, or a little worse. C’est la vie, c’est la guerre. Carry on.

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Every working relationship can be better.

This book shows you how to build the best possible relationship.

One conversation. Five questions. Detailed guidance on how to prepare and set the relationship up for success. Key insights on how to maintain the relationship so that it will continue to thrive.

©2023 Michael Bungay Stanier (P)2023 Michael Bungay Stanier

okay. effective. nothing new

it's pretty standard Fair. background music detracted from the narrative. if you have never done any self-work and or any analysis of interpersonal relationships then this is a great place to start. but if you've been through a few other systems and done a little bit of work then there's nothing revolutionary here. still worthwhile just nothing exceptionally new

Excellent, practical guide. Very helpful!

I am a fan of MBS' books because I find them both simple/digestible and wise/dense with relevant research and content. This one is really great and I look forward to putting into practice leveraging the templates on the book's website. Thank you!!

Excellent

This was a well written book. The author laid out and explained the concepts clearly. The stories were helpful in expounding the listener’s understanding. The valuable tips in this book make this worth listening to over and over again.

If Relationships Matter to You

Great framework for creating as health a working relationship as possible (good for family and friends, too). MBS gives you the basics for setting the foundation for healthy relationships. And he providers a deeper level of thinking and preparation for those who really want to get this right.

Phenomenal insights

Great breakdown with actionable exercises to help you reflect on yourself, apply thoughtful practices, and have a solid mental framework for how to build and sustain strong relationships. Applicable at work and at home. Very enjoyable listen! Loved the punctuations of guests who shared their own experiences in a quick anecdote.

Practical

Gives you tangible insights to put into practice with a sound base to solid coaching fundamentals.

Perfect for anyone who works with other humans.

I recommend this book to anyone who believes that working relationships are important. Essential, practical, gripping. Another great book from MBS.

practical tips that seem doable to build better relationships

easy to follow steps that I think can make difference to build and maintain relationships!

Nauseating and mistitled

Having read good business and development books before, listening to this one was making me genuinely nauseated from the content and advice that i was hearing. The advice is simply not good. It doesn't teach how to build business relationships, it teaches how to make friends and partners in dysfunction with a wishy washy, ambiguous, happy go lucky attitude.

Maybe it's an issue with the title and subtitle. While the advice is potentially valuable to someone who wants to improve an already good relationship or is stuck due to a lack of empathy with coworkers, it adds zero value to a person struggling with a difficult character or a poorly functioning team.

To be able to work with anyone the actual practical advice would be about assigning clear responsibilities, working standards, clear methods of communication, resources, deliverables etc so that two or more people who really don't like one another all that much can still get along and get the job done without conflict that then serves as a basis for mutual respect and eventually potentially friendship.

Coming at it from a point of trying to be friends and trying to get the other person to adapt to you (and you adapt to them) is only potential for further conflict. Maybe they don't want to be friends and maybe they don't like the way you're working. Maybe you're the odd one out in the entire team?

A solid professional relationship is a basis for a good personal relationship too and the book sadly, teaches nothing about the basics.

Challenge to Listen To

I found it difficult to follow/stay engaged with the narrator. The special guests brought in a new tone/more clear narrative that made those sections easier to follow than the main story line. I wanted to love this but I did not and would struggle to recommend.