About the Book
A paradigm-shattering exploration of how we fight and how we build healthy conflict, from the author of The Art of Gathering
We say we want community. Successful teams. High-performing colleagues and workplaces. Dynamic friend groups. Yet many of us don’t understand the crucial element we need to forge long-lasting communities in our lives: healthy conflict.
In The Art of Fighting, Priya Parker explains that we can’t form and grow effective relationships without a fight. She rejects the idea that conflict is abnormal or that good groups don’t fight. All groups change and evolve; indeed, it’s because people disagree that good groups flourish.
As she did in the now-classic The Art of Gathering, Parker draws on her far-reaching experience as a conflict facilitator, her own detailed research, and real-world examples to lay out the ways that people can identify disputes, determine how to address them, and what to do if they are insurmountable. Whether people disagree in the boardroom or the locker room, on a playground or in church, online or in person, conflict is a part of life, and understanding healthy conflict and how to harness its power is more important than ever. The Art of Fighting is a vital primer to help all of us understand how to do that.
About the Author :
Priya Parker is a conflict facilitator, strategic adviser, and the author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. A graduate of MIT, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the University of Virginia, she lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
Review :
Early praise for The Art of Fighting
“Priya Parker illuminates how to navigate the hard conversations we’d rather avoid —and how to come out wiser and more connected.” —Daniel L. Shapiro, author of Negotiating the Nonnegotiable
“The Art of Fighting is a must read for all of us.” —Alicia Garza, co-founder, Black Lives Matter and author of The Purpose of Power
“Leave it to Priya Parker to name that the missing link to growing new ways of community is not merely in connecting meaningfully, but in fighting meaningfully. This is a life-giving book, and Priya is the luminous and ingenious teacher we need.”—Krista Tippett, host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise
“This is not just a book about having better arguments, it's a manual for building stronger relationships. If families, workplaces, schools, and governments followed Priya Parker’s sage advice, the world would be less of a mess.”—Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Hidden Potential
“Priya Parker offers a generous, radically helpful guide through our divides—without flattening what makes us different.” — Suleika Jaouad, author of The Book of Alchemy
“Insightful and nuanced, The Art of Fighting is a paradigm-shifting examination of how we can get along better by understanding the role of conflict in our lives more deeply.” —Jefferson Fisher, author of The Next Conversation
“This book captures something many of us feel but struggle to name: avoidance is not harmony. The Art of Fighting delivers a sharp, human framework for turning tension into clarity and disagreement into belonging.” —Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and The Power of Regret
Praise for The Art of Gathering:
“A long overdue and urgent manifesto.” —Seth Godin
“The Art of Gathering is one of the most transformative books I’ve read in years. It has fundamentally changed I how run meetings, attend conferences, and even arrange dinner with friends. Equally important, it has reminded me why people come together in the first place — and why we should treat every gathering as an opportunity to deepen our shared humanity.” —Daniel H. Pink, author of When and Drive
“[A] fantastic book . . . . Good things happen when people connect. Especially when we follow Priya’s sage advice.” —Forbes
“Enthusiastically delivered formulas for better get-togethers… useful to those whose job it is to plan meetings, conferences, and the like and a worthy survival manual for consumers of the same.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Clear and engaging. . . A passion for successful encounters enlivens every page.” —Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age and Alone Together
“We’re more connected than ever. But it doesn’t really feel that way. . . .We’re busy, but we’re not often getting a lot done. Priya Parker aims to change that. . . .Parker sets out to make our lives more productive, and our interactions more meaningful.” —Debbie Millman, Design Matters
“A brilliant and eminently practical guide . . .This book should be mandatory reading for everyone from the business executive to the community activist, the conflict resolution specialist to the dinner host. Concrete advice that will forever change the way you gather.” —Daniel L. Shapiro, founder of the Harvard International Negotiation Program and author of Negotiating the Nonnegotiable
“Don't read this book alone. Read it at a gathering of friends, in a book club, with a team of colleagues, or on a family reunion. But read it—for its wisdom, its charm, its insight, and its ability to make every encounter with others more meaningful and enjoyable. The Art of Gathering is a book long overdue, and just in time.” —Bruce Feiler, bestselling author of The Secrets of Happy Families and Walking the Bible
“Thank goodness for this book. It opens up new ways of thinking about wonderful gatherings with a delicious confection of smartly-defined concepts and detailed examples. Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!” —Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED
“Brilliant. The book is a timely reminder: It’s our human-to-human links that make the most meaningful moments of our lives. Page by page, Parker offers a decoder ring for the secret forces at work when we gather for business, crises or celebration. What to leave out, where to meet, how to charm—it's all here, explained with unforgettable stories and clever tips. You'll only put this book down because it will make you so hungry for a gathering of your own.” —Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Seventh Sense and The Age of the Unthinkable
