Difficult Conversations
Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton and Heenby Stone, Patton and Heen
Shares rank 129 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
People recommend it for getting along with others outside work and for expanding their awareness of conversations.
People recommend it for getting along with others outside work and for expanding their awareness of conversations.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Helps people get along
“I recommend the book "difficult conversations" for getting along outside of work.”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Drunk Post: Things I've Learned as a Senior Engineer” “There are ways to communicate with others that will be constructive.”
Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “The Cost of Being "Nice"” Builds understanding of conversations
“Some books I've read that made it easier to understand all of this”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Hashcards: A plain-text spaced repetition system” “for instance: all difficult conversations are about feelings.”
Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “Why I Stopped Arguing with People” “expanded my conversational awareness.”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “Rules of Good Social Skills”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| Difficult Conversationsby Stone, Patton and HeenThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“expanded my conversational awareness.”
“for instance: all difficult conversations are about feelings.”
“There are ways to communicate with others that will be constructive.”
“I recommend the book "difficult conversations" for getting along outside of work.”
“Some books I've read that made it easier to understand all of this”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.