Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships

Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships. James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet. 2004. New York: HarperBusiness. 336 pages.

Written in a lively and entertaining style, Tamm and Luyet cull the concepts and ideas from a variety of communication and collaborative philosophies of the past two decades and combine them into a coherent and innovative set of tools for building effective, long-term relationships. Postulating that people frequently communicate within zones of defensive reaction rather than considered response, Tamm and Luyet begin their book by exploring the cultural and social manifestations of the two communication perspectives they term as "red zone" and "green zone."

As one would expect, red zone communicators have a tendency to blame others, feel wronged, display limited flexibility in their responses to events, focus on shortterm advantage, and demonstrate black/white, right/wrong thinking. Green zone communicators accept responsibility, use persuasion rather man force, are firm in their beliefs but flexible in their responses, strive for excellence rather than victory, and are interested in the long-term results of any partnership. Tamm and Luyet continue by defining the markers that indicate organizational environments characterized by red zone versus green zone thinking. Again, red zone environments...