How We Meet and Why It Matters

The Art of Gathering

Being deprived of social gatherings revealed just how important they are; to connect with others, collaborate, share ideas and create moving, life-affirming experiences. 
___________________________ 
 
If there's one thing lockdown showed us, it's that time together is a gift we've too often taken for granted. 
 
In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker shows us how to ensure that however we meet, it's a truly transformative experience. An expert on organizing successful gatherings whether in conference centres, crisis zones or her living room, Parker sets forth a human-centred approach to gathering that can help us create meaningful, memorable moments - large and small, for work and play. 
 
The result is a book full of exciting real-world ideas that will forever alter the way you look at your next business meeting, dinner party and garden barbecue. 
___________________________ 
 
'Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!' Chris Anderson, creator of TED 
 
'Priya Parker has created both an art and a science to gathering in ways that can bring joy and fulfilment to any meeting' Deepak Chopra 
 
'A long overdue and urgent manifesto' Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author of This is Marketing

[A] remarkable new book about how we spend our time together, at work, at home, and beyond. If you want to get more out of every event, whether it's with your boss and co-workers or friends and family, The Art of Gathering can help

[A] fantastic book . . . . Good things happen when people connect. Especially when we follow Priya's sage advice

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

A long overdue and urgent manifesto for anyone who has the temerity (and generosity) to organize the time and energy of a team in order to call a meeting

This clear and engaging book sets down many things you thought you knew, until you find yourself remembering that you did not attend to its simple rules at the last significant event you hosted.... A passion for successful encounters enlivens every page

author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age and Alone Together

A brilliant and eminently practical guide! The Art of Gathering will open your eyes to just how often we gather - and how we can turn those mundane events into dazzling opportunities for meaning, dreaming, and doing. 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

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 "Many of the best things in life happen when people gather. So it's remarkable how little conscious intent goes into planning such moments. 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!

We're more connected than ever. But it doesn't really feel that way. We talk on the phone less than we used to, but we spend more time in front of screens, or plugged into earbuds. We're constantly interacting, but not always communicating on a meaningful level. We're busy, but we're not often getting a lot done. Priya Parker aims to change that. In her new book The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Parker sets out to make our lives more productive, and our interactions more meaningful

Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering is 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

author of The Seventh Sense and The Age of the Unthinkable

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

We spend our lives gathering - first in classrooms and then in meetings, weddings, conferences and away days. Yet so many of us spend this time in underwhelming moments that fail to engage us, inspire us, or connect us. We've all sat in meetings where people talk past each other or go through the motions and others which galvanize a team and remind everyone why they first took the job. We've been to weddings that were deeply moving and others that were run-of-the-mill and simply faded away. 
 
Why do some moments take off and others fizzle? What's the difference between the gatherings that inspire you and the ones that don't? 
 
In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker gets to the heart of these questions and reveals how to design a transformative gathering. An expert on organizing successful gatherings whether in conference centres or her living room, Parker shows us how to create moving, magical, mind-changing experiences - even in spaces where we've come to expect little.

Priya Parker

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

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

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

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

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 Transformative Power of Conflict

"Paradigm-shifting" - Jefferson Fisher 
 
"A generous, radically helpful guide" - Suleika Jaouad 
 
"A life-giving book" - Krista Tippett 
 
A groundbreaking 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, dynamic friend groups and high-performing colleagues. Yet many of us don’t understand the crucial element we need to forge long-lasting communities: healthy conflict.Although most of us fear conflict, fighting can be an opportunity to broaden our perspectives, reach new breakthroughs, and bring us even closer together. The Art of Fighting teaches the transformative art of ‘healthy heat’, and how it can help us overcome any disagreement – from book club squabbles to board room brawls.Priya Parker draws on her original research, real-world examples and her far-reaching experience to offer an authoritative and expansive guide to the challenges, nuances and endless opportunity of conflict.

Priya Parker

Praise for The Art of Fighting

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.

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 belong ...

Priya Parker offers a generous, radically helpful guide through our divides – without flattening what makes us different

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.

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 belong ...

Priya Parker offers a generous, radically helpful guide through our divides – without flattening what makes us different

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.

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 belong ...

Priya Parker offers a generous, radically helpful guide through our divides – without flattening what makes us different

Books by Priya Parker

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