In an ongoing relationship, each current criticism packs the punches of all the others that have gone before.

We all know we are unique individuals, but we tend to see others as representatives of groups.

Life is a matter of dealing with other people, in little matters and cataclysmic ones, and that means a series of conversations.

Treating people the same is not equal treatment if they are not the same.

All communication is more or less cross-cultural. We learn to use language as we grow up, and growing up in different parts of the country, having different ethnic, religious, or class backgrounds, even just being male or female - all result in different ways of talking.

any criticism heard secondhand sounds worse than it would face to face. Words spoken out of our presence strike us as more powerful, just as people we know only by reputation seem larger than life.

The key to conversation at work is flexibility and understanding how what you say might be perceived by others.