by Priya Parker
First published 2018
Gatherings fill our days. Work meetings, family dinners, school events, backyard cookouts. Most of them fall flat, and Priya Parker wants to explain why. Parker is a strategic facilitator who has worked with organizations including the World Economic Forum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the retail company Fresh. She brings that professional experience to bear on a simple but underexplored question: what actually makes a gathering work? Her starting point is a tight definition. A gathering requires three or more people with a shared purpose. Without that clarity of purpose, occasions drift. Parker identifies four core reasons people come together: to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, and to change. She walks through dozens of real examples, from corporate conferences to weddings to parent-teacher nights, breaking down the specific choices that separate a memorable occasion from a forgettable one. The book pairs its larger arguments with practical guidance, giving readers tools they can apply the next time they are running a staff meeting or hosting a holiday dinner.
Genres: business, leadership, self-help, non-fiction, communication
Vibes: accessible, insightful, practical, thought-provoking
Tropes: case-study-analysis, practical-framework
Setting: World Economic Forum, Museum of Modern Art
320 pages · Paperback · Riverhead Books