Business · Book club
Inclusive Conversations book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Inclusive Conversations by Mary-Frances Winters, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Inclusive Conversations is Mary-Frances Winters's guide to having substantive, productive conversations about race, identity, and equity in organizational settings.
Mary-Frances Winters · 2020 · 4h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Winters argues that avoidance of difficult conversations preserves inequity. Where have you seen this play out in an organization you've been part of?
- 2.
What's the difference between listening to understand and listening to respond? Which do you default to in high-stakes conversations?
- 3.
Think of a time you received feedback that your words had an unintended negative impact. How did you respond, and what would you do differently now?
- 4.
Winters describes the asymmetric burden non-dominant group members carry in these conversations. Have you experienced or witnessed this? What did it look like?
- 5.
What conditions in your current workplace make honest conversation about difference more or less possible?
- 6.
When was the last time you felt emotionally triggered in a professional conversation? What was the trigger, and how did it affect your behavior?
- 7.
How would you distinguish between psychological safety and simple comfort? Can a space be safe without being comfortable?
- 8.
Winters is clear that inclusive conversation is not about making everyone feel okay. What does that distinction mean in practice for how you'd run a difficult team discussion?
- 9.
Who in your organization currently carries the most labor in raising equity concerns? Is that labor distributed fairly?
- 10.
Have you ever stayed silent in a meeting about something that mattered to you? What made silence feel safer than speaking?
- 11.
What skills in this book do you think you already have? Which are genuinely underdeveloped for you?
- 12.
Winters argues that structural change and individual behavior change are both necessary. Where does individual behavior change actually have leverage in your organization?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Inclusive Conversations?
Here are 12 book club questions for Inclusive Conversations by Mary-Frances Winters, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on diversity and inclusion, communication, psychological safety.
How long should a book club discussion of Inclusive Conversations last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Inclusive Conversations?
Diversity and inclusion, Communication, Psychological safety, Organizational culture, Race and identity. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Inclusive Conversations or questions for other book club picks.
