Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace: A Review

As an HR professional, I really appreciate individual and organizational psychology books that are well-researched, actionably strategic, and explicitly provide collateral (e.g. activities, checklists, etc.) that I can use in my work. Mastering Civility succeeds in every category.

I may not be 100% convinced of every claim made in the book, but I feel that this was definitely worth my time.

Area of Opportunity:

Early in the book, the author explains that many of the indicators of respect/deference/civility are culturally specific (e.g. asking professors a lot of questions is a sign of attentiveness in American culture but may be considered disrespectful in various Asian cultures). However, almost all of their specific recommendations-- and the collateral-- are clearly centered on American indicators of civility.

If your organization is outside the U.S., I would still recommend this book-- just make sure to:

• discern which tactics may not be appropriate outside of the U.S.

• update the collateral for cultural appropriateness.