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Forward Talk: The Bold New Method For Getting Teams Unstuck
Not yet published
Expected 5 May 26Teams don’t get stuck because of poor communication skills. They get stuck because smart, capable people choose not to speak up—and leaders rarely notice until those patterns are hardwired.
People talk in circles, revisit old decisions, and mistake activity for progress. The result is conversational debt—the compound cost of the conversations people avoid. Not because they’re afraid, but because they’ve learned that speaking up doesn’t change anything.
Forward Talk exposes this hidden force that quietly drains performance, trust, and alignment. It reveals why the corporate obsession with “psychological safety” has become a bandage for deeper issues, how well-intended teams hide behind politeness, and what it takes to break through the false harmony that prevents real progress.
Drawing on twenty-five years of facilitating high-stakes conversations with Fortune 500 leaders and frontline teams in more than thirty countries, Gustavo Razzetti introduces a research-backed, practice-proven framework for turning stuck conversations into forward movement.
Readers will learn to recognize and reverse the three destructive conversational patterns that keep teams trapped:
Avoidance: staying silent or skirting the real issue, hoping it resolves itself
Blame: focusing on who’s at fault instead of what’s next
Groupthink: chasing false harmony and mistaking agreement for alignment
Through real stories, diagnostic tools, and actionable practices, Forward Talk helps teams rebuild voice, agency, and momentum. It’s for leaders, facilitators, HR professionals, and change agents who know that success isn’t determined by effort—it’s determined by whether people believe their voices matter.
People talk in circles, revisit old decisions, and mistake activity for progress. The result is conversational debt—the compound cost of the conversations people avoid. Not because they’re afraid, but because they’ve learned that speaking up doesn’t change anything.
Forward Talk exposes this hidden force that quietly drains performance, trust, and alignment. It reveals why the corporate obsession with “psychological safety” has become a bandage for deeper issues, how well-intended teams hide behind politeness, and what it takes to break through the false harmony that prevents real progress.
Drawing on twenty-five years of facilitating high-stakes conversations with Fortune 500 leaders and frontline teams in more than thirty countries, Gustavo Razzetti introduces a research-backed, practice-proven framework for turning stuck conversations into forward movement.
Readers will learn to recognize and reverse the three destructive conversational patterns that keep teams trapped:
Avoidance: staying silent or skirting the real issue, hoping it resolves itself
Blame: focusing on who’s at fault instead of what’s next
Groupthink: chasing false harmony and mistaking agreement for alignment
Through real stories, diagnostic tools, and actionable practices, Forward Talk helps teams rebuild voice, agency, and momentum. It’s for leaders, facilitators, HR professionals, and change agents who know that success isn’t determined by effort—it’s determined by whether people believe their voices matter.
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 5, 2026
1 person want to read
About the author
Gustavo Razzetti
5 books23 followersGustavo Razzetti is the CEO and founder of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy that helps teams do the best work of their lives. For more than 20 years, Razzetti has helped leaders from Fortune 500s, startups, nonprofits, and everything in between on every continent but Antarctica.
Gustavo is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a framework used by thousands of teams and organizations across the world to map, assess, and design their culture.
In addition to his consulting work with clients, Gustavo regularly speaks with leaders and teams about culture change, teamwork, and hybrid workplaces. His coaching and tools have helped countless executives and teams develop work environments where people collaborate to accelerate individual and collective performance.
A prolific writer and author of four books on culture change, Gustavo’s insights have been featured in The New York Times, Psychology Today, Forbes, BBC, and Fortune, among others.
Gustavo is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a framework used by thousands of teams and organizations across the world to map, assess, and design their culture.
In addition to his consulting work with clients, Gustavo regularly speaks with leaders and teams about culture change, teamwork, and hybrid workplaces. His coaching and tools have helped countless executives and teams develop work environments where people collaborate to accelerate individual and collective performance.
A prolific writer and author of four books on culture change, Gustavo’s insights have been featured in The New York Times, Psychology Today, Forbes, BBC, and Fortune, among others.
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December 1, 2025
Forward Talk: How to Cancel Conversational Debt and Move Your Team Into the Future is a fresh, forward-thinking guide designed to transform how teams communicate and collaborate. Gustavo Razzetti, known for his work in psychological safety and cultural transformation, introduces the concept of “conversational debt” the backlog of unresolved dialogues, unclear expectations, and unspoken truths that silently hinder progress. This upcoming book promises a strategic blend of behavioral science, leadership insight, and actionable frameworks aimed at helping teams communicate with clarity, courage, and alignment. Leaders looking to modernize their communication culture will find this a powerful, practical, and timely resource.
Displaying 1 of 1 review