Break through your most challenging conversations.

TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS

Viewpoint diversity can be a source of polarization or creativity.

We help leaders harness tensions inherent in purpose-driven work to grow people and organizations.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Today’s campus is a volatile melting pot of contentious issues.

We help faculty and administrators empower students to advocate across divides.

BEYOND THE BOOK

Struggling to make progress on the issues you care about?

Get inspired and build your skills using our tools and stories about #BreakingGridlock in action. 

ABOUT

Think about the last time you tried to talk with someone about political, social, or environmental issues who didn’t already agree with you. How well did it go?

All too often, well-meaning attempts to effect change get stuck in the noisy traffic jam of competing ideas, priorities, and ideologies. Indeed, gridlock is holding the United States and other countries across the globe hostage, illustrating on a large scale how rare it is for individuals to break through and produce results for oneself, one’s organization, or our society as a whole.

With Breaking Through Gridlock, Jason Jay and Gabriel Grant share clear-cut and actionable pathways for having these hard conversations. The well-tested methods advocated in this book can be applied to any conversation where change is needed. With proven exercises and rich examples, this interactive ‘field guide’ walks readers through a process of transforming paralysis and effecting positive change.

OUR TEAM

Author

Jason Jay
Jason grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where he lived in awe of snowy mountains and watched his parents build a business that improved people’s lives. He moved to Boston and fell in love with his wife, Alaka, and life in a coastal city. Alaka’s family in India made him their own and helped him see the world as fundamentally interconnected. He grew to understand how all these places he loves are fragile and committed himself to seeing them flourish for his children, Vikram and Uma, to enjoy with their children.

Today, Jason is a senior lecturer and the director of the Sustainability Initiative at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He teaches courses on strategy and innovation for sustainable business to hundreds of leaders every year. Through his writing, teaching, and community building, he empowers business leaders to help their organizations thrive while tackling the tough social and environmental challenges of our time. Before he began teaching, he ran an Internet start-up, traveled around the world, taught kindergarten, received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in education from Harvard University, worked as a consultant with Dialogos International, and earned a doctorate in organization studies from MIT.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonjjay/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonjay/

Author

Gabriel Grant
Gabriel is the founder of Human Partners, where he helps senior level executives craft cultures of purpose, trust, and engagement. He is also a cofounder of Byron Fellowship Educational Foundation. His consulting, research, and coaching focuses on how people and organizations flourish within the pursuit of societal and planetary flourishing. Gabriel holds a PhD in Leadership and Sustainability from Yale University, an MS in Ecological Systems Engineering and a BS in Physics from Purdue University. His professional clients represent a diversity of sectors including: social entrepreneurship, transportation, energy, information and communication technology, healthcare, commercial and residential development, municipalities, and cultural institutions. In his volunteer time, he has mentored over one hundred social entrepreneurs from around the globe. Gabriel’s pedagogy for activating and supporting purpose driven leaders developed at Yale is also used in universities like MIT, Cornell, and Cambridge. His academic, professional and non-profit ventures are all committed to the dream of all life flourishing together through people experiencing their life as a calling. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Sarah, and daughters, Ariana and Madeleine with whom he shares a mission of creating unconditional love and powerfully contributing to others.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielgrant
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabriel.grant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gbgrant

Project Manager

Laura Yates
Laura Yates serves as Project Manager for the Breaking Through Gridlock initiative, focusing on implementing the BTG methodology in higher education classrooms and community groups. Laura delivers Breaking Through Gridlock workshops, develops curriculum resources to support educators in incorporating the BTG methodology in their classes, and interfaces with faculty partners.

In her consulting work, Laura blends policy, economic, and applied sciences training with technical and business expertise to support nonprofits and businesses working for a better world.

Laura graduated from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2016 with a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences (MSES) and a Master of Public Affairs (MPA), concentrating in Sustainable Development and Policy Analysis. She holds a BS in Economics and a secondary major in Earth, Environment and Global Sustainability from Bentley University, where her research covered cross-cultural communication, environmental economics, and sustainability in business.

Originally from Indiana, Laura grew up in Switzerland, where she was inspired by the Swiss cultural and regulatory approach to community and the environment. From 2014 to 2017, Laura lived in a self-designed, self-built tiny house, as an experiment in sustainable, values-driven living and design (hear the story from Laura’s 2015 TEDx talk).

NEWS & MEDIA

Use ’transformative contrasting’ to guide your ideas through gridlock

MIT Sloan | December 13, 2018

“Competing interests are not always intractable. Here’s a four-step plan to breaking the gridlock in your work.”

Beyond Polarization

MIT Technology Review | October 23, 2018

While seeking common ground is important, we also need advocacy to balance inquiry, and power to complement love.

This is how you can disagree with senior management and keep your job

Fast Company | October 9, 2018

“When it comes to presenting your arguments the right way, you first need to decide if you’re disagreeing for the right reasons.”

Case Study & Video: Training Leaders to Break Through Gridlock

Poll Everywhere | January 3, 2018

“The conversations that matter are rarely easy. Cesar Chavez said movements happen one conversation at a time. Gabriel Grant and Jason Jay are working to help leaders and students transform their most difficult, polarizing conversations into one-on-one opportunities for change. They’re using this workshop to move the sustainability conversation forward at corporations, universities, and community centers everywhere.”

How One Teacher Prepares Her Students for Difficult Conversations

Poll Everywhere | December 28, 2017 | Maxwell McGee

“Sara Soderstrom, assistant professor at the University of Michigan, took what she learned from Breaking Through Gridlock and brought it back to her classroom. Soderstrom uses this curriculum to help her students better connect with friends, family, and future bosses.”

Holiday Conversations in a Polarized World: How Love Wins

Psychology Today | November 22, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

“In today’s highly polarized political climate, even time spent with family and friends can quickly turn contentious. There we are, innocently gathering around the holiday dinner table, when — BAM! — an issue comes up that threatens to ruin not just the meal but our closest relationships.”

In Turbulent Times, How To Talk Politics At Work

WBUR Cognoscenti | August 5, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

“Whatever your political views, it’s likely that a tsunami of tweets, opinion pieces and late night comedy skits have made their way into your news feeds and dinner table conversations. It’s seemingly unavoidable with an administration whose leader makes international news with every early morning tweet. But what happens when that wave of opinions and information makes an unwelcome entrance into your workplace?”

Book Review: Can Authenticity Melt Gridlock? An MIT Scholar and a CEO Say Yes.

Huffington Post | June 26, 2017 | Michael Shammas

“In a world with more ways to communicate than ever, we often seem more close-minded than ever. It doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you’re a corporate manager trying to inspire employees or a professor wading through difficult issues within campus cultures that can feel politically stale and overly judgmental, Breaking Through Gridlock provides a forward-path.”

Articles, Publications & News

Case Study & Video: Training Leaders to Break Through Gridlock
Poll Everywhere | January 3, 2018

How One Teacher Prepares Her Students for Difficult Conversations
Poll Everywhere | December 28, 2017 | Maxwell McGee

Holiday Conversations in a Polarized World: How Love Wins
Psychology Today | November 22, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

How to Wield the Power of Vulnerability: Break through gridlock in conversations that have otherwise run afoul
Psychology Today | October 18, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

What’s the Key to Winning Hearts and Minds? Start with Your Own
Psychology Today | August 26, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

In Turbulent Times, How To Talk Politics At Work
WBUR Cognoscenti | August 5, 2017 | Jason Jay & Gabriel Grant

Positive Luxury Feature: Breaking Through Gridlock interview with Jason Jay
Positive Luxury | June 23, 2017 | Sophie Corfan

Book Review: Can Authenticity Melt Gridlock? An MIT Scholar and a CEO Say Yes.
Huffington Post | June 26, 2017 | Michael Shammas

SB’17 Detroit Workshop Explores Actionable Strategies for Breaking ‘Gridlock’
Sustainable Brands | June 7, 2017 | Nithin Coca

A Toolset for Getting Stuck Conversations Back On Track
MIT Newsroom | April 10, 2017 | Kara Baskin

The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox (Oxford Handbooks) 1st Edition
Oxford University Press | November 14, 2017 | Smith, Lewis, Jarzabkowski & Langley
Chapter 17: Navigating the Paradoxes of Sustainability – Jason Jay, Gabriel Grant & Sara Soderstrom

The 3 pitfalls that trap sustainability leaders — and how to avoid them
GreenBiz | April 15, 2015 | Ellen Wienreb