The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
Product ID: 205210057
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A long overdue and urgent manifesto.” —Seth Godin "Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" —Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED An exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering , Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive—which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings—conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp—and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue—and how you host and attend them. Review: An insightful, deep, practical, and authentic book. - A new perspective for me on social gatherings. Very useful information, almost like a guidebook, with practical examples based on real experiences. I would definitely like to read more from this author. Review: A Purposeful Guide to Transformative Gatherings: Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering - I am often drawn to those who approach life with an unorthodox or eccentric flair. For this reason, I immensely enjoyed Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Though not a chef or event planner, Parker is a specialist trained in group dialogue and conflict resolution. She has spent much of the past fifteen years studying, designing, and advising gatherings whose goals were transformative for the participants and the communities they sought to affect. Her approach is deliberately unconventional. When most people seek gathering advice, they turn to those focused on mechanics—chefs, etiquette experts, floral artists, or event planners. This tendency shrinks a fundamentally human challenge down to a logistical one, reducing the question of what to do with people to a question of what to do about things, such as PowerPoints, invitations, AV equipment, cutlery, and refreshments. Parker firmly rejects this approach. Instead, she places people and what happens between them at the center of every gathering. Unlike much traditional advice—which cautions against discussing sex, politics, and religion—she is willing to introduce the right kind of controversy when it can make the gathering truly meaningful and when the benefits outweigh the potential risks and harm. She does not introduce controversial topics sloppily; rather, she carefully designs the structure and process for discussing sensitive or meaningful subjects. As the preceding comments suggest, Parker seeks to deliver something meaningful from each gathering. Having chosen a purpose, key decisions about where to gather and whom to invite become critical. Sometimes it is necessary to exclude certain people to protect the gathering itself. The middle portion of the book examines how gatherings unfold. Parker pays special attention to the opening, because it sets the tone and energy for everything that follows. As part of defining the purpose, she determines whether and how much controversy to incorporate in order to create a meaningful and memorable event. For example, she often poses generative questions such as “What do you want to do?,” “What do you stand for?,” and “Who are you?” The final portion of the book addresses the closing. A strong close has two phases: looking inward, which involves reflecting on what has happened and the bonds formed as a group; and turning outward, which means preparing to depart the gathering and resume one’s place in the world.
| Best Sellers Rank | #3,755 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #13 in Interpersonal Relations (Books) #36 in Leadership & Motivation #41 in Sociology (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 3,810 Reviews |
R**S
An insightful, deep, practical, and authentic book.
A new perspective for me on social gatherings. Very useful information, almost like a guidebook, with practical examples based on real experiences. I would definitely like to read more from this author.
K**K
A Purposeful Guide to Transformative Gatherings: Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering
I am often drawn to those who approach life with an unorthodox or eccentric flair. For this reason, I immensely enjoyed Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Though not a chef or event planner, Parker is a specialist trained in group dialogue and conflict resolution. She has spent much of the past fifteen years studying, designing, and advising gatherings whose goals were transformative for the participants and the communities they sought to affect. Her approach is deliberately unconventional. When most people seek gathering advice, they turn to those focused on mechanics—chefs, etiquette experts, floral artists, or event planners. This tendency shrinks a fundamentally human challenge down to a logistical one, reducing the question of what to do with people to a question of what to do about things, such as PowerPoints, invitations, AV equipment, cutlery, and refreshments. Parker firmly rejects this approach. Instead, she places people and what happens between them at the center of every gathering. Unlike much traditional advice—which cautions against discussing sex, politics, and religion—she is willing to introduce the right kind of controversy when it can make the gathering truly meaningful and when the benefits outweigh the potential risks and harm. She does not introduce controversial topics sloppily; rather, she carefully designs the structure and process for discussing sensitive or meaningful subjects. As the preceding comments suggest, Parker seeks to deliver something meaningful from each gathering. Having chosen a purpose, key decisions about where to gather and whom to invite become critical. Sometimes it is necessary to exclude certain people to protect the gathering itself. The middle portion of the book examines how gatherings unfold. Parker pays special attention to the opening, because it sets the tone and energy for everything that follows. As part of defining the purpose, she determines whether and how much controversy to incorporate in order to create a meaningful and memorable event. For example, she often poses generative questions such as “What do you want to do?,” “What do you stand for?,” and “Who are you?” The final portion of the book addresses the closing. A strong close has two phases: looking inward, which involves reflecting on what has happened and the bonds formed as a group; and turning outward, which means preparing to depart the gathering and resume one’s place in the world.
T**R
Let's Gather!!
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker wasn't exactly what I expected. It took me several pages to reconcile that the book wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but once I did I found it very interesting and rather helpful. It reminded me a lot of my days as part of a committee organizing a writers and readers conference. I couldn't help but compare and contrast our efforts with her recommendations. Parker made me alternately wish I'd read this book back then and feel proud of the work we did. That said, I could imagine how some of the things Parker suggests would feel contrived to guests and even to hosts even those who were genuine in their efforts, particularly at parties. Maybe this comes from my upbringing where gatherings, or get-together as we called them, were much less formal by design and people appreciated that informality. It also reminded me of parties I attended where there was so much structure, no one seemed to have any fun. Everyone was too busy making sure they followed the rules. While Parker presents her ideas on gatherings complete with fun and interesting examples to prove her point, I often wondered just how well they would work among the people I know. I thoroughly enjoyed The Art of Gathering and the different methods of gathering Parker explored, but I kept feeling this little tug in the back of my mind reminding me of how many parties I've thrown and how the best ones were always the ones where we dropped the pretenses aka formalities and allowed people to be themselves in the moment while the ones with strict activities and/or rules never went quite as well. That said, I loved some of the ideas in the book about keeping things flowing and getting people interacting. All in all, The Art of Gathering is definitely worth the read if one is looking to be a better organizer of or participant in meetings, conferences, and other formal gatherings.
J**E
Great book for a planning a meaningful gathering
If you are planning a large event this book can give you insights to make your event a success. We planned our 50th Anniversay for ourselves as we don't have children. It helped us to be conscious on to why we were staging an anniversary, who to invite, what to say in the invitation, and devise a meaning ful evening for our family and friends. It is not a how to book though. It walks you through a process for planning a celebration, a retreat, an office outing etc. Excellent book.
J**R
A must-have book for hosts and event planners
I bought this book for my professional library to share with coworkers. It’s a terrific guide for hosting memorable and meaningful gatherings.
C**R
Ok - but not that great
pretty good book but nothing that common sense doesn't really tell you. I ended up skimming a lot of this and wondering if its worth what i paid. I would pass
A**S
Easy to implement guidance
A clear and helpful reminder of how impactful small and intentional actions are to achieving your goal. Thank you!
S**V
Phenomenal book for community builders and gathering hosters.
A phenomenal book for anyone who is a club leader, who wants to build community from scratch, or who simply wants to put together a successful gathering of humans. As someone who has started various communities, I found that the principles laid out here ring very true in real-world settings. Very insightful observations and guidance. The book is a pleasure to read as well, it is approachable and does not belabor anything, but provides good illustrations of when things work and don't work and why. I mention this book to anyone interested in the subject of creating community.
J**D
A Keeper.
It was a great book. I never keep books. I always pass them on but this one I’m keeping!
M**O
Buen libro
Buen libro
A**R
excellent guide. a must have for peple working in communities, teams
book is amazing. It has helped me better design my brainstorming sessions and effectively arrange group events. I liked the writing style
N**N
Interesting read
Great book
I**O
Good book to let you think
This book lets you think about gatherings and what is the root cause of it. And plenty of things about differents aspects of gatherings. Sometimes little long on personal exemple but it worths the time spent reading it.
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