This book honors the life and work of the late W. Barnett Pearce, a leading theorist in the communication field. The book is divided into four sections. The first section will lead with an essay by Barnett Pearce. This will be followed by sections on (1) practical theory, (2) dialogue, and (3) social transformation. In the broadest sense, these are probably the three general themes found in the work of Pearce and his colleagues. In another sense, these categories also identify three important dimensions of Pearce’s major contribution, the theory of the Coordinated Management of Meaning.

Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM): A Research Manual consists of the work of Barnett Pearce, Vernon Cronen, and their colleagues over the past 40 years. The theory offers a rich set of ideas for understanding communication processes. Still dedicated to ways in which people coordinate interaction and construct meaning, the theory offers fresh ways of examining human social life. This manual provides a brief, clear, and useful set of tools for CMM research. Although this booklet does provide a short introduction to the theory, it assumes some background in CMM theory and is designed for CMMers who want a clearer picture of how to conduct research in this tradition. Of particular importance in this endeavor is maintaining a communication perspective to ensure that researchers focus on the communication processes, rather than look through it to something else. To achieve this goal, researchers can describe the process, interpret communication events, provide critique, and assert action plans. The framing of research questions is especially important in maintaining a communication perspective. Research tools are organized into the categories of description, interpretation, critique and action. In addition, the CMM consulting method known as SEAVA is translated into research processes that involve storyboarding, enriching stories, analyzing interaction, visioning, and acting.

Communicating Possibilities exemplifies what it means to live one's life in conversation--noticing details in moments of communication that matter and acting into them to enhance the chances of more desirable outcomes. The approach that Wasserman and Fisher-Yoshida articulate and demonstrate represents CMM's radical approach to communication in general and turn-taking in particular. Rather than focusing on the cues that enable smooth turn-taking, they argue for interjecting turns that make a difference. This is turn-making at its best." Arthur Jensen, Syracuse University The treatment of CMM offered by Wasserman and Fisher-Yoshida in Communicating Possibilities is one of, if not the, best short introductions now available. It provides a strong focus on what makes CMM a distinctive way to understand communication. Its examples are clear and I expect readily understood by students, teachers, and practitioners. I am particularly impressed by the way the authors have shown the connection between "cosmopolitan communication" and the other features of CMM theory. Given the present political situation that is surely an important contribution. Vernon Cronen, University of North Carolina; UMASS Amherst. This much-needed volume, Communicating Possibilities, provides an illuminating introduction to a ground-breaking theory of communication. Pearce and Cronen's ideas on the Coordinated Management of Meaning virtually transformed our conception of human communication. Most importantly, the ideas could be usefully applied to everyday life--in organizations, therapy, family exchanges, informal relations, and more. With new tools for reflection, new and more productive possibilities for action emerge, conflicts are reduced, collaboration encouraged, and creativity unleashed. With caring clarity, and rich illustration, Wasserman and Fisher-Yoshida provide an invaluable introduction to this fascinating domain. Kenneth J. Gergen, Swarthmore University; The Taos Institute and author of An Invitation to Social Construction This important book by Wasserman & Fisher-Yoshida provides useful examples and explanations of some of the essential features of CMM, such as a systemic understanding of patterns of communication, multiple contextual constructions of meaning, and a framework for mapping out complex processes of social interaction to make changes or open new possibilities. Especially effective is the emphasis Wasserman & Fisher-Yoshida place on sequential and reflexive unfolding of meaning and action. In light of the challenges we face in these times, such a heuristic communication model is especially needed, one that considers the social construction of ethics, different forms of awareness, and patterns of communication that we create together. This introduction to CMM provides valuable resources and tools that facilitate an ongoing conversation filled with new possibilities. Victoria Chen, San Francisco State University Communicating Possibilities is an inspiring book about how to use CMM in the various contexts of our lives--from our most intimate relationships to the larger systems of which we are a part. Wasserman and Fisher-Yoshida provide relevant and useful examples that help the reader see how to use CMM mindfully and compassionately in all aspects of our social worlds. This book is a "must read" for anyone interested in living intentionally and compassionately in our complex and divided world. Kim Pearce, Founder and President, CMM Institute for Human and Social Evolution

The Reflective, Facilitative and Interpretive Practices of the Coordinated Management of Meaning: Making Lives, Making Meaning, showcases practical applications of the theory of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). In the facilitation section, CMM creates dynamics within groups leading toward improved ways of working together; in the interpretation section CMM offers alternative frames to interpret interactions with one another; and in the reflection section CMM is a means to reflect on experiences and interactions to deeper levels of understanding and learning. CMM is grounded in social constructionism, takes a communication perspective and provides concepts and tools for making better social worlds.

Making Social Worlds: A Communication Perspective offers the most accessible introduction to the tools and concepts of CMM – Coordinated Management of Meaning – one of the groundbreaking theories of speech communication. Draws upon advances in research for the most up-to-date concepts in speech communication Defines the 'critical moments' of communication for students and practitioners; encouraging us to view communication as a two-sided process of coordinating actions and making/managing meanings Questions how we can intervene in dangerous or undesirable patterns of communication that will result in better social worlds

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy clarifies the muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world. Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.” He introduces nine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning, and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis. Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

Starting with the premise that we live in communication (rather than standing outside communication and using it for secondary purposes), Pearce claims that people who live in various cultures and historical epochs not only communicate differently but experience different ways of being human because they communicate differently. This century, he notes, ushered in the "communication revolution," the discovery that communication is far more important and central to the human condition than ever before realized. Essential to the communication revolution is the recognition that multiple forms of discourse exist in contemporary human society. Further, these forms of discourse are not benign; they comprise alternative ways of being human. Thus communication theory must encompass all that it "means to live a life, the shape of social institutions and cultural traditions, the pragmatics of social action, and the poetics of social order."

This volume presents a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the theories, evidence and methodological issues of contingency theory - one of the major theoretical lenses used to view organizations.

The Encyclopedia of Communication Theory provides students and researchers with a comprehensive two-volume overview of contemporary communication theory. Reference librarians report that students frequently approach them seeking a source that will provide them with a quick overview of a particular theory or theorist - just enough to help them grasp the general concept or theory and its relation to the discipline as a whole. Communication scholars and teachers also occasionally need a quick reference for theories. Edited by the co-authors of the best-selling textbook on communication theory and drawing on the expertise of an advisory board of 10 international scholars and nearly 200 contributors from 10 countries, this work finally provides such a resource. More than 300 entries address topics related not only to paradigms, traditions, and schools, but also metatheory, methodology, inquiry, and applications and contexts. Entries cover several orientations, including psycho-cognitive; social-interactional; cybernetic and systems; cultural; critical; feminist; philosophical; rhetorical; semiotic, linguistic, and discursive; and non-Western. Concepts relate to interpersonal communication, groups and organizations, and media and mass communication. In sum, this encyclopedia offers the student of communication a sense of the history, development, and current status of the discipline, with an emphasis on the theories that comprise it.