Unspeakable: The Taboo Topics We Avoid and How to Talk About Them

Summary

In business and life we avoid sensitive yet crucial topics at our own peril. Harvard Business School's Christina Wing provides tools for navigating and communicating with clarity and compassion.

We live in a world where the list of off-limits topics keeps growing—at work, at home, and even among friends. Age, retirement, succession, failure, money, politics: these subjects feel too sensitive to touch. So we avoid them, sticking to small talk and keeping up appearances. But this comes at a cost. When we can't address the realities shaping our lives and careers, trust erodes and relationships suffer. Is this really the new normal?

In Unspeakable: The Taboo Topics We Avoid and How to Talk About Them, Harvard Business School's Christina Wing argues that it shouldn't be. Drawing on decades of experience working with family enterprises and in boardrooms and classrooms, Wing reveals how fear and inhibition undermine performance—and how learning to address and talk about the "unspeakables" can improve our organizations and our lives. This is not a call for reckless candor; it's a practical guide to speaking and acting with clarity, empathy, and respect.

Through vivid stories—from family firms derailed by secrecy to global companies paralyzed by conversations that don't happen—Wing shows the costs of dodging the truth—and what changes when we face it. Each chapter tackles a different taboo, from estate planning and layoffs to race and religion, offering strategies and scripts to help listeners navigate these issues with confidence.