In 2016, Crucial Learning found that every conversation failure costs an organization an average of $7,500 and more than seven workdays. In 2021, conversations are just as costly and we are wasting even more time.

According to our latest study of 1,100 respondents, 10% more people waste more than 2 weeks avoiding Crucial Conversations than they did five years ago. And nearly everyone (96%) estimates that there is a cost to silence. A startling one in five (19%) say the organizational cost of unresolved Crucial Conversations is more than $50,000.

The paradox is that our cultures are more supportive of speaking up, and yet we still resort to unhealthy behaviors rather than voice concerns. And our silence isn’t just impacting the bottom-line, it has other serious consequences. The new number one costly conversation people most avoid at work is when someone shows disrespect for another in the workplace.