
Douglas Stone is an author, negotiation expert, and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School whose work focuses on difficult conversations, feedback, and conflict resolution. A member of the Harvard Negotiation Project, he coauthored the international bestseller Difficult Conversations and the New York Times bestseller Thanks for the Feedback.
Douglas Stone built his career at the intersection of law, negotiation, and practical communication. He graduated from Brown University in 1980 and from Harvard Law School in 1984, then began his professional life in transactional and regulatory banking law in Boston and New York. The decisive turn came when he returned to Harvard’s negotiation community and spent the years from 1989 to 1999 working with Roger Fisher, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Robert Mnookin, and others at the Program on Negotiation and the Harvard Negotiation Project. That period moved him from conventional legal practice into the broader task that would define his work: translating negotiation theory into tools ordinary people could use in fraught human situations. He later became a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and, in 1999, co-founded Triad Consulting Group. ((https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/douglas-stone/?utm_source=openai))
"Stone and Heen have done a remarkable job of showing individuals and organizations how to leverage the enormous value of feedback"
— strategy+business
"Doug Stone and Sheila Heen have delivered another tour de force"
— Adam Grant
"Enter Stone and Heen with a well-rounded consideration of the science and art of receiving feedback well"
— Kirkus Reviews
"Stone, Patton, and Heen illustrate their points with anecdotes and familiar examples in a clear, easy-to-browse format"
— Publishers Weekly
"Stone and Heen reveal why getting feedback is so hard — and then how we can do better"
— Daniel H. Pink
"Stone, Patton, and Heen have written an extremely clear and unpretentious exposition of effective communication skills"
— Southern Communication Journal
Cree par des anciens de Columbia University a San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
Cree par des anciens de Columbia University a San Francisco
