The trouble with communication is that we all assume we’re good at it. Occasionally, we are. A friend in need reaches out: we say just the right thing. Smiles all round. Often, we’re not. Christmas dinner: discord descends. Turkey, flung. When the journalist Charles Duhigg was tasked with managing a project at the New York Times, he was surprised to find himself struggling to connect with members of his team. As a reporter, he was speaking to people every day – he was in the very business of communication. Yet he kept having clashes. For some, it wouldn’t warrant further...