Do you ever get stuck in a vicious cycle that’s not producing the results you want? I’ve been there, more often than I’d like to admit. I can be having a civil conversation with a colleague. Suddenly, we’re at odds. How did that happen…again? And how can I prevent it from happening next time? 

I don’t think I’m particularly unusual. Many of us are stuck in cycles that feel like“déjà vu all over again,” as Yogi Berra put it.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.