Work is challenging for lots of reasons, but most of us have probably come to realize that what makes or break a professional experience is people – and sometimes we encounter a boss, peer, or direct report that isn’t at all fun to work with. Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at HBR, and author of the book Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone, Even Difficult People and the HBR article “ How to Navigate Conflict with a Coworker .” A lot of the advice I share is about not being direct, actually trying to find ways to sort of nudge them to productive behavior, partly because some of the archetypes I explore in the book, like the know-it-all or the insecure manager, don’t respond well to direct confrontation.