The Critical Friends Group, a highly articulated model of professional learning, posits that, in order for teachers to learn together in ways that change their practice, the content and nature of their conversations must change (National School Reform Faculty, 2012). The content needs to change from externally driven agendas that address (in a cursory way) their most immediate problems to sustained and rigorous examination of student work, their own teaching practices, and the fundamental assumptions that guide their work. Not only what teachers talk about, but also how teachers talk needs to change. What's more, the Critical Friends Group model holds that, for adults to do the challenging learning necessary to transform schools, they need to learn to be reflective, expose and explore fundamental assumptions, give and get feedback, and hold each other accountable for implementing what they have learned. However, talking and learning in this way often goes very much against the grain of how schools typically operate. While the Critical Friends Group model has been part of the professional development landscape for years, this article shares new iterations that point to the continued power, versatility, and utility of Critical Friends Groups balancing the tension between collaborative and individual adult learning, which is particularly difficult in an era of increased standardization and accountability.