ODLG Dialogue Group

Dialogue Group

The June 1999 Learning Group meeting, presented by Joe Dabek and Carole Kasper, was on Dialogue and led to the formation of an ODLG Dialogue Group. For several years, this special interest group provided a way for participating members to explore Dialogue.

Our July 2000 and October 2001 meetings on Process Consultation and also offered opportunities for experiencing Dialogue. Our May 2005 “Going Around in Circles” program presented a chance to see dialogue and compare it with three other “circular communication” techniques. As measured by RSVP’s, this was our most popular program of all time and we did a similar program in June 2006.

In February we revived our Dialogue Group under the Leadership of Allyn Bradford. A member since 2004, Allyn teaches in the Creative and Critical Thinking Graduate Program at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and formerly worked at Synectics. These meetings were held at UMass and ended in May. 

After many attempts to restart the group that floundered over difficulties in finding a suitable location and in travel time, we now have a resource that will enable us to do dialogue without such constraints: our Second Life Clubhouse. We are thus working toward launching a new SL-based Dialogue group and are doing some experimental dialogue sessions. Perhaps an SL dialogue group could also lead to a new real life one. Members who are interested in participating or wish further information should write dialogue@learninggroup,org.

Background information on Dialogue

Dialogue (sometimes referred to as "Bohmian Dialogue" to differentiate itself from other practices that use the latter word) is a method of communication.  It can also be a management tool, and has been embraced as such by such thought leaders as Ed Schein, Peter Senge, and Otto Scharmer.

As an idea, Dialogue has existed since human society.  As a scientifically based practice, it can be traced to David Bohm, a scientist and thinker.  Bohm, who lived from 1917 to 1992, was a physicist who was a colleague of Albert Einstein and one of the founders of quantum mechanics.  In his later life he turned to philosophy and communication; his On Dialogue, edited from his writings and speeches, is a fundamental text.

Dialogue may be defined by following continuum:  Debate - Discussion - Dialogue.  Most of us have participated in debates, some of them having started as discussions.  In Debate, one concentrates on making one's position so that it is most likely to be believed by the audience.  Tricks and even lies are part of the technique, and one listens to the other side only to figure out how to demolish their arguments.

Discussion is more neutral.  In general, it is expected that there will be various points of view expressed and that the purpose of the discussion is to hear these and come to agreement. How often does this happen, however?

Think of the various discussions you have held lately - meetings, conversations, and so on.  How frequently were participants genuinely trying to discover one another’s viewpoints?  Did people actually try to understand not just what others were saying but what assumptions and experiences their statements were based on? When decisions were made, were all factors were carefully considered so that true consensus had been achieved (as opposed to one side getting its way)?

Dialogue offers another way. It is based on the idea that all members of the group participate as equals, that everyone makes a conscious effort to understand others' viewpoints, and that learning and sharing precede decision making and action planning.

Dialogue may entail making specific rules for the group as to how and when people speak. It may involve using aids such as pauses between speakers, regular paraphrasing of the previous remarks, or conversational aids such as a talking stick.

Like any practice or discipline, Dialogue takes conscious effort and practice; it may seem unnatural at first, just as in learning how to golf or how to dance.  However, once a group has mastered the art of Dialogue, it can find not only that communication and decision making are better but also that the resultant synergy makes for team learning and shared thinking.  This experience is very stimulating and rewarding in itself, over and above the specific benefits that accrue to the organization.

Dialogue is used by many corporations and organizations, and there are organizations and consultants that promote it as a management technique. Like swimming, one has to experience Dialogue to understand it, and practitioners generally recommend a group of at least six with at least six regular meetings to understand it.