Dialogue Crash-Course

Here's my next most important Knol, a basic introduction to Bohm Dialogue as it apply's to today's management world. On the side bar it's called "Bohm Dialogue 101." Many people have a very hard time grasping the abstractness of what organizational development people call "dialogue," and this explains it nicely. (Fortunately this did not require any HTML just some cut and paste with a little adjustment using Abiword.)

You have been through this before: some strategic planning exercise involving "mission statements" and "values", to create a document for some great yet unclear purpose. The consultant keeps saying "the real value of this process is the conversation that takes place while we are going through this process. The point is to get you people talking about this, and keep the conversation ongoing after I leave." He's not trying to pull a fast one on you, he's trying to get your organization to dialogue.

At one point in my graduate studies I challenged ALL forms of strategic planning to simply be hosts for generating dialogue, and that they had almost no other value whatsoever. I am no longer that cynical about strategic planning, but I do think there is some truth to that rash statement of my youth.

One final thought is the warning in this Bohm Dialogue 101 is NOT strong enough. I have seen dialogue side rail long term projects, break up teams, and stir up incredible amounts of trouble in the workplace. It is "strong medicine" not in the sense that extra-strength cold-medicine is extra strong, but in the sense that morphine is extra strong. Dialogue is addictive and overdose prone, and you have been warned.