Dialogue
When is it useful?
Dialogue is for building understanding and creating a shared context or understanding of a given situation. It creates space for continuous learning by surfacing assumptions - our own and those of others - and by focusing more on questions rather on answers; more on possibility than certainty. While sometimes confused with "discussion" or "debate" it is fundamentally different in the following ways:
What does it look like?
"An example of people thinking together [dialogue] would be that somebody would get an idea, Somebody else would take it up, somebody else would add to it. The thought would flow, rather than a lot of people trying to persuade or convince the others.it creates a harmony of the individual and the collective, in which the whole constantly moves toward coherence."
(David Bohm, On Dialogue, 1996.)
Dialogue or Debate?
Dialogue is collaborative: two or more sides work together towards common understanding
Debate is oppositional: two sides oppose each other and attempt to prove each other wrong.
In dialogue, finding common ground is the goal
In debate, winning is the goal.
In dialogue, one listens to the other side(s) in order to understand, find meaning, and find Agreement
In debate, one listens to the other side in order to find flaws and to counter its arguments.
Dialogue opens the possibility of reaching a solution that is better than any of the original Solutions
Debate defends one's own positions as the best solution and excludes other solutions.
In dialogue, one searches for basic agreements
In debate, one searches for glaring differences.
Dialogue assumes that many people have pieces of the answer and that together they can put them into a workable solution
Debate assumes that there is one right answer and that someone has it.
Where can I learn more?
- The Listening Project
- The Public Conversations Project
- The Magic of Dialogue
- From Debate to Dialogue