The Meaning of Dialogue

January 14th, 2000

Dear friend:

Each year, as one year ends and another begins, my work slows down. This gives me time to reflect and plan, to visit with clients from previous years, and to read.

This year was no exception. My work slowed down and the reflective process began.

One of my visits raised a very fundamental question about the effectiveness of my work. And one of the books helped answer the question.

The visit occurred a few days before Christmas. I went to see Barbara Waters, the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, with whom I had done extensive work in 1996. As we reminisced in her office she invited me to walk with her through one of the business centers. As we walked people were almost rushing up to Barbara and me, using the occasion of my return as a way to talk about how they had transformed the way they work. Actually, they didn't need to talk. You could see the transformation in their faces and their body language, in their interaction and their energy.

I was delighted to see the change, and my mind immediately began to ask how it had happened.

Yesterday I read a book that helped give an answer. The book is entitled Synchronicity: The Inner Path to Leadership.

One chapter is called "Dialogue: The Power of Collective Thinking." It begins with a quote from David Bohm, a physicist whose thinking has been important to my way of understanding personal and organizational transformation. It tells us the true meaning of the word DIALOGUE.

"Dialogue," as used by Bohm, comes from two Greek roots, dia and logos, suggesting "meaning flowing through." This stands in stark contrast to the word "debate" which means "to beat down," or even "discussion," which has the same root as "percussion" and "concussion" - "to break things up."

My goal for the year 2000 is to continue to help organizations discover the meaning that flows through their work. Or, to say it another way, to help organizations engage in true dialogue.

Sincerely,

Bill

*********

Dialogue: The Power
of Collective Thinking

From time to time, (the) tribe (gathered) in a circle.
They just talked and talked and talked, apparently to no
purpose.
They made no decisions. There was no leader.
And everybody could participate.
There may have been wise men or wise women who were
listened to a bit more - the older ones -
but everybody could talk.
The meeting went on,
until it finally seemed to stop for no reason at all
and the group dispersed.
Yet after that, everybody seemed to know what to do,
because they understood each other so well.

-- David Bohm, On Dialogue

 

Quoted in Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership (Barrett -Koehler Publishers, San Francisco), 1996.