Category Archives: dialogue

Common Ground for Action

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Common Ground for Action is an online platform for deliberation sponsored by the Kettering Foundation starting in 2013, who partnered with Conteneo, a creator of serious decision-making games, to co-develop the forum. Kettering and Conteneo collaborated from scratch to create a unique online forum that engaged participants and produced an authentic deliberation space, which was then tested through the National Issues Forums (NIF) network.

NIFI_Common GroundFrom NIFI…

Common Ground for Action forums are the online version of traditional in-person National Issues Forums. Common Ground for Action is a simple but sophisticated platform that runs in any browser—no technical mumbo jumbo!

In CGA, small groups are able to learn more about the tensions in an issue, examine options for dealing with the problem, weigh tradeoffs, and find common ground just like in in-person National Issues Forums, but with visuals that let you actually see the shape of your conversation as it evolves.

From Kettering…

The online forum has five basic areas:

1. Lobby: Participants get introduced to the platform, other participants, moderator
2. Forum Home: Participants get introduced to the issue, other participants’ personal stakes
3. Baseline: Participants register a personal baseline with regard to the actions
4. Examination of Options: for each option, participants do:
* a personal sense-making and evaluation of the actions and tradeoffs within an option
* then discuss the option similarly to an in-person forum
5. Common Ground Reflection: Participants reflect upon common ground from across the options and see the difference their deliberation has made.

Check out this short video about how to participate in Common Ground for Action here.

More about Kettering Foundation
The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. Kettering’s primary research question is, what does it take to make democracy work as it should? Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their nation. Follow on Twitter: @KetteringFdn.

More about the National Issues Forums Institute
The institute’s central activity is to publish and distribute an ongoing series of Issue Guides and videos that prepare you for thoughtful discussion of many of today’s thorniest problems. Moderators and conveners find our resources indispensable in organizing, leading and advertising their forums for public deliberation. We also provide guidelines for those who wish to frame their own issues. To keep the network and policymakers current, we publish reports about forum lesson plans, activities, and outcomes so groups can learn from one another. Follow on Twitter: @NIForums.

More about Conteneo
Our team of scientists, academics and practitioners use the science of serious games to unlock  engagement for our clients. Rooted in a range of disciplines (from cognitive science and evolutionary psychology to game theory), our proprietary software and services enable leading organizations to quickly and easily adapt to market and operational changes–on any scale. Follow on Twitter: @ConteneoInc

Resource Link: www.nifi.org/en/common-ground-action

Civic Dialogues on Sustainability: Business Briefing and Best Practices Guide

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Businesses have traditionally played little role in civic dialogue, but their involvement can help advance issues. The Network for Business Sustainability (NBS) has recently published two reports, written by Dr. Thomas Webler, that identify the potential for business involvement in civic dialogue.

Graphic Recording

The reports are aimed at a business audience, and can serve to introduce businesses to civic dialogue concepts. We hope that they will also be useful for anyone seeking to understand business perspectives or the value of engaging businesses in dialogues.  The reports are:

1) Civic Dialogues on Sustainability: A Business Briefing  (17 pages)

This overview for business executives describes:

  • Civic dialogue’s contribution to sustainability
  • Its relationship to other types of engagement
  • The value of business participation in civic dialogue for business and society

2) How to Engage in Civic Dialogue: A Best Practices Guide for Business  (45 pages)

This detailed guide, intended for those charged with implementing business involvement in a dialogue, also provides:

  • Models and best practices for effective civic dialogues
  • Civic dialogue case studies and lessons learned

Resource Link: www.nbs.net/topic/stakeholder/civic-dialogue/

This resource was submitted by Maya Fischhoff, Knowledge Manager for NBS via the Add-a-Resource form. NBS appreciates thoughts and feedback, and will evolve the reports accordingly. Comment on the report webpages or by sending a note to Maya at mfischhoff@nbs.net.

The Transpartisan Listserv

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The Transpartisan Listserv was launched in March 2014 by the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, Mediators Foundation, and over a dozen co-founders who are leaders in political bridge building work.

The purpose of this moderated listserv is to introduce potential colleagues to one another, to expand our knowledge of transpartisan theory and practice, and to showcase ongoing activity in the transpartisan field. Our goal is to provide a simple, safe communication channel where individuals and organizations that are active in this boundary-crossing work can connect and learn from each other.

What is transpartisanship? One perspective was published in the Washington Post on January 27, 2014. In Katrina vanden Heuvel’s editorial, she wrote: “At a time of paralyzing political polarization, partisanship has naturally gotten a bad rap. But a reactionary shift toward bipartisanship — toward an anodyne centrism — isn’t the solution. Passion, deftly deployed, is actually an effective political tool with which to advance good ideas. That’s the promise of transpartisanship.”

The Transpartisan Listserv was launched by the following co-founders:

  1. Mark Gerzon, Tom Hast and John Steiner of Mediators Foundation
  2. Sandy Heierbacher, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)
  3. Tom Atlee, Co-Intelligence Institute
  4. Steve Bhaerman, humorist and author
  5. Dr. Don Beck, The Spiral Dynamics Group
  6. Joan Blades and Debilyn Molineaux, Living Room Conversations
  7. Laura Chasin, Bob Stains, Dave Joseph and Mary Jacksteit, Public Conversations Project
  8. Lawry Chickering and Jim Turner, co-authors of Voice of the People: The Transpartisan Imperative in American Life
  9. Jacob Hess and Phil Neisser, co-authors of You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought (But You’re Still Wrong)
  10. Margo King, Wisdom Beyond Borders-Mediators Foundation; John Steiner’s networking partner
  11. Mark McKinnon, NoLabels.org
  12. Ravi Iyer and Matt Motyl, CivilPolitics.org
  13. Evelyn Messinger, Internews Interactive
  14. John Opdycke, IndependentVoting.org
  15. Michael Ostrolenk, transpartisan organizer and philosopher
  16. Pete Peterson, Pepperdine University’s Davenport Institute
  17. Amanda Kathryn Roman, The Citizens Campaign
  18. Michael Smith, United Americans
  19. Kim Spencer, Link TV and KCETLink
  20. Rich Tafel, The Public Squared
  21. Jeff Weissglass, Political Bridge Building Advocate

You are welcome to subscribe to the Transpartisan List if any of the following are true:

  • You are interested in learning more, and sharing what you know, about current efforts to transcend and transform unproductive partisan politics.
  • You want to meet potential colleagues who share your concern and are working to improve research, dialogue, deliberation, collaboration, and improved decision making across party lines.
  • You want to share what you (or your organization) do in this field that you consider “transpartisan” – conversations that break out of the narrow, predictable ideological exchanges.
  • You believe this subject is vital to our country’s future and simply want to learn more about how you might get involved.

If some or all of these statements apply to you, join the Transpartisan List by sending a blank email to transpartisan-subscribe-request@lists.thataway.org. Together, we can ask the questions that need to be asked about this challenging field, and seek the answers as a learning community.

As you may know, NCDD-sponsored listservs are moderated and embrace ground rules that have proven effective for our lists. Please follow the following guidelines if you choose to participate.

Transpartisan Listserv Guidelines

The following guidelines will help keep the list focused, manageable, and useful for subscribers. Please read these over before posting or replying to the list. The moderator may choose not to approve messages that break one or more of these ground rules.

  • Please refrain from over-posting (once per day maximum; 3-4 posts per week max). Aim for quality over quantity.
  • Identify yourself. Include your usual email signature (i.e. your name, organization, email address, where you’re from…) when you send a message to the list. This will help us get to know each other a little better and make it easier for people to connect with you.
  • Keep your messages relevant to transpartisan work. If it is not immediately apparent that your message is relevant to transpartisan work, explain in your message why you think it is relevant.
  • Please do not use this list as a forum for debating public policy issues. If you really want to delve into a specific social or policy issue with other members of the list, feel free to contact members individually via email or social networking sites.
  • This goes without saying, but please stay civil and treat other subscribers with respect. Model good dialogue behavior and refrain from name-calling, making unwarranted assumptions about people, and making sweeping statements about individuals or groups of people without backing them up with facts and data. If you’re unclear about why someone said something or thinks/feels a certain way, ask them. (Note: the moderator reserves the right to reject or ask you to reframe posts which seem overly confrontational towards another person on the list, since we are fostering a supportive, respectful space for leaders in transpartisan work.)
  • Direct your message to the subscribers of the list. If you forward an announcement or article, please offer some context. Emails with attachments/links and no explanation of what’s in the attachment/link will not be approved.
  • If your message is directed at one individual in particular, do not send your message to the entire list. If replying to an individual, click “Reply” instead of “Reply All.”
  • Please do not fundraise or send regular digital newsletters to the list.
  • If you ask the list for advice and get a variety of good responses on and off-list, consider taking the time to compile or summarize the responses and share them with the list. We’d greatly appreciate that!

Please note that this listserv has a daily digest option. If the list becomes busy and you’d prefer to receive no more than one message a day from the list, email NCDD office manager Joy Garman at joy@ncdd.org and let her know you’d like to be switched to the daily digest for the Transpartisan List. Joy can also remove you from the list or change your email address.

Subscribe by sending a blank email to transpartisan-subscribe-request@lists.thataway.org. Once you’re subscribed, use the email address transpartisan@lists.thataway.org to send a message to the list.

Using Dialogue Then Deliberation to Transform a Warring Leadership Team

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This case study is on the use of dialogue then deliberation to transform organizational cultures. The authors are John Inman (the consultant) and Tracy A. Thompson, Ph.D. a professor at University of Washington. This case study was published in OD Practitioner in the Spring of 2013. You can reach John Inman at john@johninmandialogue.com and Tracy Thompson at tracyat@uw.edu.

The new organization normal is complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Old paradigms or mindsets of leadership based on positivist and linear approaches to problem solving worked well in predictable and stable contexts but they are less well-suited to address the complexity and challenges of the current world. If leaders are to create an organization that thrives in the world as it emerges, they need a different mindset, one that enables them to design and host transformative conversations (Groysberg & Slind, 2012).

Because they are rooted in constructivist and interpretive approaches targeted towards changing deep mindsets, Dialogic OD interventions (Bushe, 2009; Bushe & Marshak, 2009, Marshak & Bushe, 2009) offer an appealing means for developing leaders. We begin by discussing the importance of mindsets to OD practice, and we identify the key elements of a dialogic mindset, the kind of mindset necessary to tap into the power of conversation.

Building from methods that focus on dialogue (Bojer, Roehl, Knuth, & Magner, 2008), we identify a set of practices, what we term the dialogue then deliberation approach, which focuses on creating transformative conversations that alter mindsets and change behaviors. We illustrate how an internal OD professional used this approach to shift the mindsets of warring leaders in a business unit of a large telecommunication company, enabling them to work together more effectively. We conclude with recommendations on how to move forward with this Dialogic OD approach to changing mindsets and behaviors in organizations.

Resource Link: http://www.johninmandialogue.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/09/ODP-V45No1-Inman-Thompson.pdf

This resource was submitted by consultant and NCDD member John Inman via the Add-A-Resource form at www.ncdd.org/rc/add. John included this generous note:

I would welcome a conversation on this work any time. Please email me at john@johninmandialogue.com, visit my web site at www.johninmandialogue.com, or give me a call at 425-954-7256. I am located in the Greater Seattle area and am open to working with others.

Dialogue In Nigeria: Muslims & Christians Creating Their Future

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Dialogue In Nigeria: Muslims & Christians Creating Their Future is a 65-minute video highlighting how two hundred courageous Christian and Muslim young adults met in face-to-face dialogue, listening to learn and discovering their equal humanity, new communication skills, and that “an enemy is one whose story we have not heard.”

Co-produced in January 2012 by the New Era Educational and Charitable Support Foundation and the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue, this program shares experiences from the 2010 International Conference on Youth and Interfaith Communication.

Dialogue In Nigeria is distributed on DVD and available upon request, postage included, for dialogue and deliberation practitioners, students, and trainers worldwide.  Follow the link below to learn more, request your own copy and to see increasing social outcomes of ethnic and tribal healing in other African nations and worldwide.

Resource Link:  www.traubman.igc.org/vidnigeria.htm

This resource was submitted by Libby and Len Traubman of the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue via the Add-a-Resource form.

From Dialogue to Action: Climate Dialogues and Climate Action Labs

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This 2008 article by Phil Mitchell shows how a global issue like climate change can be handled gracefully at the local level with little funds by working in collaboration with the existing infrastructure provided by local environmental organizations. (Vol 2 Issue 2 of the International Journal of Public Participation, December 2008)

Abstract:
The Greater Seattle Climate Dialogues is a climate change education and advocacy project with its roots in dialogue and deliberation. Using an adapted study circles model, the purpose of its Climate Action Labs is to change grassroots politics in such a way that people can bridge the ubiquitous gap between dialogue and action. In overview form, this is the story of the project, intended to share the thinking that motivated it and the activities, design principles, and actual process designs that shaped its implementation and outcomes. The story is not complete without articulating lessons learned to date, and these are shared to benefit others, as is the major political challenge we believe we all face. For others’ projects based in similar motivation, the design principles and lessons learned may be a useful, transportable resource.

Excerpt from the introduction:
Practitioners of dialogue and deliberation (D&D) are keenly interested in two of the facets of public participation that remain underexplored: action and scale (Levine, Fung, & Gastil, 2005). We need action, especially in the many situations where our motivation for applying D&D techniques is to solve real world problems that require action outcomes, often political ones. Too often, however, in otherwise excellent deliberative processes, the links between talk and action are tenuous. Secondly, we need scale, because while most applications of D&D techniques have been on a local scale, it is clear that many larger, even global scale challenges could benefit from such approaches. Climate change is a perfect example.

Climate change—that is, the human-caused disruption of the Earth’s climate system—is arguably the most pressing global challenge society faces (CNA, 2007; Stern, 2005). Yet despite a broad scientific consensus on the facts, the very existence of the problem remains bitterly contested in the public sphere. The use of obfuscation and uncertainty as a political tactic cries out to be addressed by the wisdom inherent in D&D approaches.

Some attempts have been made to do so, as for example, the Empowerment Institute’s Global Warming Cafe (World Cafe), the Northwest Earth Institute’s Changing Course (discussion circle), the National Conversation on Climate Action (21st Century town hall), Deliberative Democracy and Climate Change (World Cafe, then next steps forthcoming), and the Greater Seattle Climate Dialogues and Action Labs (study circles/hybrid/experimental).

The Climate Dialogues/Labs are the subject of this report. The Greater Seattle Climate Dialogues is a climate change education and advocacy project with its roots in dialogue and deliberation. From its inception, we attempted to bridge the gap between dialogue and action. The Climate Action Labs model is our response to challenges we found in using study circles to support participant action. Here, I offer an overview of the programs: how we prepared for launch, how we approached design, what happened in terms of implementation and outcomes, and finally, the lessons we have learned to date.

The question at the center of Climate Dialogues was, How can we build a mandate for strong global warming policy when there is no public consensus and when public discussion is frozen into camps and undermined by disinformation? Our answer: (a) Start with well-designed dialogue; (b) take people through a learning and community-building process that gets past the obfuscations; and (c) use that as a launching point for collective political action. Our premise was that if we could create an opening for the public to actually hear and understand what the scientists are telling us, that members of the public would be moved to act.

Resource Link: www.ncdd.org/rc/wp-content/uploads/Mitchell-ClimateDialoguesToAction.pdf (free download)

The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings

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Art Of Convening coverIn their book, The Art of Convening, authors Craig and Patricia Neal explore their “Art of Convening” engagement model and how it goes “beyond facilitating”. According to their book, convening creates an environment in which all voices are heard, profound exchanges take place, and transformative action results. The heart of this book is the Convening Wheel — a series of nine steps, or Aspects, that bring the practices and principles needed for authentic engagement together as a whole. The book provides exercises, stories, and questions to help you master both the inner and outer dimensions of this work — because, in convening, the state of the Convener is equally as important as the physical preparations. The book…

  • Details a powerful set of principles and practices for making any gathering productive, meaningful, and transformative
  • Draws on the authors’ decades of experience convening meetings in all kinds of settings
  • Offers practical wisdom on both the inner and outer aspects of convening

Convening works in any setting and can be adapted to virtually any group process. With this book you have all the tools you need to develop this essential life and leadership skill, one that will lead to improved outcomes in your organization, community, family, and relationships.

Some “back of the book” quotes…

“In this wise and thoughtful book, Craig and Patricia Neal help readers understand what’s needed to create the kind of authentic ‘meeting’ where true collective wisdom can emerge in group settings. They remind us that convening is an ancient art, one that can be critical to our capacity to survive and thrive in today’s challenged world.”
- Juanita Brown and David Isaacs, Co-Originators, The World Café

“Few people have refined the process of bringing people together as gracefully and elegantly as Craig and Patricia Neal. How we convene is much more than simple technique or facilitation; it is an expression of who we are and what kind of world we want to create. If their thinking and methodology were to become common practice, there would be more peace and connectedness and good will all around.”
- Peter Block, Author & Troublemaker

“These days we spend so much time working together in groups, doesn’t it make sense to learn how to do it better, smarter, deeper, and more authentically? If your answer, like mine, is “yes,” then like me you’ll love this book! It is both wise and worthwhile, profound and practical.”
- Alan M. Webber, co-founder, Fast Company magazine

As co-founders of Heartland Inc., Craig and Patricia Neal have led over 170 “Thought Leader Gatherings” with leaders from over 800 diverse organizations. Their new book shares their Art of Convening model — developed in these gatherings and refined over six years of intensive trainings.

Resource Link: www.heartlandcircle.com/aocbook.htm

This resource was submitted by Patricia Neal, co-founder of Heartland Inc., via the Add-a-Resource form.

Human Migration: Policy Possibilities for Public Discussion

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The Interactivity Foundation (IF) has recently published a discussion guidebook entitled “Human Migration: Policy Possibilities for Public Discussion.” The guidebook was edited by IF Fellow Ieva Notturno, who also managed the long-term project and two discussion panels that explored and developed the ideas that resulted in the six policy possibilities listed below and further outlined in the guidebook.

The discussion panelists initially worked thru a series of fundamental questions and concerns about human migration, including “What could human migration mean? What are the forces that drive it? What societal goals and public policies might pertain to it? What are its different dimensions and how might these different dimensions conflict with each other? How might human migration and the conflicts that arise from it affect the ability of democracy to achieve its goals? Might immigration and emigration, as special examples of human migration, pose special threats to democracy? And if so, what are they? What concerns might Americans have about human migration? How might our public policies address these concerns? What conceptual policy possibilities might we develop that might affect the future of human migration?”

Human-Migration-coverIn response to these and other questions and concerns, they developed the following six policy possibilities for further exploration and discussion:

  1. Put Security First
  2. Privilege Human Rights & Humanitarian Needs
  3. Promote Assimilation into Local Communities
  4. Put the Economy First
  5. Keep Families Together
  6. Embrace Freedom of Movement

For each of these possibilities, the discussion guidebook also describes possible implementations, effects (or consequences), and further discussion questions.

The Interactivity Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to enhance the process and expand the scope of our public discussions through facilitated small-group discussion of multiple and contrasting possibilities. The Foundation does not engage in political advocacy for itself, any other organization or group, or on behalf of any of the policy possibilities described in its discussion reports. For more information see the Foundation’s website at www.interactivityfoundation.org.

Resource Link: www.interactivityfoundation.org/discussions/human-migration/

This resource was submitted by Peter Shively of the Interactivity Foundation via the Add-a-Resource form.

The Human Impact of Climate Change: Opportunities & Challenges

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The Interactivity Foundation (IF) has recently published a guidebook for public discussion on “The Human Impact on Climate Change,” edited by IF Fellows Dennis Boyer, Jeff Prudhomme, and Adolf Gundersen. The guidebook was developed from the group discussions of 16 panelists in two groups from south central and southwestern Wisconsin.

Human-Impact-on-Climate-coverTest discussions facilitated by former Wisconsinites in Tucson, Ariz., and in Sonora and Mazatlan, Mexico, further developed the text of the discussion guide.

Six contrasting policy possibilities emerged from these group discussions and are described in this discussion guide along with possible implementations, examples, and consequences:

  1. Promote climate awareness: Improve public understanding of climate impacts, their consequences, and options for action.
  2. Change consumer habits: Focus on human consumption as a source of atmospheric carbon and greenhouse gases.
  3. Go for results: Identify efficient and low-cost solutions that are currently available for short-term action.
  4. Heal the planet: Plan and implement long-range recovery and rehabilitation of ecosystems.
  5. Deal with a different world: Adapt to changed conditions and plan for climate emergencies.
  6. Focus on the developing world: Assist developing nations in reducing climate impact activities and help them “leap over” traditional industrial development to clean technologies.

In developing these possibilities, the project panelists felt that much of the existing political “debate” about climate impacts has been unhelpful to citizens and policymakers. Eventually, their discussions designated certain issues, such as “Is the planet getting warmer? How is the climate changing? What role does human action play in global climate change?” as questions that rely more on empirical scientific research for their answers. Conversely, they designated other key questions, such as “What public policy choices might we make about climate change? What, if anything, might society do about global climate change?” as public policy questions that need exploration by all citizens.

This distinction helped the panelists to side-step much of the highly partisan and interest-group-driven “debate” and engage in a public conversation that was more anticipatory and imaginative. Their explorations seem to be shaped by three realizations:

  1. Universal agreement on the precise nature and extent of climate impacts is difficult to achieve and waiting for it could forestall consideration of workable impact policies.
  2. There is sufficient current evidence of dramatic environmental consequences connected to climate impacts to merit development of policy responses.
  3. Significant institutions and interests are assuming that human climate impacts are real and must be accounted for.

This last point accounted for a dramatic shift in the project discussions. Among the more conservative panelists, the realization that major financial institutions, large investors, risk managers, insurers, and military and national security leaders take climate impacts into account in their planning was a turning point. It was seen as evidence that the politicians often lag behind in both consciousness and practical problem-solving.

The sense that emerged from the climate project was that these starting points for public conversation represent a possibly useful foundation for discussion of the opportunities for innovation, economic development, and prudent planning related to climate impacts. Now it’s your turn.

Resource Link: www.interactivityfoundation.org/discussions/human-impacts-on-climate/

This resource was submitted by Peter Shively of the Interactivity Foundation via the Add-a-Resource form.