More references on Dialogue:
In addition to Art Kleiner's references to the chapters on dialogue in The
Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (in the section on Team Learning), I would suggest
looking at the Fall 1993 issuse of "Organizational Dynamics" magazine, which
was a special issue on dialogue and carried articles by Bill Isaacs, Ed
Schein and others.
The summer 1994 issue of "Vision/Action," the journal of the Bay Area OD
Network, is also a special issue on dialogue and includes articles by Paul
Hannigan, Gerard and Tuerfs, etc. (You can get this issue for $10 from the
BAODN, 5 Third St. #724, San Francisco, CA 94103)
A review of these six+ articles would provide a good overview of the
concepts as practiced by a few of the major thinkers and doers in the
field. It will also show up two primary lines of thinking about
dialogue--what I characterize as "Bohmian" dialogue dealing with societal
patterns of thinking at a global level, and "applied" or "strategic"
dialogue that deals more specifically with issues at the organizational
level.
Another very helpful contribution to the practice of dialogue is from
Chris Argyris' 1993 book, "Knowledge for Action" from Jossey-Bass. Chris
presents actual text of conversations with his clients and includes his
interpretations of what's going on and the reasoning behind his
interventions. Great insights.
P.S. I think Bohm's booklet "On Dialogue" is still available from David
Bohm Seminars, P.O. Box 1452, Ojai, CA 93023.
From: Dmweston@aol.com