Effective Conversational Practice LO8916

kent.myers@lmco.com
Tue, 6 Aug 1996 16:35:41 -0400

Replying to LO8786 --

Bravo 8786. We have a tremendous resource here which is superior to face
to face conversation in several respects -- as well as inferior to it.
Winks and nods are a lot of trouble and much can be accomplished without
them. There are many letters, books, and face to face conversations that
changed the world, and I have no doubt that, at some point, a listserv
will achieve prominence and be remembered. Are the conditions right, and
are our powers sufficient, to make LO one of those lists?

I'd like to contribute one idea. The ancient paradigm (older than old
paradigm) says that dialogue builds up and argues for an idea. I'm not
sure that is happening, even though we have removed many of the common
practices that prevent it. We have 'threads', but notice how thin the
threads become. Rick 'listened' and formulated an issue, which brought
forth a new wave of important submissions that sound to me as if they are
building up and arguing for a shared object. It is true that we
frequently respond to something in another's message, that we are not
contentious, and that we show some kindness toward each other, but I'm not
sure that we drive a shared object forward very often. Instead, there are
a lot riffs on a shared subject matter.

Tony Kortens LO8774 says that we are engaging in an art form. If this
were music, what kind of music is it most like? Possibly a bunch of
sit-in cool jazz players who are not submitting to a strong theme or
shared style. That's legitimate art, but perhaps not great art. Other
forms are possible, and might be tried, if only temporarily. Some
experiments have been tried along these lines, but the pattern has been
that few people want to play if it involves repetition, discipline,
controlled definitions, review, use of a facilitator, familiarity with
selected source material, etc. Perhaps that's too much work. I have
nothing specific to propose, only 'sustained argument for a shared
object', however that works out.

Kent Myers myersk@us.net

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kent.myers@lmco.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>