Dear People,
I am new to the LO list and the dialogue here. After reading and reflecting
on what y'all have been discussing, I'm especially attracted to the dialogue
on dialogue. First, I confess that I have consciously not read any books on
the subject or taken any classes. That will probably be painfully obvious as
you read my posting here :-)
I tend to resist, with all my might, books & courses that attempt to teach
human beings how to be human beings. It seems in our society, we have need to
learn about dialogue, about relationships, about being cooperative, creative,
etc.
My question is not 'how to do it' but when and why did we lose our natural
capacity for dialogue, relationships, cooperative & creative work? I see
these arts as something to be rediscovered and reclaimed, not behaviors to be
learned as if they never existed before.
Perhaps the only thing I've read on dialogue is Martin Buber's work where he
discusses the dynamics of different relationships:
The I-IT dynamic, the other being an "it", an object.
The IT-IT dynamic, we're both "its"!
Much of the conversations I hear in workplaces and in homes seem to fall into
one of these categories.
Buber also writes about the I and Thou dynamic, a fully human relationship
and dialogue. I have actually heard such conversations, e.g. among The Amish
farmers in Pennsylvania;
at Quaker meetings; around a Seder at Passover and wherever people gather in
community with one another. Is it possible that it is a sense of community
which might need to be rediscovered and reclaimed as part of the journey to
rediscover our capacity for dialogue?
With Respect,
Claire Smith
Teacher-Consultant: Teams, Org. Change & Work Redesign
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>