National Dialogue Community of Practice 31st May 2017

Welcome Agenda Housekeeping

Objectives Update you on recent developments: Core Concepts Training; Facilitator Training; Formation of Practice Groups; Practice Group Guidance; National Events; Research Experience being in dialogue together about issues that matter Explore how outcomes from dialogue can be captured, evaluated and shared and enquire into the potential for dialogue to enable change in the system Share stories and identify case studies that can be used to encourage the integration of dialogue into everyday leadership practice

Some Groundrules for Dialogue All dialogue participants speak for themselves, not as representatives of groups, organisations or special interests Treat everyone in the dialogue as an equal: leave role, status and stereotypes at the door Listen with empathy to the views of others Be open and listen to others even (especially) when you disagree; resist the temptation to rush to judgement Search for assumptions ( including your own) Look for common ground All points of view deserve respect Avoid conversations out of the room Adapted from Meredith, Rosell, Davis

Check in Everyone’s voice in the room Popcorn rather than creeping death Speak from ‘I’ rather than ‘we’ or ‘they’ Avoid rehearsals

Creating a Practice Group Practice Group Facilitators ‘ Workshop Practice Group Guidance Core Concepts Training Creating a Practice Group

Cultivating Practice Realising Self A Showing Up Occupying the Ground Affecting the Field Source: Amanda Ridings

Research Question What evidence exists to demonstrate that organisations and individuals that use dialogic methods and practices generate effective change and produce lasting results?

Work done so far Literature review on dialogue Extension of literature review to include Dialogic Organisation Development (OD) Interviews ( Dialogue practitioners in the NHS in Scotland; Centre for Dialogue, Queen Margaret University) Correspondence with international dialogue and dialogic OD practitioners (Robert Marshak & Gervase Bushe, USA; Satu Kalliola, Finland; Olen Gunnlaugsen, Canada; Michael Roehrig, Germany) Review of dialogue case study material published by Prison Dialogue and various consulting firms including Dialogos (Bill Isaacs) & Dialogue Associates (Peter Garrett)

Outcome of Literature Review Academics contacted confirmed this was the case “ No systematic reviews or similar high level evidence of the impact of dialogue on effective change were found by the search” “studies in this field tend to be quasi- or non-experimental designs, involving case studies, without randomisation or control groups.” Another problem is the variation in dialogue techniques used – studies are not based on a standard protocol.

Definitions vary between studies Democratic Dialogue Socratic Dialogue Deliberative Dialogue Policy Dialogue Intergroup Dialogue Essential elements Dialogue includes an emotional dimension Whole system represented Suspension of status difference Brings assumptions to the surface in a non judgmental way

Practice models vary Bohmian dialogue Dialogue and Structural Dynamics Dialogue & Scenario Development Structural Dynamics Dialogue & Determination Dialogue and mindfulness Insight Dialogue

Some interesting case studies Prison Dialogue A different way of talking with prisoners to reduce reoffending rates and improve resettlement Improving relationships and trust between managers in different parts of the justice system; changing a silo culture Reconfiguring Canada’s Payments System Building trust and creating a shared language & framework that enables people with different backgrounds, assumptions and interests to work together “Those who initially identified primarily as bankers or tech. executives or telecoms experts or retailers gradually came to see each other as part of a more inclusive payments ecosystem or industry, a concept that did not exist prior to the work”

Closer to home AlcoLOLs Project Specialist Children’s Services, NHS Designed to tackle the issues alcohol presents for young people; co-designed by young people and implemented by them. Training in dialogue facilitation enabled young people to facilitate their own dialogue groups in school. (Queen Margaret University) Specialist Children’s Services, NHS Increased self awareness and awareness of impact on others Better team conversations Behavioural change OD Team, NHS Increased awareness of group dynamics Conscious Bystanding More enquiry Clearer way of contracting with clients “No assumptions that we have the answer”

How Dialogue has been used Training in dialogue principles and practices directed towards improving communications Stakeholder engagement Changing culture and behaviours Building trust and relationships within teams Inter-group relationships and collaboration Policy development

Where might dialogue be used? Develop breakthrough solutions that can work effectively across boundaries and jurisdictions Address issues where there is no clear definition of the problem and where a pure scientific approach can’t be applied Find common ground amongst multiple stakeholders who have very different problem definitions, perspectives, interests or mindsets Create ownership of a shared vision Build trust or credibility with stakeholders

Next Steps Is this enough to inspire and engage colleagues to use dialogue to enable change? Further interviews amongst dialogue practitioners Set up our own research project with a control group to test the effectiveness of dialogue for organisational change.