Civil Dialog: What We All Need Now! Can We Bring Back or Sustain Civil Dialog in the Workplace to Solve the Complex Problems We Face and Create a Civil Community?

Frame Work to Remember All of life’s conflicts are between:  Letting go or holding on  Opening into the present or clinging to the past  Expansion or contraction of possibilities

Just a Little Context

Uncertainty  Have you noticed------how lacking clarity is clarity itself?  How, if you aren’t sure about something, alone has meaning?  Honor uncertainty. It is the womb from which all- knowingness comes.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Emotional Intelligence Items  Reflective practices as a part of the inquiry process  Suspension of judgment  Taking others’ perspective  Empathy  Holding tensions between two different points of view  Practices “respective engagements”  Understands collective responsibility

Kohlberg’s Stages

Circle of Concern Circle of Influence

Foundational Problems  Not wanting to advance to a new stage of moral or civil development  Can the staff members focus on their influence and not get caught up in unsolvable concerns?  Can individual staff members take personal responsibility to change their uncivil or disrespectful behavior?

Type of Justice What is the Objection?  Utilitarian : Vote – the greatest number wins  Libertarian : I need consent; my rights, my beliefs, values, and freedom to choose  Communitarian : Common good, group membership, solidarity, loyality  Aristilian : Honorific, what is deeply deserved, valued or believed in

Why We Need Civil Dialog  Main reason: to solve complex issues we face in daily life and long-term relationship sustainability  Good and aware citizens for our nation, community and individual actions  Productive, safe, respectful and creative work communities  To make positive “inner work-life meaning”

Communitarians  We all have to participate in civil dialog and respectful engagements for the common good –students, families and educational settings that are corner stones of our society  We all have to be “emotionally intelligent “ and participate in complex problem solving

What If Staff Don’t Want to Be Emotionally Intelligent and Respectful Engagers?  First you have to have an agreement with all stakeholders. The requirements need to be in hiring practices, job descriptions, meeting norms and staff evaluations  It needs to be clear that staff who are not willing or completely unaware, will be given a chance to change, however if no change occurs in reasonable time, needed consequences will be delivered

It’s Clear We Need to Work Together  In our daily work-life and solving complex issues, we need to all work together  We need to use tools, getting to YES, or polarity management to help us  Your community should not have bullying behavior, or dominating personalities that “derail” the communities’ actions

Getting to Yes!  Separate the People from the Problem  Focus on Interests  Invent Options  Objective Standards  Create the Action

Action Steps How will we gain or maintain the positive result from focusing on this left pole? What? Who? By when? Measures? Early Warnings Measurable Indicators (things you can count) that will let you know that you are getting into the downside of this left pole and Greater Purpose Statement (GPS): Why balance this polarity? Early Warnings Measurable Indicators (things you can count) that will let you know that you are getting into the downside of this right pole Action Steps How will we gain or maintain the positive result from focusing on this right pole? What? Who? By when? Measures? TITLE: Values = positive results from focusing on the right pole Values = positive results from focusing on the left pole Fears = negative results from over focusing on the left pole to the neglect of the right pole Fears = negative results from over focusing on the right pole to the neglect of the left pole Deeper Fear from lack of balance Polarity Management

Dialog – Bohme  Speak to be understood instead of pursued  All people feel the commitment/ownership to speak up  The facilitator or team member identifies the “gem” being created by the team and brings to the attention of the whole group  The whole group agrees with the “gem” in terms of total agreement, mildly agreeing or not agreeing with the “gem” but not going to sabotage it, either

What’s Important?  The safe transportation of students to and from school  We resolve issues using strategic tools and respective staff members  We try to create multiple positive options and not power over others with our truth  Respectful engagements is difficult, needed and should be a community norm

It Needs to Be US  Courageous conversations are needed between leaders and staff members and in between staff members  Without these courageous conversations, the community could live in decline, toxity and even sabotage  Finding your inner leader is critical to this task

Be Curious  Civil dialog is a respectful behavior for transportation communities  If individual staff is given chances and no change is seen, it will only help the community to have these individuals gone  It is important for all of us to stay reflective, respectful and ready to be the best we can be!

The End  We all need to take personal responsibility to be reflective, suspend judgments and create the best options for our transportation communities  There are effective tools, ideas, concepts and strategies in this work  Make the shop, your community a civil place for great accomplishments Thanks!