Ego, control and power over others are often at the forefront of this style of talking. The first and most difficult task of dialogue involves parking the ego and listening with an open spirit. From this receptivity can come questions which lead to understanding. To ask these questions requires that one no longer needs to have the best or last answer. Expanding one's understanding becomes more important than being right or getting one's point across.
Dialogue is a communication skill essential to achieving a consensus decision.
It is based on the idea that the collective IQ of the team can, potentially, be much higher than the IQ of the individuals. The purpose of dialogue is to go beyond any one individual's understanding. When in dialogue, an issue or decision is capa ble of constant development and change. Dialogue is reserved for complex, difficult issues where it appears there are no easy answers. To learn this valuable team skill, we find it best to use a current business issue that is trou bling the group and use dialogue to gather insights.