What is needed is an effort to reason together, not defend turf. As a method of saving face, individuals engage in social niceties that may aid social relations but harm communication, understanding, and learning. The objective is to minimize threat and embarrassment to oneself. In part, this occurs because professionals do not see failure as necessary to learning. This does not imply, however, that everyone must think alike.
People bring individual differences to the group, which can lead to conflict and defensive routines.
When they engage in conversation, they share diverse ideas. This initiates a deliberation process and individuals decide at this point whether to suspend assumptions and move toward dialogue or beat down the opposing ideas. If the group can explore the differences and keep listening in order to learn, the crisis of suspension will be managed. The focus of the group then becomes collective inquiry, with new insights being developed. The crisis of collective pain refers to the challenge of accepting that isolation and fragmentation are created through one's own assumptions.