Linkages with other units using the old technology were lost. Suppliers hadn't been notified of projected down time, and distributors had not been informed of possible delays. Any one of the participants could have improved the quality of the decision but instead, didn't even exercise the judgment that normal individual intelligence would have dictated. Instead of a 120-IQ decision, the group made a decision that reflected a group intelligence much lower than that of individuals who comprised the group. In this type of discussion, people may or may not present their various perspectives, opinions, and positions.
Various parties defend their positions and attempt to attract others to their position.
Eventually, a decision is made, either by a group or by an individual acting for the group. When groups of individuals are willing to work together from not-knowing, they learn to think together. They discover things as a group that would not have been possible outside of the group setting. Dialogue is significantly different from discussion, which is based upon individual thinking, advocacy, defense, conversion and movement to consensus. Groups using dialogue seek to develop a deep understanding of all sides of an issue, flooding themselves with information until a solution emerges.