An article discussing the difference between dialog and discussion

Dale, Kathy

English

Fort Hays State University

Academic Leadership: The Online JournalVolume 3Issue 1 Spring 2005 Article 24-1-2005Lead is an Action VerbKathy DaleFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/aljPart of the Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the TeacherEducation and Professional Development CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by FHSU Scholars Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Academic Leadership: TheOnline Journal by an authorized editor of FHSU Scholars Repository.Recommended CitationDale, Kathy (2005) "Lead is an Action Verb," Academic Leadership: The Online Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/alj/vol3/iss1/2academicleadership.org http://www.academicleadership.org/135/lead_is_an_action_verb/Lead is an Action VerbThis page is dedicated to creat ing a recipe f ile box of  leader act ions that will assist  you in leadingfrom your current posit ion.  Don’t  wait  for someone or some event to be the catalyst  for yourleadership act ions.  Open the door and step across the threshold with posit ive, forward leadershipof your staf f  and faculty.Each week a new act ion recipe, provoking message from research, or leadership opportunity willbe posted to sharpen your wit  and wisdom and meld your act ions into sustained leadershipplanning.  We expect our faculty and staf f  to have complete lesson plans to lead classroominstruct ion, yet  few leaders could produce their own writ ten plans for leading their building, districtor university/college department if  they were pressed to do so.The focus of  the next few Leader Act ion Tips is Dialogue and Discussion.The foundat ion of  any successful leader is knowing the dif ference between Dialogue andDiscussion and the ability to gauge when enough data-driven dialogue has transpired to move intodiscussion and decision-making.  Leaders of ten express frustrat ion with staf f  that  leaves whatseems to be a meaningful dialogue only to return to the classroom or of f ice and cont inue to dobusiness as usual.  This is a “leadership” issue, not a “staf f ” issue.  The leader did not facilitateenough dialogue to hear every voice in the room before moving to making a decision.Dialogue vs. DiscussionDialogue is an adapt ive force when used within groups and organizat ions.  The pract ice ofdialogue develops self -organizing systems that clarify and maintain core ident it ies.  Given thenonlinear nature of  systems and the forces around systems, planned act ions and interact ions areoften dif f icult  to predict  with clarity and conf idence.  Dialogue helps us to f ind connect ion andmeaning within the noise.Skilled DiscussionSkilled discussion couples with skilled dialogue to support  clarity of  thought and commitment toact ion.  For discussions to be product ive, group members and groups need to be clear about thepurpose of  their interact ions.  While dialogue is about open explorat ion of  ideas and perspect ives,skilled discussion seeks focus and closure on a set of  act ions.  This process, in turn, requires groupmembers to balance advocacy for their ideas with equal energy inquiring into the ideas of  others. Skilled discussion also depends upon healthy norms of  crit ical thinking to allow groups to sort  andanalyze data, informat ion and proposals.  Last , skilled discussion is not possible without groupmember clarity about the decision-making processes that will focus act ions, and the implicat ionsand consequences of  those decisions.Data-driven dialogue and data-driven discussions have much in common.  They each require thefull at tent ion of  part icipants, careful listening, linguist ic skills and the intent ion to separate dataand facts f rom inference and opinions.Def ining Characterist ics of  Dialogue and discussion:Dialogue DiscussionThinking holist ically Thinking analyt icallyMaking connect ions Making dist inct ionsSurfacing and inquiring intoassumptionsSurfacing and inquiring intoassumptionsDeveloping shared meaning Developing agreement on act ionSeeking understanding Seeking decisionsData-Driven Dialogue Versus Data-Based DecisionsDialogue that leads to collaborat ive planning and problem solving is not the same as what iscommonly presented as data-based decision making.  Data-based decision making does notalways assume collect ive processes.  Leaders and specialists of ten analyze data sets and thenattempt to explain what the numbers mean to others who mush f irst  own the problem before theycan move towards solut ions.  In the worst  cases, decisions about such things as curriculum,instruct ion, scheduling, and student groupings are imposed upon people who do not yetunderstand the underlying problems such innovat ions at tempt to solve.  In some sett ings, wellintended processes short  circuit  when groups lack maps and tools for collaborat ive inquiry,problem-solving and planning.In contrast , data-driven dialogue is a collect ive process designed to create shared understandingsof issues and events using informat ion from many dif ferent sources.  Well-craf ted dialogue honorsthe emot ional as well as the rat ional components of  problem-f inding and problem-solving.  Theprocesses of  data-driven dialogue both require and develop changes in the working culture ofmany groups and many organizat ions.  It  separates inquiry, analysis and problem f inding from therush to decide and the rush to act .In too many schools we f ind groups lurching from problems to programs as they seek the comfortof  act ion over the discomfort  and the messiness of  collaborat ive inquiry and invest igat ion of  rootcauses.  Data-driven dialogue presses the pause button, invit ing group members to ref lect  andinspect current results arising f rom current pract ices and beliefs about learning, teaching andengaging in common cause.Excerpt  f romFacilitat ing Data-Driven Dialogue:  A Facilitator’s Guide to Collaborat ive Inquiry, 2004Bruce Wellman and Laura LiptonVN:R_U [1.9.11_1134]

Lead is an Action Verb

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Lead is an Action Verb

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