Conversations – creating a space for learning and innovation
FEATURE
| Marie Jasinski, Director, Design
Planet, South Australia
This paper comprises extracts from the research report ‘Life Based Learning: A strength based approach for capability development in vocational and technical education’. The researchers are Maret Staron, Marie Jasinski, and Robby Weatherley.
The concept of a conversation is not new, of course. So why are so many of us focussing on the need for conversation and ways of creating conversation spaces at work? The proposal is that conversation is a core business activity.
In many workplaces the focus is on ‘doing’, often to the exclusion of spaces for conversation and creativity. A new balance is needed in the workplace, one that supports not only the ‘doing’, but also the creativity and innovation that often comes through conversation. During the recent research project into life based learning, it became clear that conversations were emerging as an important part of a diverse and strength based approach to capability development in the Knowledge Era.
Important aspects of conversation include effective communication and strong relationships, as these are keys to a healthy learning ecology:
Communication transforms a collection of individuals into a strong, mutually supportive team. Communication builds the important ties that bind people together–inside the organisation as well as outside.
The art of conversation is a key process that facilitates communication
and builds relationships. Conversations involve the exchange of ideas, views
and information between two or more people in a way that is non-confronting,
non-status and open (Stewart, 2001). They are a vehicle for generating, sharing
and processing knowledge, and knowledge in the knowledge era is about wealth
creation. Conversation is therefore a core business activity for knowledge
work:
Through conversation, knowledge workers create the relationships that define the organisation. Conversations - not rank, title, or trappings of power - determine who is literally and figuratively ‘in the loop” and who is not.
Conversations are integral to daily organisational activity and a source of rich learning. Taking time for 'a coffee and a chat' is a familiar way to share intelligence, debrief or solve issues. While this familiarity is a strength, it can also be a challenge. The full potential of conversation can be underestimated and undervalued because conversations often occur ‘below the waterline' – they can be invisible, spontaneous, selective, informal and have unclear outcomes.
'Stop talking and get to work!' can be a response to corridor conversations and represents an industrial era mindset, which considers conversations a waste of time and not ‘serious’ work. Mindsets are changing and so is the message. In contemporary workplaces where building networks, sharing knowledge, tapping expertise and developing relationships is valued as integral to knowledge work and capability development, a more likely invitation is 'Let’s get to work and have a conversation'!
Companies that practice the art of conversation are more apt to discern
subtle changes in consumer taste before competitors recognise them; more
likely to spread that new awareness rapidly through the organization; and
by their fast responses be better positioned to shape the new environment
to which slower competitors must then respond.
Conversation has always been central to how we interact and learn as human beings. However, as the potential of conversations for learning and knowledge generation in the workplace becomes more explicit, theories and models of conversation-based learning provide conceptual frameworks and offer guidance on how to harness this potential. Such theories include the seminal work of Gordon Pask (1975) on the theory of conversation, the art and history of conversation by Theodore Zeldin (2000), Diana Laurillard’s (2002) conversational model for learning online and Baker, Jensen and Kolb’s (2002) conversational learning as an experiential approach to knowledge creation.
For
example, Zeldin, an Oxford University historian, philosopher and management
consultant, suggested we are in the era of 'new conversations':
A new kind of conversation is necessary to give expression to a broader range of our hopes. It becomes possible when we believe we are incomplete and need to share in the experience of others in order to become more fully human. In such a conversation there are no winners or losers; the aim is for each to get into the skin of the other, to feel what they feel and to emerge with an understanding and emotions which neither had before
The work of DEST Research Fellow Phillip Candy (2004) on self-directed learning in the digital age, proposes that conversation can occur in three different ways:
- Conversation with colleagues, which can be either ‘live’ (face-to-face, at a distance or online), or notional (with someone else’s thoughts and ideas as represented in their writing, artwork, music or some other creative output).
- Conversation with a person who knows more, which primarily involves asking questions.
- Internal conversation, which involves introspection and reflecting on personal understandings and internal worldviews (p224).
Candy suggests that technology has a particular role to play in facilitating conversation, with internal conversations having the greatest degree of unexplored potential. Technology expands the scope and choice about where, when, how and with whom conversations take place. The increasing availability and use of social software like WIKIS, blogs, voice over the Internet (VOIP), text messaging, and virtual classrooms confirm that the second generation of learning technologies is more about connection, communication and conversation than content and control.
In the new economy, conversations are the most important form of work. Conversations
are the way knowledge workers discover what they know, share it with their
colleagues, and in the process create new knowledge for the organization. The
panoply of modern information and communication technologies – for
example computers, faxes, e-mail – can help knowledge workers in this
process. But it all depends of the quality of the conversations that such
technologies support.
Designing conversation-based learning opportunities for capability development is becoming more deliberate. Different approaches including Social Networking (Cross, 2004) Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2002), Cooperative Inquiry (Heron, 2000) and Communities of Practice (Wegner, 2002) capitalise on conversations as a powerful collaborative and social learning process.
Conversation based learning is gaining impetus as a professional learning and knowledge generation strategy in VTE. For example, the provision of professional ‘conversation spaces’ as an engaging and non-threatening way to keep practitioners up-to-date with the expectations of industry clients, was one of 15 'good practice in VET' case studies showcased by Mitchell et al, (2005). This case study on the development of structured conversation spaces at North Sydney Institute in NSW highlighted how creating these spaces enabled practitioners to ‘collaborate, reflect and clarify; analyse challenges and identify solutions; share successes and examine lessons learnt; create the conditions for change; and transform practice.’ (p52)
While conversation based learning is often one strategy in a broader capability
development repertoire, it can also be the primary strategy for knowledge
generation and relationship building. A case study by Sarah and Haslett (2004)
of Monyx Services, a student service organisation at Monash University in
Victoria, provides a comprehensive overview of how conversation based learning
contributed to building capability within Monyx. The case study highlights
factors that enable conversation based learning to have an impact on knowledge
accumulation and knowledge management capability. A key enabler was a particular
type of organisational culture, ‘one typified by reflecting, asking
deep questions to inquire, seeking understanding, learning and a focus on
delivering outstanding service to all stakeholders to achieve results’ (p633).
Other factors include having a dedicated physical space conducive to knowledge
generation and sharing, allocated time for conversations to take place and
for evaluation and reflection to occur, and multiple strategies for capturing
and recording knowledge emerging from the conversations. Such strategies
included journal keeping, diarising and capturing key ideas through strategic
images, graphics, pictures, cartoons and digital technologies. (p636)
Without such complimentary tools and methods, conversation based learning may be likely to become subject to the human deficiencies of heuristic bias…that can lead to incomplete recall and inaccurate learning.
To facilitate conversation based learning within organisations, several models are available which provide processes and tools to guide conversations to productive outcomes. Two popular and well-documented models are The World Café and Open Space Technology.
The World Café is a set of methods and tools for
fostering:
‘… an intentional way to create a living network of conversations around questions that matter. A Café conversation is a creative process for leading collaborative dialogue, sharing knowledge and creating possibilities for action in groups of all sizes.’
Guidelines for designing and facilitating effective sessions, crafting powerful questions, etiquette and making collective knowledge visible are freely available as a practical start-up kit for fostering ‘courageous conversations and collective intelligence’.
The World Café is particularly useful for:
- Generating input, sharing knowledge, stimulating innovative thinking, and exploring action possibilities around real life issues and questions
- Engaging people in authentic conversation whether they are meeting for the first time, or are in established relationships
- Conducting in-depth exploration of key strategic challenges or opportunities
- Deepening relationships and mutual ownership of outcomes in an existing group
- Creating meaningful interaction between a speaker and the audience
- Engaging large groups in an authentic dialogue process.
The belief in human capability and goodwill to ‘produce the goods’ underpins The World Café:
The Café is built on the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges. Given the appropriate context and focus, it is possible to access and use this deeper knowledge about what is important.
An excellent local case study [1] that demonstrates the effectiveness of The World Café process, is where the community participated in the design of the Marion Cultural Centre in South Australia. The result was an innovative design that reflected the diversity of those it was designed to serve – the community of Marion.
Another conversation-based approach is Open Space Technology. Open
Space Technology is a large group process designed to promote
conversations for solving real business purposes. It is an excellent
example of a self-organised and emergent process, which aligns with a learning
ecology metaphor and a strength based orientation.
The group is presented with a real and pressing business issue. Participants raise topics or questions they believe are at the core of the issue and these become the agenda. Participants then self select into small groups and have conversations around seeking solutions to the topic of their choice. Conveners provide a report on the discussions and recommended actions. These are added to a book of proceedings, which become the basis for decision making.
Open Space Technology meetings operate on four principles and one law.
The principles are:
- Whoever comes are the right people
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
- When it starts is the right time
- When it's over it's over
The law is ‘The Law of Two Feet’. If people find themselves in a situation where they are neither learning nor contributing, they are invited to go to a more productive place.
Open Source Technology works best in situations where the issues are complex, the outcome is unknown, a diversity of people can be brought together and there is urgency to make a decision.
Open Space Technology creates the conditions for respectful conversation. People are genuinely empowered – all have an equal voice, their presence is voluntary, the process is self-managed, they are responsible for raising the issues they care about, setting the agenda, organising the discussions, taking responsibility for finding solutions and making recommendations for actions.
This organic, emergent process is an intentional combination of order and chaos and is underpinned by two fundamentals: passion and responsibility. Passion engages people in the room and responsibility ensures things get done.
In both approaches, choice is emphasised and participants are invited to: Do it again, do it better, or go back to a prior mode of behaviour.
Both The World Café and Open Space Technology have supporting websites full of resources, case studies and comprehensive implementation guides. Both approaches emphasise that conversation-based learning builds a culture of trust and encourages organisations to create the environments that promote that trust.
In the age of knowledge work, intangible assets such as intelligence, knowledge and other human qualities are the new essential value chain. Conversations are a key link in that chain.
[1] Link to the case study
References
CANDY, P 2004, Linking Thinking: Self-directed learning in the digital age. DEST Research Fellowship Scheme, Department of Education, Science and Training
LAURILLARD, D 2002, Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective use of learning technologies (2nd edition), Routledge, London
MITCHELL, J 2005, Inside VET Column, Campus Review, November 2005
PASK, G 1975, Conversation, Cognition, and Learning, Elsevier, New York
RUBENSTEIN, H 1974, Introducing the New Leadership Era, ODK ’74, Washington and Lee University
SARAH, R & Haslett, T 2004, Building Capability to Accumulate Organisational Knowledge: a case study. International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management. Vol. 4 Article: MC04-0069-2004
THEOBOLD, R 1999, Visions and pathways for the 21st century, Southern Cross University Press
WEBBER, A 1993, What’s so new about the new economy? Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb
WYLIE, I 2000, Talk is cheap. Let’s have a conversation, Fast Company
ZELDIN, T 2000, Conversation, Hidden Spring Books
ZELDIN, T 1999, BJM, Vol 319, 18-25 December, pp 1633-1635
Also see
Knowledge Cafés in Northern Sydney Institute KNOWLEDGE SHARING EXEMPLAR | eZine November 2006
Conversation for learning | A-Z Resources
Life Based Learning | A-Z Resources