Though we live in a reality filled with opportunities to connect across continents and time zones, we are not guaranteed connectedness—authentic and meaningful experience wherein new possibilities are co-generated for ourselves and others. However, our experience in a culture dominated by Western, individualist ethos is typically monologic, a Buberian I-It instrumental relational structure—unidirectional, subject-object relationship. A self relates to the other as secondary,

Integrated Supply and Trading (IST) was a highly successful business within the BP corporation. Their culture was entrepreneurial. Staff were driven, smart and young (compared to other businesses), often working under pressure with high risk and high reward. The London office housed traders alongside mid- and back-office functions. Social, cultural and organisational differences between individuals and groups were fragmenting the culture. Though people were highly interdepend

Central Virginia Correctional Unit 13 (CVCU) plays an integral part in assigning inmates to outside work employment, as well as maintaining consistent movement within the institution. The operation and management of these areas are critical in ensuring that a schedule is adhered to by all staff daily. The facility experienced conflicts with medical and dental appointments, which interrupted outside work activities and movement within the institution, inconsistency with the de

Between the fall of 2020 and summer of 2021, Universal Human Rights Initiative (UHRI) offered two free series of intergroup dialogues as a form of community building during unprecedented times - the advent of both a worldwide health pandemic and a national reckoning of US racial oppression. This was situated in a time of extreme political polarization that left everyday conversations about these issues severely fraught. Intergroup dialogue offered an antidote for some to join

This case study presents the early stages of institutionalizing a culture and practice of public-private dialogue (PPD) in Sierra Leone, a small, poor country in West Africa. Over the last 15 years, the World Bank has promoted PPD as a critical instrument to improve the investment climate in developing countries (Herzberg & Wright, 2006). The plot twist to this conventional story is an attempt to blend elements of “Bohmian“ dialogue practice as promoted by the Academy of Prof

For most of us, the term “border services” likely brings to mind protected boundaries, secured borders and the regulated movement of people and goods between nations. This would be true for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as well, but it would not fully encompass the emerging partnership between Indigenous Peoples and the Agency, nor the role I am proud to play as CBSA Champion of Indigenous Peoples. It also would not describe the central place of dialogue in our wor

Kommunal is Sweden's largest trade union, organizing staff in municipal operations as well as private companies that have been hired to perform municipal services. The district office employs an administrative manager and a team of six administrative staff and six ombudsmen who negotiate with employers and support elected representatives in local unions. Because the local office manager felt that the business did not work well enough— there were too many interpersonal conflic

HVO-Querido is a homeless aid organisation in The Netherlands. With about 1350 employees it offers shelter, housing guidance and daytime activities to 4750 vulnerable citizens, including homeless and people with a psychiatric and/or addiction problems. The homeless approach in the big cities in the Netherlands follows a pragmatic, procedurised, problem-solving approach. This includes a focus on solving the problems and handling the ‘nuisance’ that homeless people create for t

The story begins at a large microprocessor manufacturing plant. In 1996 the number of recorded injury cases was in the high 50s per year. This was dangerous—it was bad for morale and productivity, and it was embarrassing. Manufacturing leadership created a strategic initiative and gave it the highest priority. The goal: to dramatically reduce the number of incidents and injuries. In 1999 the recordable cases dropped to below 10. Though this is significant, the measure was sti

Did it ever occur to you that human thought may be the cause of most of the challenges we face in the world today? Some problems are the result of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts and cyclones. Most, however, are caused by people, and the way they behave towards one another and the environment. The problems of crime, wars, substance abuse, deforestation, pollution, depletion of the ozone layer and so on, all arise from the way people think, feel and act.

The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) strives to hire trustworthy, dedicated staff and retain their employment for 20 to 30 years of professional service. While this employment strategy contrasts with the five-years-of-service trends in private industry, in corrections the employer and the employee greatly benefit from a long career history. Recently, the VADOC has struggled to hire and retain professional corrections employees. This challenge is widespread across th

This is a companion paper expanding the consideration begun by Harold Clarke and Whitney Barton in their paper, Putting Dialogue to Work in the Virginia Department of Corrections , that was considered at our 2019 conference. That paper described the value of the Working Dialogue as a business practice for the management of organisational change, and gives specific case studies to substantiate this. In this paper I want to explain the thinking that led to the original design o

Indian Creek Correctional Center is the only Cognitive Therapeutic Community for male inmates in the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC). The mission of the facility focuses on substance abuse, with the majority of the inmates being enrolled by court order. As part of the ongoing enhancement of the use of pro-social behavior and cognitive skills, the opportunity to introduce Dialogue Skills Training to inmates made perfect sense. By developing these skills, inmates can

Context Between 2003 and 2016, a group of co-facilitators and I and facilitated dialogue programs in neighbourhoods and vocational schools in Rotterdam. Aims These dialogic interventions aimed to de-escalate tensions and create mutual understanding, thus restoring or building relationships. After several neighbourhood interventions the City of Rotterdam asked us to facilitate a dialogue between a group of street youngsters and police officers of Delfshaven, an old, notorious

This paper deals with dialogical development in basic education within one Finnish municipality. More specifically, it is development work done together with professionals working with students with special needs. The development has been carried out through the project Renewing Dialogues in Social and Health Care – Leadership, Well-Being and Productivity (European Social Fund Development, 2019–2021). The project aims to promote dialogue and work well-being in Finnish workpla