Members Monthly Dialogue

The Dialogue at the Heart of the Academy: 

We will meet at the same time on the first Wednesday of every month – do make a note in your calendar and join us!

Our intention is to deepen our community engagement, to learn together and experience together as colleagues, and to practice dialogue to improve our skills and competency.

The theme will be announced approximately two weeks before each monthly dialogue.

Theme for November: What is the relationship between dialogue and decision-making?

Reflections from October's theme: Dialogue to what end....

At the beginning of our September Members-Only Monthly Dialogue session we welcomed some wise (old) friends back to the Academy space. A founding member and a colleague that Peter Garrett had met more that 25 years ago. How times flies and how experiences and connections stay with us through the years.

As the Dialogue session emerged and unfolded we talked about moments in time when Dialogue was 'needed'... the death of yet another firefighter calling for more cross departmental cooperation, the political attacks on the US education system, the corporate silos working separately, the fragmentation in the prisons system. A call for Dialogue as a way of reducing the pain in our society.

Equally, we shared stories of trying to make sense of ourselves and others. Stories about our internal dialogue; How can we possibly know if the stories we tell ourselves are true? (Is he really a bishop?) How can we make sense of the latest movie? (Discuss for hours with friends or go to see it again the next evening.) Which ideas do I want to share with the group and what does that really say about me? When I connect with others how deep can we go?

And we talked about the beauty of getting people 'around' the table, not to debate and beat each other down, but to come with our ideas and our questions, to admit we don't know the answers, and to lay down our metaphorical swords and shield (like King Arthur and his knights) and to create spaces of creating, learning and healing.

Time flies in our monthly dialogue sessions... no conclusions seem necessary but significant learning and human connection has taken place.

For the November monthly dialogue session our topic will be : What is the relationship between dialogue and decision-making?

I wonder if we'll get a conclusion to this one. :-))

Your hosting team

Nick Regan

Susan Dandridge

Harold Clarke

Peter Garrett