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Books & Papers

Dialogue as the Heart of Strategic Change

Mechtild Beucke-Galm

What happens when you bring 1,500 employees into genuine strategic dialogue over 18 months? Mechtild Beucke-Galm documents the messy reality, including the pivotal moment when conventional discussion collapsed and the fear underneath finally surfaced.

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This case study follows a strategic change process in a European social enterprise facing declining government funding. Over 18 months, the consulting team from the Institute of Organizational Learning and Dialogue ran large-group 'Strategic Dialogues' that brought together directors, business unit heads, employees, and worker representatives. The paper is unusually honest about the range of responses: employees who expected management theatre; directors shocked to discover staff loyalty didn't extend beyond their own units; sessions that swung between intense engagement and bored distancing. A pivotal moment came in the fifth dialogue when conventional discussion collapsed entirely; lengthy but pointless, switching between monologues and corrections; until the fear underneath finally surfaced and could be addressed. Beucke-Galm reflects that phases of incomprehension and anger aren't accidents but necessary parts of dialogue. She concludes with a candid admission: the team paid less attention to how dialogues end than how they begin, an oversight she now recognises.

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Dialogue in organisations and systemsPublic sector and government

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