Three-Room Dialogue: Applying the OBREAU Tripod with Don Dunoon | Monday August 13, 2018 | 5.30pm

A dialogue, as framed here, is an exploratory conversation to tease out differing perspectives on a ‘tough’ (thorny, sticky) issue, to help those involved gain an expanded, more complex and nuanced appreciation of the topic.  While dialogue can support subsequent decision-making and action, detailed planning requires a separate conversation.

Though potentially very powerful, productive dialogue tends to be hard to achieve. People can be trapped in default behaviour patterns of reacting, judging and ‘dancing around’. One challenge is participants being ‘certain’ their own views reflect an objective truth.

This session introduces an approach to dialogue designed to minimise the negative impact of default patterns such as those mentioned. ‘Three-room’ dialogue utilises the OBREAU Tripod structure with ‘OBREAU’ reflecting the first two letters of each of the pivotal words, Observation, Reasonableness and Authenticity.

Such a dialogue is bookended by an Introduction (e.g. description of the topic and outline of the process) and a Synthesis segment (e.g. distilling themes emerging, and where to next). The metaphorical ‘three rooms’ form the bulk of the conversation.

Just as the rooms of a house imply different intentions, activities – with the kitchen, for instance, associated with food preparation; the living room with entertaining and relaxing – the three dialogue rooms also imply different orientations:

• Room 1            Grounding the Dialogue – identifying and exploring relevant data, evidence and other observables
• Room 2            Shifting perspectives – imagining the standpoints of stakeholders, including those not in the conversation, allowing they can be reasonable at this time
• Room 3            Our voices – opportunity for participants to speak with authenticity in raising questions and sharing what matters to them.

In the session, participants will practise being in, and facilitating in, the dialogue ‘rooms’. Topics reflecting currently controversial issues will be used to illustrate aspects of the dialogue process and the facilitation work involved.

Facilitators will gain insights and methods they can apply both in enabling dialogue and contributing in a range of other settings.

About Don Dunoon

As an independent leadership and organisational development specialist, Don has over 20 years consulting experience. Based in Sydney, he has worked with clients and colleagues internationally. He is the author of In the Leadership Mode, a book that frames leadership and management as different forms of action in dealing with tough challenges. His writings and materials have been used in leadership-related courses at several leading US universities. A workshop on Don’s OBREAU Tripod structure, for supporting conversations that matter, was awarded "Outstanding Educator Workshop" at the 2016 conference of the Association of Leadership Educators in Sacramento, California. Don presented at the AFN 2015 and 2017 conferences, and at the 2018 World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Seattle.

Venue: [We will be at UTS]

University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:

From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5

Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com