Collaborative Display, Collective Intelligence
Project teams need to maximize shared understanding and shared commitment, and to minimize fragmentation.
One of the most powerful mechanisms for doing this is use of a shared display.
Dialogue Mapping is a radical new way to exploit the power of shared display ... to increase coherence, and increase the likelihood of project success.
In the experts' words:
"... in Dialogue Mapping, we are NOT attempting to corral participants to speak in "logical order"... for example, we do NOT say at any point, 'okay, for the next 15 minutes, as a facilitator I only want to hear the pluses and minuses for this particular idea, so that we can complete that section of our diagram.' INSTEAD, a participant might offer a different solution, or a minus to a previous solution, or a different question altogether.... The power of Dialogue Mapping, in my view, is that it allows you to create a LINEAR, ORDERED display, out of a NON-LINEAR, CREATIVE process."
Rosa Zubizarreta
Author and Management Consultant

"I want to talk about the challenge of our generation. [...] Our challenge, our generation's unique challenge, is learning to live peacefully and sustainably in an extraordinarily crowded world.
"The way of solving problems requires one fundamental change, a big one, and that is learning that the challenges of our generation are not us versus them, they are not us versus Islam, us versus the terrorists, us versus Iran, they are us, all of us together on this planet against a set of shared and increasingly urgent problems."
Jeffrey Sachs: 2007 Reith Lectures http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2007
Dialogue Mapping 

Picture a meeting room with the usual tables and chairs and with a computer, display projector, and screen. Now bring in a group of people working on a project or problem. Now bring in a facilitator (also known as a "technographer") who sits at the computer and types.
A typical Dialogue Mapping arrangement.
A very good arrangement in a
meeting room at the Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, UK.
As the people in the meeting speak, the facilitator paraphrases and captures what they are saying in a hypertext diagram on the screen. For example, at one moment in the meeting the dialogue map might look like this:
The icons represent the basic elements of the Dialogue Mapping grammar (called IBIS): Questions, Ideas, Pros and Cons.

This is a very simple map, meant to convey the basics of IBIS. In real meetings and projects the maps are much larger, more complex, and can be nested deeply. Here's an example of some larger maps from a 2-day strategic planning meeting:


This combination of (i) a shared hypertext display, (ii) a trained facilitator, and (iii) a conversational grammar is Dialogue Mapping. (For a detailed narrative of a Dialogue Mapping session, see "The Dialogue Mapping Experience".)

Dialogue Mapping is structural augmentation of group communication. As the conversation unfolds and the map grows, each person can see a summary of the meeting discussion so far. The map serves as a "group memory," virtually eliminating the need for participants to repeat themselves to get their points made.


Other benefits of Dialogue Mapping include:
Each participant's contribution is heard and acknowledged in the map.
Each participant can see how their comments relate to others.
The group sees where they are, where they've come from, and where they are going, and is thus self-correcting if they get "off-topic." (example Agenda map)
The shared display map shifts the dynamic of the group into a collaborative mode ... "What can we think and learn together."
The map focuses the group on a kind of "lightly logical" perspective as they work on the issues at hand.
The map increases the group's shared understanding about the problem at hand, possible solutions, meaning issues, roles and responsibilities ... all of the key elements of a successful project.
At the end of the meeting or during breaks, the group can view various printed snapshots of their discussion.
Thanks to the IBIS grammar, the map summarizes the rationale behind any decisions that are made
Since the map captures the thinking process of the group, anyone who was not at the meeting can be quickly brought up to speed by reviewing the map with them.
The map easily displays all of the open issues and action items at any point.

Dialogue mapping is distinct from traditional facilitation. The secret to effective Dialogue Mapping is appropriate use by the facilitator of the computer display, so that the group recognizes the Dialogue Map as a value-adding augmentation of their meeting discussion.

They gain ownership in the map, and commitment to collaboratively crafting the clearest and most compelling map of their collective thinking. The art of creating this kind of ownership in the shared Dialogue Map is the subject of the Dialogue Mapping book, Fundamentals of Dialogue Mapping Workshop, and the Dialogue Mapping Certification Program.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Contents of this web site and all original works are copyright ©2007 CogNexus Institute - All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of owner.