The Art of Strategic Conversation 101122231325 Phpapp02 Copy

8/4/2019 The Art of Strategic Conversation 101122231325 Phpapp02 Copy

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The Art of Strategic Conversation

Most people love a good chat, yet in the world of business, conversation is often dismissedas wasteful certainly not "real" work. Office spaces are divided into separate rooms or

cubicles to enable people to focus on the tasks at hand, and not get diverted into "idle"

conversations. Though managers spend much of their time in meetings, seminars and

workshops, they often lament that these activities are boring and unproductive mere

"talkfests".

The Ancient Greeks would have been surprised by our attitude to conversation, as it was a

central part of their intellectual process. Socrates is famous for his "dialogues", and rhetoric

was one of the foundational skills sets for thinkers and leaders throughout the ancientworld.

Two types of real-world problem

To appreciate why the Greeks valued conversation so much, you need to understand an

important distinction that Aristotle made between two types of real-world problem. On the

one hand, there are problems relating to things that "cannotbe other than they are". This

involves any situation where there are fixed circumstances or quantities which can bemeasured and analysed the sort of problems that are typically addressed by maths and

science. In business terms, you could think in terms of financial reporting, productivity

measures or sales figures which all involve looking back at pastperformance.

However, there is a second category of real-world problem, relating to things that "canbe

other than they are". These are the problems that relate to futurepossibilities, to

circumstances which could be different than they are. Mathematical and scientific solutions

are of limited use in this context, because you are not dealing with fixed entities that can be

measured, but with options and opportunities that dont yet exist.

The goal in this second sort of problem solving is not to find the "right" answer, but to create

a compelling argument about which option is best out of a range of possibilities. The great

insight that the Greeks had and which we have forgotten in the modern world is that the

key tool for addressing this kind of problem is conversation.


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This distinction is highly significant for the world of business and management, because

most of the important problems that people face in this environment fall into the second

category, the realm of future possibilities for example, topics such as strategic planning,

investment decisions, cultural change programs and design of new systems and processes.

Indeed, I would argue that any problem which involves human beings, as opposed to merenumbers, falls into this second category, because in the human environment, nothing is

fixed there is always potential to change.

In these circumstances it's a tragic irony that modern western culture generally has invested

so heavily in the scientific method, yet forgotten how to have productive conversations. We

live under the illusion that if we can only get the right numbers we'll be able to make a good

decision, when in reality, what we need is a good conversation. For all our emphasis on

technology, we have lost the one technology conversation that could make a huge

difference to the success or failure of the futures that we create for ourselves.

The art of strategic conversation

So how do you have a good conversation? Conversations by their very nature are fluid

and flexible, an art rather than a science. Yet there are definitely some natural rhythms and

structures to a good conversation, and a set of simple tools that can be learned to make

conversations far more productive than they often are.

The consulting firm which I work with, 2nd Road, has pioneered an approach for conducting

effective conversations as part of our overall goal of creating thinking organisations. Our

Strategic Conversation System provides a simple but powerful generic structure that can

be used across a wide range of group planning activities and problem-solving exercises.

Strategic conversations have been used with great success in both the public and private

sphere, in large corporations and in small NFP organisations, across many and varied

industries and over very different scales of problem.

Key idea 1: The Thinking Wave

The first key idea that underpins our process is the idea of the Thinking Wave (see

fig.1). Creative thinking has a rhythm to it, and understanding this rhythm is very helpful for

guiding a conversation to a fruitful outcome. Importantly, there are two quite different sets

of conceptual skills required, depending on how far a group has progressed towards solving

a problem.


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In the early stages of the thinking process, we are confronted with a confusing array of

issues, questions, challenges and opportunities. The organisational context is often

complex, and the problem itself can have many layers. Moreover, different people have

different perceptions of where the issues lie. In this upstream environment, the sort of

conceptual skills required are fundamentally non-linear and intuitive, as we seek to pushand prod our way through the mass of information and insights to find a pathway that will

lead us forward. It can feel like an uphill battle, but it is a necessary part of understanding a

problem. In most cases, scientific analysis will not be very useful here, except perhaps to

provide some data to consider. The real intellectual work involves reflecting on experience,

forming opinions and weighing up different viewpoints, which is far more the realm where

conversation is a powerful tool.

At the peak of the thinking wave, a strategic decision is made or a hypothesis emerges as

the best way to move forward, and the rhythm changes. A clear direction has been

established and momentum starts to build towards action. The decision or hypothesis may

require some further creative thinking to develop it fully, but there is now a sense of purpose

and increasing clarity. By the end of the thinking wave, but only at the end, it is possible to

apply the analytical, linear, systematic type of thinking that we often associate with

planning, as we put in place structures, timeframes and budgets.

Understanding the rhythm of a strategic conversation helps to protect those running the

meeting from falling into two temptations the first is to get disheartened when things seem

complex and fluid early on, and to fail to push through to a point of clarity and decision-

making; the second is to rush too quickly to making a decision out of the desire to move

directly into action. Since we were writing essays in school, we have been told that it is

important to invest time in thinking upfront to avoid costly mistakes and wasted effort down

the track, but we still succumb to the illusion that quick action is better than purposeful

reflection.

Key idea 2: The methodology

The second key element in the Strategic Conversation System is the methodology. Inorder to move across the Thinking Wave, a group needs to spend time in four key places

of thought, four conversation spaces, which we have labelled A, B, C and D for easy

recall:


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A: Where are we now?

A conversation needs to begin with a thorough exploration of the area, structure,

system or process under review. This part of the conversation involves reflection on

past experience, discovery of new insights about what is really going on, as well asidentifying specific problems that need to be addressed.

B: Where do we want to be?

Understanding the present helps us recognise the challenges we face, but does not

create momentum for change. This is why the B space is so important. The

group needs to shift gear into a different mental space, one of imagination and

aspiration. We cannot generate any enthusiasm for change without a vision of how

the future could be different, or a dream of what we would like to see in place. The

tension between the present (A) and the future (B) creates the momentum for

change and engages the desires of the individual members of the group.

C: How do we get there?

Knowing wherewe want to get to is a great step forward, but the conversation will

ultimately remain fruitless unless we conceive some clearly-defined strategies for

howto get there. This involves both invention (conceiving what we could do) and

judgment (working out which options have the highest priority or would create the

most leverage). This stage of decision-making and direction-setting is vital to crestthe wave and build the downstream momentum.

D: What steps do we need to take?

Only at the end of the process do we start working on an action plan, by defining

what needs to happen next to put our strategies in place, what the timeframes

should be, who we will need to engage and what resources we will need.

If the Thinking Wave gives the person leading the conversation a sense of its flow, then

the methodology provides a clear structure and direction, not only for the leader, but for the

whole group. The approach can be explained in less than five minutes at the beginning of

a conversation, and then serves as a useful reminder to the group about where the

conversation is up to especially for participants who want to jump straight into solutions

and action before the conceptual thinking has been done.


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Key Idea 3: Thinking technologies

A third important component of the whole Strategic Conversation System approach is to

recognise that a good conversation needs to be supported by some "thinking technologies",

that is, tools that aid the communication process. Just as scientific analysis is supportedby a set of appropriate techniques and tools, so too the right techniques and tools can make

a big difference to the outcomes of a conversation.

We always recommend that a Strategic Conversation should be led by an external or

internal facilitator, who is well-versed in the methodology and can guide the group through

the process. This frees up the person who is sponsoring the conversation to think about

the content of the discussion, rather than worrying about the process, and also places them

on a more equal footing with the rest of the participants.

A second vital element is an electronic whiteboard. Too many great ideas and important

insights are lost in the midst of a robust conversation, because minimal notes are kept of

the conversation itself since people believe that only the conclusions or follow-up actions

are important. To overcome this tendency, we map the whole conversation on an electronic

whiteboard, which has several important benefits it provides a running record of the

conversation, it enables participants to keep track of ideas and make connections between

them, and it also gives scope for a skilled facilitator to create visual models of new ideas

that may be emerging.

Following on from the conversation, we employ two communication technologies to

document the conversation as a whole and the strategic plans that were made. The

TalkBook is a blow-by-blow account of the conversation as it unfolded, with all the

whiteboard printouts collated in a document, and with commentary on facing pages to

capture and synthesise the main ideas. The BlueSheet is a one page strategic roadmap,

summarising the main themes of the conversation the issues that were identified, goals

that were established and strategies put in place based on the structure.

The joy of strategic conversations

Those who experience a Strategic Conversation for the first time are often surprised and

impressed by the richness of the discussion and the quality of the outcomes. There are a

number of significant benefits to the Strategic Conversation approach:


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1. It provides a clear structure to a conversation, giving people a reassuring

sense of direction even when they are grappling with a complex problem, and

helping to keep the train of thinking on track.

2. It engages a number of different thinking skills, including intuition andimagination as well as reflection and synthesis, which draws out the different

conceptual capacities of those involved.

3. It is a very inclusive and participatory process, so that each person in the

group can contribute on a relatively equal footing and develop a sense of shared

discovery and learning.

4. It creates a powerful sense of common ownership of the problem and shared

purpose towards implementing a solution, which then generates impetus and energy

for following through on the decisions made.

5. It enables management and project teams to think together, rather than

working in silos; to communicate, rather than compete; and to be creative, rather

than being frustrated.At the end of a Strategic Conversation, people usually feel relieved that their issues have

been heard, encouraged by the ideas that have emerged, inspired by the prospects for

change and energised to move forward to achieve it. They have discovered that there is

real wisdom that can be drawn from their collective experiences and insights, provided the

right tools are used to unlock it. And for those who have previously been disillusioned by

meaningless "talkfests" or subjected to the torture of "death by PowerPoint", it is truly a

breath of fresh air.

Julian Jenkins 2005The Thinking Wave, methodology, Strategic Conversation, Talkbook and Bluesheet are all

trademarks of Walsof Pty Ltd.

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2nd Road offers both public and internal training courses to teach people the skills of

facilitating a Strategic Conversation. For more information about the M2M (Meeting to

Making) course and any other 2nd Road products and services, phone the Second Road

office on (02) 9016-1400. 2nd Road can also provide trained facilitators to conduct


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Strategic Conversations around a specific project or design issue, or to generate a broad-

ranging strategy across the whole of an organisation.

Julian Jenkins is an experienced workshop facilitator and skilled information designer who

loves to take complex information and communicate it in an accessible and compellingmanner. He works in association with 2nd Road on a wide range of projects combining his

facilitation, writing and design skills to create engaging group conversations, user-friendly

business documents and highly accessible information systems. Based in Sydney, he has

earned high praise for his work with a number of public and private sector clients, which

include PwC, Leighton Holdings, Thiess, the Australian Tax Office and the Defence

Community Organisation. He can be contacted on 0425 240 326 or at

[email protected].

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The Art of Strategic Conversation 101122231325 Phpapp02 Copy