Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems Paperback - 2006 - 1st Edition

First line

This book is about building collective intelligence: the creativity and resourcefulness that a group or team can bring to a complex and novel problem.

From the rear cover

Dialogue mapping reflects a new approach to meetings and collaboration, in which collective intelligence is achieved through framing powerful questions and rigorous and systematic exploration of their possible answers. A key insight of this approach is that shared display of the dialogue map promotes shared understanding of and commitment to the collective result.

In the first part of Dialogue Mapping, Jeffrey Conklin introduces the key concepts:

• Wicked problems for which you don't really understand the problem until a solution has been formulated.
• Social complexity the large number and wide diversity of stakeholders whose participation is essential to a robust outcome.
• Opportunity-driven problem solving: intelligent thinking is not linear! Creative cognition naturally jumps all over the problem-solution space.
• Shared understanding: the most expedient means for overcoming fragmentation is forging shared understanding of all aspects of the problem-solution space.

The remaining sections provide a hands-on tutorial for practitioners looking for a radically inclusive approach to collective problem solving.

"This is an excellent guide for all those interested in durable collaborative solutions in our increasingly tough business climates today."
--John C. Mitchell, former President, Business Printer Division, Lexmark International, Inc.

"Jeff Conklin pioneered this field, showing the connection between conversations (dialogue) and solving wicked problems. His ideas are intellectually rewarding and, just as important, are tried and tested."
--Mark Addleson, Director, Organizational Learning Program, George Mason University.

"What Jeff has in this book is of powerfully basic importance to improving our Collective-IQ, and thus, in my view, to helping significantly change our world to be a better place."
--Douglas Engelbart, Director of Bootstrap Institute