The Talking Point. Creating an Environment for Exploring Complex Meaning (PB)

The Talking Point is all about how people learn within groups. People can bemuch smarter than crowds if you measure "smart" as decision-making speed.Crowds can be much wiser than individuals if you measure wisdom by depth ofunderstanding. It is possible to understand a great deal of information yet (ormaybe because of this) you can also be slow to make decisions. If rushed,crowds will make poor decisions in spite of their wisdom. So... to get good groupdecisions on a time scale that will keep pace with policy development needs andsocial necessities, groups have to be supported so that their decision-makingprocess can be accelerated. Much has been said and written about this problemover the years. It is dangerous to have the power of groups without the wisdom of groups, and it is tragic tohave the wisdom of groups without the power of groups. The Talking Point presents a meeting point for thewisdom and power of groups through the use of Structured Dialogic Design.With hopeful intentions, as a culture we have poisoned the well just when we need it most. We have touteddesign charettes and stakeholder processes as engagement vehicles and then ignored, marginalized or corruptedthe very input that we swore to hold as sacred. This has created a myth thatlarge scale collaboration is not possible, and the myth has led toconsiderable disillusionment among would-be participants and could-besponsors. Structured Dialogic Design seeks to bust the myth about ourlimited capabilities ...