William Isaacs’ Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together wins hands down. I actually bought it when it came out in 1999 and it has been staring down at me from my bookshelves since then. Isn’t that strange how we pick things up right at the perfect time?

If we thought we knew what Dialogue was, we were wrong. If we recall our last “heated” business meeting or discussion, it is clear that we were not involved in Dialogue. What is Dialogue? According to William Isaacs, it is when we voice ideas openly in a safe “container” while listening, respecting and suspending. In order to get there, one has to stop gripping certainty and personal beliefs and leave the door open for all that is unknown, for all that is unsolved, and for all that is capable of gracing the moment. When people make it to Dialogue, they are no longer dividing or fragmenting their ideas but rather joining a sense of wholeness and connectedness. At the end of Dialogue, there has been a journey and all participants can acknowledge that they have gone somewhere they had not imagined when they had first come together.