Better dialogue, better results

Speaking with each other is one of the most common activities we engage in when we wish to innovate, enact change, and transform reality. Therefore, it is well worth our time to become better at it.

A path towards improvement is to become aware that (i) speaking is acting, (ii) dialogue includes listening and speaking, and (iii) there are different parts of speech.

Let's take each in order.

Most powerful way to enact change is to match words with deeds. But that does not mean that speech by itself is not taking action—imagine a leader motivating their people or clarifying strategy, or an innovator speaking with customer about their needs, or a manager discussing different ways to overcome an issue. All of the aforementioned are primarily dialogue-based, and all of them are taking action.

Speaking with others also includes listening to others, i.e. engaging in a dialogue. Besides voicing and listening, we also ought to consider suspending, allowing time for reflective silence, and respecting, accepting that others might have different thoughts, perspectives, and opinions.

Finally, awareness of four parts of speech allow us to meet each other where we are. These are framing (providing context), advocating (explicitly stating course of action), illustrating (painting a vivid image with words), and inquiring (asking to learn). Framing and illustrating are creating fertile ground for advocacy and inquiry; understanding who is using which part of speech helps us clarify the situation, diffuse unproductive conflict, and move forward.

Now that you are aware of the above three practices all that is left to do is paying attention to them. The rest will follow.