We want to change, but we don't want to rock the boat.

[Guest guest]

North Americans voted for Bush when he said he would

be an Environmental President. He's telling

Scientists at the G8 Summit that we need more research

to prove global warming has an effect. People can't

stand up to corportations because we've grown up

believing in the status quo, and we believe whatever

they tell us.

But this is food for thought: /Janice/

 

<http://pioneersofchange.net/communities/foresight/articles/Kahane%20on%20talkin\

g%20and%20listening.pdf>

 

Leading Through Talking and Listening

This, then, is what I have learned about how to change

the world. As leaders, we have ultimately only one

instrument: how we talk and listen. Each of the four

modes of conversation is legitimate and useful, but if

we want to create new social realities, our

conversational repertoire must include Reflective

Dialogue and Generative Dialogue.

 

Why do we find it so difficult to change the world?

Because most of us spend most of our time in

Downloading: being polite, not listening, saying what

we already know, following the rules.

We

spend some of our time in Debating: paying attention

to what is different and arguing about it. But most of

us—and certainly most institutions—have limited

capacity for Reflective Dialogue and Generative

Dialogue, and therefore have limited capacity for

effecting deep change.