Digging Deeper into Dialogue Mapping

We know from our recent readings that wicked problems create a high risk of fragmentation in groups working to create a solution, or in reality, just working to comprehend a wicked problem.  Fragmentation simply is when a group or members of a group lose cohesion.

Fragmentation is likely to occur in groups working to solve wicked problems because wicked problems are essentially unsolvable and difficult to comprehend.  Although every solution will have negative outcomes, each will provide the group with a better understanding of the wicked problem.  The tendency for an individual to feel that she understands the problem more than another member of the group is high and when her ideas are found to be flawed (as they inevitably will), she could feel less committed to the group, feel unheard or misunderstood, or feel less willing to speak up when she comes up with another solution.

I really like solutions, so much more than problems.  I don't know about you, but I started feeling a little hopeless when I first started reading about wicked problems.  When dialogue mapping was mentioned briefly, I got a bit excited.  What was this?  How could I learn how to use it?  I work with a lot of groups right now. We aren't always discussing problems high on the wicked scale, but would this tool be helpful?  So, I started digging around a bit more.  

This first image I found was a bit hard for me to understand at first.  It might take a minute, but look at it closely and it becomes pretty self explanatory.  

I dug deeper and found a FAQ from CogNexus Institute that broke it down very simply.  I'll paraphrase the main points below.

Dialogue Mapping is:

• "Radically inclusive"
• implemented through a group facilitator paraphrasing all participant comments/ideas and creates a visual map that all can see
• The map is essentially a group memory
• It is non-linnear, therefore capturing the way people actually think
• The map consists of questions, ideas, pros, and cons

Dialogue mapping has many benefits.  Among them are that all participants are heard and their contributions are placed on the map.  Participants never have to repeat themselves.  All participants can easily see how their ideas relate to the ideas of others.  Participants share the unfolding of understanding together.

Here is a video explanation of how dialogue mapping would work in a meeting or group.

Limits of Conversational Structure

Dialogue mapping may not solve any wicked problems but it will assist people to work in groups more effectively.  

References:

Christensen, K. (2009). Building shared understanding of wicked problems. Rotman Magazine, Winter, 17-20 Retrieved from http://www.cognexus.org/Rotman-interview_SharedUnderstanding.pdf

CogNexus Institute. (nd). A tool for wicked problems: Dialogue mapping FAQs. In Dialogue Mapping.  Retrieved from http://cognexus.org/id41.htm

Conklin, J. (2008, April 10). Limits of conversational structure [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxS5wUljfjE

Culmsee, P. (2009, Septemeber 10).  The practice of dialogue mapping-part 1 [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cleverworkarounds.com/2009/09/10/the-practice-of-dialogue-mapping-part-1/