The Art of Focused Conversation - Brian Stanfield, Editor

To lead coversations about environmental issues, IEC uses the following technique excerpted (with permission) from R. Brian Stanfield (ed.). 1997. The Art of Focused Conversation. 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace. Canadian Inst. Cultural Affairs. 0-921690-57-6. Below are pages 25-28. We recommend that you visit their website.

APPLYING THE METHOD TO STRUCTURE A CONVERSATION

The focused conversation method simply uses this four-level process as a framework for creating questions to engage a group in dialogue. The traffic light and bike-ride experiences mentioned above were solitary. But such private experiences can be great food for group reflection, if processed in a structured way. Some might wonder why such a natural thinking process needs a structure to guide a conversation through it. Laura Spencer comments that,

In much of our education and training we are taught to short-cut this [thinking] process and move directly to…evaluate and judge things like a poem, a political system, a person's promotional potential or the source of a problem without first gathering all the objective data available. We are also taught that emotional responses are irrelevant or and should be avoided or repressed. Once at the interpretive level, we often stop there, never formulating a response that leads to action. (Spencer, Laura, Winning Through Participation, p.48)

The focused conversation method picks up on these four stages of awareness and shifts the scope of activity from individual reflection on life to shared insight. The conversation focuses on a particular topic. It uses questions to get at the concrete dimension of the situation, the emotive responses, the interpretation of it, and the decision required. Let's look at these four levels in more detail.

THE OBJECTIVE LEVEL

The dictionary defines "objective" as external to the mind, dealing with outward things, or exhibiting facts uncolored by feelings or opinions. “Objective" covers things like data, facts and external reality or what someone called "D.O.D." -Directly Observable Data. Without work at the objective level, the group cannot be sure they are really talking about the same thing. Like the blind men touching the elephant, they may miss the whole picture which puts their different perspectives together.

The conversation is launched with a context, or some opening words that establish for the group what the conversation is about and why it is important. If the group is new to the method, the context will say something about the method in a few brushstrokes-just enough to give the group permission to participate.

The first questions of the conversation get out the facts. They are usually sensory questions: What do you see, hear, touch, smell, taste? Depending on the topic, some senses, especially sight and sound, are more relevant than others. A reflection on a grand banquet will include questions about smells and tastes, just as a conversation on a sculpture will be sure to employ a question about touch, or the feel of the sculpture's surface. The right questions depend on what data is relevant. Sometimes they are questions of historical fact, for example, What did John actually say?

Because objective questions are simple to answer, the facilitator or an over-eager or over-sophisticated group may be tempted to downplay or omit them. Only later do they discover they are not talking about the same thing. But the facilitator's courage to simply ask the questions firmly in spite of initial resistance facilitates the movement from resistance to participation.

THE OBJECTIVE LEVEL IN A NUTSHELL
Focus of the questions	Data, the "facts" about the topic, external reality
What it does for the group	Ensures that everyone deals with the same body of data and all the aspects
Questions are in relation to	The senses: what is seen and heard and touched etc.
Key questions	What objects do you see? What words or phrases stand out? What happened?
Traps and pitfalls	Asking closed questions, or questions not specific enough; no clear focus; Ignoring objective questions because "they are too trivial"
If this level is omitted	There will be no shared image of what the group is discussing; the various comments will seem disrelated

THE REFLECTIVE LEVEL

Next comes the reflective stage in which the participant takes a personal relationship to the topic. The questions for this level are concerned with feelings, moods, memories, or associations. By associations we mean those trains of thought starting with "That reminds me of ..." This kind of internal data is just as real and important as objective data. If something worries me, it is important to get that said. Good interpretation and good decisions need to be based on external and internal data.

This level acknowledges that we each have a response to any situation. The response is based on wisdom garnered from our years of experience. It might be based or 8 particular memory that is suddenly evoked by the situation, or by an immediate gut level response.

Here participants are asked questions where they need to use their more affective faculties They are asked to actively reflect upon what they had earlier been asked only to passively acknowledge. Questions at the reflective level illuminate what people feel about something, whether they like it, whether it angers, excites, intrigues, frightens, or delights them. Reflective questions include: What experiences do you associate with this? When have you been in similar situations? What surprised you? Where were you delighted? Where did you struggle?

Western philosophy and psychology has tended to subordinate the world of interior responses to perception and thought. Empiricists have seen that world as a paler version ~ perception rationalists have viewed it as debased or degenerate. Daniel Goleman, however, points out that a high IQ (which measures only rational intelligence) is no guarantee of prosperity or happiness, and that "emotional intelligence" matters immensely for our personal destiny. (Goleman, Daniel: Emotional Intelligence, p.36)

Without reflective questions, the hidden images, associations or moods do not get shared. If no reflective questions are asked, the essential world of intuition, memory, n and imagination is never evoked. Without the opportunity to deal with this level, participants will feel frustrated. They may sense their feelings are deemed irrelevant. Later, they will air their feelings outside the meeting, but in the absence of any way to process them further, it is to no avail.

REFLECTIVE LEVEL IN A NUTSHELL
Focus of the questions	Internal relationship to the data
What does it do for the group	Reveals its initial responses
Questions are in relation to	Feelings, moods, emotional tones, memories, or associations
Key Questions	What does it reminds you of? How does it make you feel? Where were you surprised? Where delighted? Where did you struggle?
Traps and pitfalls	Limiting the discussion to an either/or surveyof likes and dislikes The world of intuition memory emotion and imagination is ignored

THE INTERPRETIVE LEVEL

The third arena of questioning is the interpretive level where the depth grappling is done to get at the meaning of a topic. The interpretive responses build on objective data, plus the associations or feelings from the reflective level. Interpretive questions highlight the layers of meaning and purpose that people ascribe to situations and responses. They invite a group to create the significance or importance of an occasion. A clue word at this level is “why.” Interpretive questions help people build a “story” of what is happening. The question of values may appear, as in, “What values does this reveal?”

Unless the dynamics intended in the objective and reflective levels have been experienced within the group, the effectiveness of the third level will be diminished.
This level may very well take the most time, since the questions call for a deeper response. (See Sets of Reflective and Interpretive Questions, Appendix A.)

THE INTERPRETIVE LEVEL IN A NUTSHELL
Focus of the questions	The life meaning of the topic
What it does for the group	Draws out the significance from the data for the group
Questions are in relation to	Layers of meaning, purpose, significance, implications, "story" and values. Considering alternatives, options
Key questions	What is happening here? What is this all about? What does all this mean for us? How will this affect our work? What are we learning from this? What is the insight?
Traps and pitfalls	Abusing the data by inserting pre-cooked meaning; intellectualizing, abstracting; judging responses as right or wrong
If this level is omitted	Group gets no chance to make sense out ofthe first two levels. No higher-order thinking goes into decision-making

THE DECISIONAL LEVEL

The fourth part of the focused conversation is the decisional level where implications and new directions are discussed. Here, some kind of resolve brings the conversation to a close. The questions allow people to take the data from the previous levels, and use it to make self-conscious choices. The answers may be short or long-term decisions. They may involve actions or words. But without some decision, the conversation has been largely a waste of time.
Decisional questions allow people to choose their own self-conscious relationships to their situation by naming it. Here the names and titles people give to events or things reflect their choices about them.

THE DECISIONAL LEVEL IN A NUTSHELL
Focus of the questions	Resolution implications new directions
What it does for the group	Makes the conversation relevant for thefuture
Questions are in relation to	Consensus, implementation, action
Key questions	What is our response? What decision is called for? Whatare the next steps?
Traps and pitfalls	Forcing a decision when group is not ready or avoidingpushing group for decision
If this level is omitted	The responses from the first three levelsare not applied or tested in real life

Loyola University New Orleans