The Art Of Focused Conversation

by R. Brian Stanfield

The best 'how-to' for encouraging consensus in firms and organizations. Communication within many organizations has been reduced to email, electronic file transfer, and hasty sound bytes at hurried meetings. More and more, people appear to have forgotten the value of wisdom gained by ordinary conversations. The Art of Focused Conversation convincingly restores this most human of attributes to prime place within businesses and organizations, and demonstrates what can be accomplished through the medium of focused conversation. Developed, tested, and extensively used by professionals in the field of organizational development, The Art of Focused Conversation is an invaluable resource for all those working to improve communications in firms and organizations.

Genres: Business, Communication, Leadership, Nonfiction, Reference, Management, Personal Development

Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of insights and methods on how to conduct collective, mutually beneficial discussion on most any issue or topic

[Michael Culbertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The method seems fairly straightforward and could probably have been described adequately in an article. Much of the book is a list of "template" conversation questions for various scenarios, which I didn't find terribly helpful.

[J. Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful compendium of interviews and sensemaking meetings; lots of useful prompts for understanding different situations and seeding ideas for future work. I especially appreciated seeing all the explicit examples of how to put the ORID technique in action.

[Dr. Dena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the emphasis on inquiry, and the templates provided as examples. A useful leadership and management book with likely crossovers to relationships in general.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consistently refer to the meeting templates in this book for facilitating meetings at work.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever not had the right words to approach a situation at work? This work, from the Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs, explains open-ended ways to approach conversations at work. It does so in a way such that the inquirer acknowledges her/his ignorance with a situation. This essentially post-industrial and postmodern approach allows teams of knowledge workers to appreciate everyone’s wisdom as they come to a consensus.

This book is divided into two parts: Communications theory and 100 example conversations. The portion on theory covers why focused conversations are needed and with what mindset one should approach them. Their general approach is one filled with respect and with the aim of gaining consensus. Instead of the (dated) idea that the manager knows “best” or “everything,” this book approaches workplaces’ social dynamics through the lens that everyone is working together on a team.

This work borrows heavily from concepts that the workplace is a learning organization. As such, good questions trump pressure. In the examples, different situations are outlined through several lens, like situation, rational objective, experimental aim, reflective questions, decisional questions, and closing. This second section serves as a great reference toolkit to borrow from as one navigates the social sphere of a work team.

This book could particularly help newer managers. This book could also help more seasoned managers trying to figure out how to work with teams that know more than them. Inquiry and humility are valued by the authors of this work.

Incidentally, a team wrote this book, not just one individual. As such, the work benefits from diverse perspectives of experts in workplace communication. It’s not quite meant to read cover-to-cover. The first section can be read in one long sitting. The second section (the examples) can be read as various situations present themselves to a worker. They are filled with good questions to ask that get to the “heart of the matter.”

[Jim Razinha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reread to confirm it as a recommended replacement (despite my two star rating) for a different assigned book in a management program I am in.

Original micro-review in 2016: Even though I didn't need much in here, I think this might be good for a lot of people.

I picked out a handful of good points, but it was mostly either irrelevant, or rehashing what I already knew.

[Cordelia Yu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not worth it if you already know/practice ORID. Useful if you don’t know what it is and need to learn to facilitate decision making processes.

[Laura Vostad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for learning how to facilitate conversations

[Jamie Bright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the overall method has value, but many of the sample questions seem too awkward or formal to use in real situations.

[Daniel Wellner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. The title pretty much covers it; some theory, followed by 100 example conversations with great example questions that help focus different types of conversations. I will likely use this as a reference for preparing future conversations.

[Jim Razinha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I didn't need much in here, I think this might be good for a lot of people.

I picked out a handful of good points, but it was mostly either irrelevant, or rehashing what I already knew.