Chapter 2

How Hard Can It Be?

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.

ERICH FROMM

WHAT’S THE BIG “D”?

At one level, dialogue with a little d is nothing more than a deeper level of conversation. The attraction of creating the concept of dialogue with a big D is that it gives us an opportunity to turn it into a group process—a training ground. For purposes of this book, when we talk about dialogue, we specifically mean the big concept of building a group process.

To formalize dialogue is to give ourselves a chance to practice it as a group, get better at it, and build our skills so they will be there when we need them. We can’t practice communication skills in a ...

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