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As Aristotle put it long ago, human beings
are distinguished from other species by our ability to use
language. Yet all too often -- on the job, in businesses,
and in our communities or personal lives -- we don't listen
to one another. Invested in our views, we explain when we
should inquire. Caught up in our own preconceptions, we
disguise our feelings and fears, and hide our very meaning.
Our talk drives us apart.
In this engaging book, based on over ten
years of research with corporations, managers, and business
and community leaders, William Isaacs -- founder of the
Dialogue Project at MIT -- shows how problems between managers
and employees, and between companies or divisions within
a larger corporation, stem from an inability to conduct
a successful dialogue. He demonstrates that dialogue is
more than just the exchange of words, but rather the embrace
of different points of view -- literally the art of thinking
together. Through his work with Ford, Shell, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard,
and other companies, Dr. Isaacs has expanded the ways that
better-designed conversation can be (and has been) applied
to bridge the communication gap in organizations and communities.
A powerful approach for managers, leaders,
and individuals. Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together
is an essential book that can help revitalize our work and
our lives.
William Isaacs is a lecturer at MIT's
Sloan School of Management and president of DIAlogos,
a consulting and leadership education firm based in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. As a scholar and consultant, Dr. Isaacs has
worked intensively over the last fourteen years developing
the dialogue approach with such major organizations as Ford,
Motorola, and Shell. A graduate of Dartmouth College and
the London School of Economics, Dr. Isaacs received his
doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University. He lives
with his family in the Boston area.
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