1. Print out this worksheet and distribute to your group members.
2. Read the scenario provided, and jot down notes if you feel it will help you share your ideas.

Once at the meeting, there are tactical and more emotional elements to consider.

Tactical guidelines:
• Ensure everyone has paper and pens to write down ideas as others are speaking.
• Clarify the rules beforehand, i.e., no interrupting, no personal attacks, etc.
• State the intention and purpose of the dialectical thinking session.

Meeting facilitation guidelines:
• Stay curious; question rather than judge others’ ideas;
• Search for value in others’ positions;
• See new options;
• Ask questions to fill in the gaps;
• Work together toward common understanding;
• Constructively critique your own and others’ ideas;
• Come out of the session with a stronger concept about the actions the group can now take.

The scenario

—Conduct a mini-workshop using the following hypothetical scenario or, using the following scenario as a guideline, substitute a real issue facing your group.

Due to market fluctuations, a major client has had to terminate a project your company was awarded, and on which you've spent considerable time and resources over the past eight months. Your group is now looking for fresh ideas and approaches to strengthen the business and identify new opportunities. One participant, Glenn Scott, strongly advocates looking for new projects with previous and existing clients. Thora Devereaux, Glenn's colleague, strongly advocates expanding beyond the current client base for new clients and opportunities.

• Glenn Scott, a senior project director who'se been with the company for five years.

• Thora Devereaux, the sales and marketing director who joined the firm eight months ago.

• Dale Rhodes, the company founder and president.

• Sandy Williams, an executive assistant who's been with the firm for two years.

—Assign a group member to play each role. The other group members will participate as themselves.

—"In character," engage in a discussion about the change issue underway at the company, using this comment to jumpstart the conversation:
Studies show that the most cost-effective way to strengthen business is to ensure repeat business with existing clients, yet with the loss of a major client, some group members are concerned that there isn't enough opportunity within the existing client base to generate equal or more of the revenues of the lost project and subsequent costs of keeping everyone on staff until new business is onboard.

• What questions can you ask about each of the comments you hear during your discussion?
• What objections can be identified for each of your own or others’ comments?
• Where have you or other participants raised opinions that don't hold up to questioning or require more research?
• What points have you or other participants raised that do hold up to questioning?

Post-Dialectic Debrief

• What have you learned about the best options available to the group?
• How has this exercise informed you about the way your group members rely on opinions, rather than more solid positions that stand up to critical analyis, as a basis for action?
• How has this exercise informed you about the way your group members communicate with each other?
• What tools or approaches worked well with this exercise? What would you differently?
• How can you transfer these skills to a staff or project meeting, and why would you want to transfer the skills? As a group, identify no fewer than five answers to each of these questions.
• If you can't come up with answers to the above, what opinions, roles, expectations and beliefs prevented you from "moving outside the box" of these opinions, beliefs, etc.?