What would happen if professional organizers and facilitators of dialogue and deliberation decisively and publicly demonstrated their capacity to help cities and states solve their biggest problem — collapsing budgets — and then broadly promoted…
The phrase “the commons” refers to domains and resources that belong to or affect the whole of a community. The “conversational commons” then embraces everything that supports or makes possible the enjoyable and productive conversations of a commu…
A large and growing body of knowledge exists about how to carry on powerful conversations — methodologies, facilitation know-how, dynamic understandings, and more. This knowledge informs professions ranging from therapy to diplomacy and conflict …
I view the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) as one of the most important groups supporting the emergence of democratic participatory wisdom to help societies evolve and thrive in the coming century. I want to encourage every…
The most comprehensive essay I have so far written on the underlying theory of co-intelligent, holistic politics has just been published (two years since I wrote it) in a special edition of Integral Review about integral politics. It starts on pag…
I’ll talk about democracy in a minute. But first a note about crises and evolution.Evolutionary science tells us that crises and catastrophes are cauldrons of co-creativity, generating new forms.Perhaps the most dramatic example is how the 70 heav…
US media are abuzz with the controversy over health care reform and disruptions of so-called “town hall meetings”. News media could contribute to the health of democracy far more by giving at least equal time to * the many instances in which high …
Disturbance represents diverse life energies trying to find their placein the next wave of Life. Dear friends, We are watching some intense disturbances in the public debate over health care. Before I explore them, I offer this full disclosure sta…
A very knowlegeable colleague wrote me “As a believer in the principle of collective intelligence since the 1960s, I do however remain very cautious about how I would sense its manifestation in the [community dialogue] events that you describe. My…