Are you often frustrated by the level of engagement in meetings? Do you end up discussing the same issues again and again,, thinking what could possibly be done to move everyone forward? Are you tired of relying on processes and tools to try and fix problems that keep on re-occurring - knowing that someting else is causing the challenge - but it's just out of your reach?

A process focus is, at best, useful when purposefully managing what is underneath the surface. We hope to leave what is there with the assumption that people have to deal with it and get on with it. When left in place, what is underneath the surface becomes what governs, steers, dictates and controls what is above the surface.

The quality of the conversations that we have, the level of interaction between us, and that we commit to having them is a good predictor of our success! Why?

Because people make sense of reality; share, create and shape information and knowledge; and get to shared understanding through conversation - not process or tools.

"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place"

- George Bernard Shaw

As a Scrum Master, Agile coach, Enterprise Agile Coach, Facilitator, Team Coach or Leader, we know these situations all too well. We see a lot of change being managed through plans, processes, structures and sessions with exercises and formats that are designed to somehow shape people's thinking into the right direction. Our belief is that if we can only structure things correctly, so that it lands ideally, then people will "get it".

We forget that people and interactions - just as they are - are far more effective than the structures, processes, or plans we put in place. Somehow we have forgotten that the most complex problems have been solved for thousands of years through dialogue - skillful dialogue. Taking a dialogic stance in your leadership or practice will enable you to deal effectively with complexity, challenging conversations, persistent problems, or high degrees of resistance.