Great Conversations

By Dgurteen – This photo was taken at a Gurteen Knowledge Cafe at the British Dental Association in May 2009 in London.Previously published: This photo has also been published on gurteen.com and on Flickr., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20737750

Great Conversations

Last week saw myself and some fellow coaches discussing facets of coaching each morning over on Twitter.  You can read more about it here including links to each of the daily conversations curated on Storify. There’s lots of rich inquiry and learning in here so do take a look.

What I found particularly interesting about these chats was the level of engagement and discussion from a small number of participants. Definitely a quality not quantity type of experience. It just feels somewhat rare to find conversations on Social Media that can engage beyond the practitioner perspective and get some real depth and openness.

It’s not particularly about the number of people though openness to participation is important.

It’s not particularly about the topics though relevance is important.

It’s not particularly about the questions though usefully structured inquiry is important.

What I think makes such chats particularly interesting is the interest and care each participant shows in the subject matter and the perspectives of others in the chat. That’s not to say there can’t be difference. There must be in some way but with a view to understanding, improvement and creation – not approval, position or destruction.

There has to be the environment for the right things to happen – preparation, structure, inclusiveness, relevance, useful inquiry. PLUS the open participation of people willing to show and share their interest and their care.

As with all things, create the space and the lay the ground for this to happen and more often than not it naturally does. No rules needed. The right people will always be there showing and sharing their interest and care. That’s what makes it special.

I think we could do a lot more great conversations on Social Media platforms don’t you?

In fact, I think we could do a lot more great conversations off Social Media too, don’t you?

Create the space. Lay the ground. Facilitate an inclusive, relevant, inquiring environment. Trust that the right people will come showing and sharing their interest and care.

Create great conversations.