EDGAR.H.

SCHEIN ON
DIALOGUE

Daliya.Manuel

Edgar.H.Schein

Edgar Henry Schein (born March 5, 1928), a

former professor at the MIT Sloan School of
Management.
Ph.D.s from the University of Chicago and
Harvard University
Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social
Psychology from Stanford University.
He has made a notable mark on the field of
organizational development in many areas,
including career development, group process
consultation, and organizational culture.

Dialogue

Communication failures and cultural

misunderstandings .
This prevent the parties from framing the
problem in a common way, and thus make it
impossible to deal with the problem
constructively.
Dialogue in the general parlance means
conversation.
But dialogue, for Schein, is different.
Dialogue means bringing a kind of mindfulness,
or cognitive self-awareness as we talkknowing
ones thought as one is having it, says Schein.
Thinking about a thought rather than beingthe

Why is dialogue essential

Increasing rate of change in the environment,

organizations face an increasing need for rapid
learning.
Growth of technological complexity in all
functions, organizational structures
Organizations of all sizes will show a greater
tendency to break down into subunits of various
sorts, based on technology, products, markets,
geographies, occupational communities, and
other factors.

Problems in understanding

Subunits
Subcultures
Organizational effectiveness depends on
communication across subculture boundaries.
Any form of organizational learning therefore will
require a shared mental model that cut across
subcultures of the organization.
(JWT different teams diff approach)

Problems in understanding

Cross cultural issues (Samsung retailer meeting

China & Korea conflict)
Culturally over trained
(We withhold information that would in any way
threaten the current social order)
Maintaining face (We always claim a certain
amount of value or status for ourselves relative
to the others in the situation. Others then must
make an immediate choice: to grant us what we
have claimed, or to either withhold confirmation
or actually challenge us.)
(Lack of acknowledgement is devastating to
most people. Laughing at a joke which is not

Problems in understanding

Defensive routines
To be polite, to protect everyone's face, especially our
own, we tend to say what we feel is most appropriate
and least hurtful.
Violation of this in US might just be seen as rude but in
India it might even lead to the breakdown of the
relationship.
(Eg: Pakistan attacked instead terrorist from Pakistanto be politically right)
Time pressure creates a dilemma
Sometimes truth might lead to quicker solution but
hurt the relationship.

Why is dialogue essential

Dialogue is the only way to identify what I mean

and you mean are the same.

If cross cultural issues are involved, development

of a shared mental model will take more lengthy
and elaborate periods of dialogue.

Sensitivity Training Vs
Dialogue
Sensitivity Training

Goal is to use the

group process to
develop individual
interpersonal skills.
How to give and take
feedback.
Feedback based on
individual behavior.
Limited number

Dialogue

Aims to build a group

that think
generatively,
creatively and
together.

Natural flow of
conversation.
Discourages direct
feedback.

Not limited

Dialogue vs. F2F

communication Dialogue is focused

F2F communication

Emphasis on active
listening, by which
one should give
attention to all
channels of
communication the
spoken words, body
language, tone etc.

more on the
thinking process
Dialogue
and how our
perceptions and
cognitions are
preformed by our
past experiences.
Assumption here is
that if we become
more conscious of
how our thought
process works, we
will think better,
collectively, and

Platypus mammal or
reptile

How does dialogue get

started?

Facilitator organize the physical space. Mostly in a circular

model.
Introduce general concept
Ask the participants to think about a good communication
experience.
Ask them to share it with their neighbor
Ask the group members to identify what made these good
communications and write those in a flipcharts.
Ask them to talk about their reactions.
Let the conversation flow naturally
Intervene when necessary
Close by asking members to comment about what they
choose.

New groups

Members should feel equal as possible.(circle)

Everyone should get a sense of guaranteed time.
(Comment)
Group should explore dialogue process rather
than making decisions or solving problems.
Initially members might be concerned about
themselves and their own feelings, hence
experiences are good way to begin.

Length and frequency of

meetings

Seating circle
Length - Depends on the size of the group
Reason for getting together
Facilitator provides theoretical concepts as and
when required.

Group dynamics

Elements of group and classical issues

Issues can be of group or dialogue
Facilitator should be skilled in group facilitation.
Psychological safety
Initial motivation
Unfreeze
Dialogue format - reach a valid level of
communication much faster.

Containment

Create a climate where people can handle hot

situations.
Facilitator contributes to this by modeling
behavior, by being non judgmental by
suspending his own judgments.

Task vs. process

Once the group experiences dialogue, the

process tend to feed on itself.
Initially the group is formed specifically for the
purpose of learning the process.
Once they master the process they use this in
problem solving meetings.

Culture & subcultures

Carriers of culture
Emotional attachment to our culture
Psychological boundaries - language
Occupational communities - Jargons
Express sense of belongingness - status and
identity.
We often feel our biases are right and want
others to learn our language.

Culture & subcultures

Groups are made up of people from different

subcultures.
They might speak the same language such as
English but still not understand each others
language.
Functional and geographical subcultures are
evident.
Hierarchical subcultures are harder to detect.
Organizational integration, coordination and
learning are hindered by the myth that all
management speak the same language.
Eg: CEOs meeting

On organizational learning

Organizational learning is not possible unless some

learning takes place in the executive level.
Self analysis involve periods of dialogue.
It helps to understand ones own cognitive bias and
that helps to become sympathetic to problems in
communicating with others in the organization.
Executive leaders may be reluctant to engage in
these self analysis.
Dialogue at executive level is not enough, it should
flow across levels. Because diff strata has diff
assumptions.

Moral of the story

Learning across cultural boundaries cannot be

created or sustained without initial and periodic
dialogue.
Dialogue in some form is necessary and integral
to any organizational learning that involves going
beyond the status quo.
Especially when learning across subcultures are
required, dialogue must be considered as the
way of learning.

Dialogue

It starts from a change in mental approachthe

use of a somewhat unnatural suspension
instead of reacting when we hear discomfiting
information that triggers us.
We pause for a moment, and evaluate what were
thinking. Is this feeling I have true? Or is it
based on a mistaken perception? we ask
ourselves, and wait a bit for additional
information before we decide how to act