OVERVIEW

Conversation is the most powerful learning tool ever invented. This is why we believe it is important to master the art of the conversation. The more we focus on becoming skilled Learning Conversationalists, the more we are likely to engage in the conversation and maximise the benefits it can bring us in the world of work.

Conversations carry news, create meaning, foster cooperation, create engagement, learning, interest and spark innovation. Encouraging open, honest conversation through work space design, creating ground rules for conversing productively, and making room for conversation into the corporate culture, spreads intellectual capital, improves cooperation, and strengthens personal relationships.

So how can we maximise the power of Conversations and what do we mean by “Learning Conversations”?

Whether your bigger aim is to develop a Learning Organisation or just to increase your efficiencies and your bottom line, our thinking skills are enhanced through the ability to talk and think together with others authentically and skillfully; effective and engaging conversations are also highly likely to be a source of competitive advantage and organisational effectiveness.

How then do we start to change our approach and style of conversations to become more skilful? Organisations need people who can connect with each other in a more human way, ask and seek answers to new questions, solve new problems, and anticipate barriers before they arise. We need the all-important Human Elements to be fulfilled in order to be able to ensure that the Learning Environment and the safety is there as a foundation to enable Learning Conversations to prosper.

Our premise is that effective Learning Conversations are one of the critical pillars of business success. They are the essence of how we connect, learn, share, inspire and deliver results. We have used this premise as a beginning from which to take an explorative journey of understanding, into the power and potential of Learning Conversations. Through these powerful conversations we hope to unearth or illuminate insights that might help organisations increase their business success through focussing on more skilful and powerful conversations.

These conversations span our everyday interactions with colleagues, teams or clients; through to the more formal, structured conversations within meetings, performance review or appraisals. Choosing a Learning Conversation ethos as part of your performance development appraisals is a truly positive step and will ensure that people will be open and honest, and the essential humility and vulnerability will be able to occupy the space, allowing an interchange of learning to happen that would not be possible in a conversation which does not have its explicit focus on Learning.

Being bold enough to start with the Leadership Teams could mean role modelling a more human, curious and courageous approach to conversations across the organisation. It could mean challenging our business leaders to actively remove some of the, often unnoticed, barriers to listening to people at all levels of the organisation. Or it could simply mean creating the time and space for leaders to connect and talk with each other in new and different ways.

Conversations are complex, contextual and individual. There is a great deal of work needed to understand just how powerful everyday workplace conversations can be, and the rich tapestry underpinning how they enable us to show up as leaders. By delving into the complexities of conversations using support structures such as internal coaching, and with a general shift towards growing a conversational culture, there is the potential to evolve the quality of conversations in organisations to enable them to become the main sources of competitive advantage in the 21st century.