Dialogue is a special form of communication that creates positive results for individuals, groups, organizations, and communities. Some of the outcomes of dialogic communication are:

• Increased satisfaction, responsiveness, and effectiveness
• Transformed relationships among stakeholders
• Developed trust and respect
• Enhanced morale and efficiency
• Increased capability for creative problem solving and creative visioning
• Committed buy-in from multiple groups
• Diminished unproductive and destructive conflict

Our Approach

Our approach to dialogue is unique and grows out of our understanding of how communication works and what work it does.

Most people think of communication as a tool for getting information from one person to another. Several metaphors and phrases reinforce this perspective; for example, the "information highway," a "communication breakdown," or "getting my meanings into your head." However, communication does much more than this "transmission model" suggests. The way that we communicate, along with the content of what we say, shapes how we feel about ourselves, the person speaking, and even others who are not in the room. The way we talk and the people to whom we talk creates, sustains, and sometimes destroys relationships, organizations, and communities.

Pearce Associates' focus on communication is not just on the content but on how people talk, because we know that how we talk has implications for who we become and what we can do as individuals, groups, and societies.

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