Communication in the Age of Suspicion
A Conference on Trust, Communication and Culture, organised by the Centre for Public Communication Research, Bournemouth University, 20/21 February 2004.

Here are the seven pictures I drew at this conference.Their purpose is to trigger further conversations.They are simple examples of the first step in an organistional change process called Visual Dialogue, which is explained below.

[Larger printable version]

Visual Dialogue
This is a facilitation process in which pictures are developed to engage an ever widening circle of people in animated and meaningful dialogue. It is based on the belief that organisations are networks of relationships, and by having better, more open and honest conversations, everyone can participate in the negotiation of shared meaning. If meanings are imposed or go unchallenged, and people are denied the opportunity to participate in the creation of their own local meanings, relevant to their own situation, then words lose their meaning.

Silence
The trouble is that many people are generally silent about the chaos at work. In such highly charged political environments it is too risky, dangerous in fact, to speak up. People are simply not talking to each other as it is too difficult to say what is really going on. The frustration this creates soon leads to a culture of low morale, blame and distrust.

Unchallenged Jargon
When Jargon and abstractions go unchallenged they contribute to the lack of clarity, the confusion and the distress that create a culture of isolation and alienation.The quality and strength of relationships are a function of the language used. When we use abstract generalisations to explain serious issues, we start down a slippery slope, focusing attention on abstract ideas that have weak meaning and intention. The language used becomes distant and vague.

Chaos and Confusion
The result is that meetings and workshops become disconnected from people's experience leading to confusion, a lack of clarity and little or no action. Yet the difficult but important subjects are avoided, or made safe and unthreatening by generalisations in which the truth gets hidden away and lost. This way of speaking is so ingrained that we are barely aware that we do it. The next thing that happens is that we lose the link between thought and action, between word and experience, leading to the sort of meaninglessness that goes unacknowledged in most organisations.When words go unchallenged they become abstract generalisations and jargon, but they are often used because they are safe and vague and allow the conversations to avoid difficult subjects. Chaos and confusion the reign and misunderstandings get compounded.

The power of visual art
Pictures are a powerful way to open up discussion on difficult subjects. They can enable leaders to start discussions on difficult matters with their team, encouraging reflection and enquiry on the journey they are on, identifying real issues and create action plans that work. They can reflect a reality that people are not normally willing to talk about, and create a safe space to discuss them.

Visual Dialogue
This is a facilitation process in which pictures are used to encourage teams to speak more specifically about what is really going on at work. It can open up doors into areas conventional tools fail to go. Creative, rich and meaningful dialogue naturally promote the sharing of experience which is the key to developing the better working relationships that lead to improving performance. Only when there is honesty about specifics at work can people make sense of what is going on for each other and begin to encourage action in themselves and others. Giving people an opportunity to speak openly and honestly about their own experience is the key to creating a healthy working culture.