How the discipline of powerful conversation can restore human judgment and values in a relentlessly bottom-line, technologically oriented world.
In a time of unusual stress-with a pandemic raging and economic insecurity and dislocation increasing-we need to rediscover the values that make us human, that give us a sense of meaning that can also increase our potential for productivity and success. What stands in the way, however, is a frenzied numbers-obsessed culture, the "scratch and claw" workplace, and organizations where the boss can literally be an algorithm-a culture where the humane treatment of human beings is a lost art.
Through moving stories and a modern use of the ancient framework of the Socratic dialogue called active inquiry, David Brendel and Ryan Stelzer show how to engage in the discipline of powerful conversation: how to think carefully about a challenge, engage peers in dialogue via open-ended questioning, and build a strategy collaboratively. This process cultivates trust and defines collective values. In turn, these "soft" attributes increase innovation and, ultimately, financial performance.
The inclination in a time of turmoil-both societal and financial-is to double-down: make the numbers at whatever cost, replace the people with bots. Brendel and Stelzer's brilliant science-based counter-narrative vividly illustrates why this is not only the wrong approach, but certain to make the numbers even worse. They provide readers with a practical thought-provoking way forward, away from the abyss of a technological age gone haywire.
