Using Open Dialogue Patterns to Improve Conversation in Daily Life

Abstract

This study explores a novel way of using Open Dialogue Patterns to improve everyday communication. Open Dialogue is a dialogue-based approach frequently utilised in psychotherapy and has been proposed to apply to other situations. We organised the essence of Open Dialogue by using pattern language so as not to be limited to the field of psychotherapy (Iba et al., Open dialogue patterns: a pattern language for collaborative problem dissolving. Viking Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, 2017; Nagai et al., Basic patterns for dialogical meeting: open dialogue patterns, Part2. 22st European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (EuroPLoP2017), 2017). In this study, we employed a learning programme to improve everyday conversation using Open Dialogue Patterns and confirmed four participants and ten cases. The results reported herein suggest that these patterns are effective through ‘utilisation to deepen understanding of interpersonal relations’, ‘induction of the inquiry of effective dialogue’ and ‘recognition of the dialogue as a design issue.’

Appendix

All utilisation examples of each pattern

Patterns performed	Area of practice	What was practised	Consequence	What is learned
As a Living Person	When giving advice to colleague	I had always been advising my colleague in the form of ‘you should try ~~,’ but this time I consciously talked to him in a way that encouraged him to determine what he wanted to do.	The intention like ‘Let’s take action’ appeared to his mind.	At some timings, I said ‘It is better for you to do this’. I think it would have been better to practice Deep Listening or Pause for Thinking.
Response to What is Said	Relationship with girlfriend	Even when we are fighting, I brought myself to respond to what my girlfriend was saying.	I was able to reconcile because I could understand what she was trying to express and avoided emotionally replying.	By being conscious to respond to what she says, I could listen carefully to what she meant.
Experienced World	About human relationships within shared house	When she said, ‘I cannot understand the meaning of the story’, I listened deeply to her opinion.	I noticed the difference in our viewpoints. I talked from the viewpoint of ‘How does he get better’ and she talked from the viewpoint of ‘her emotions’.	If there is a difference in the viewpoint, the discussion will be inconsistent.
Deep Listening	About human relationships within shared house	When I heard from her that ‘I cannot understand the meaning of the story’, I listened deeply to her opinion.	I understood her argument, ‘I cannot understand anything he is doing. I think he is strange.’
Open Question	The opportunity to learn about World Cafe	When the discussion was dead, I asked an open question ‘What do we want to deepen in the first place?’	A voice, ‘I wanted to do something like this,’ came out from other participants and the question was deepened.	When I speak out what I felt, the others might have felt the same sense of incongruity. In that case, the questions will get deeper.
Response to What is Said	Relationship with girlfriend	I tried to respond to what she is saying.	I could listen to her story but I lost the timing to say what I want to say.	When saying important things, it is easier for me to make the context in advance, for example ‘I have something to talk about’.
Emotional Resonance	Relationship with the partner of a project	I listened to her story with calmness and empathy.	For the first time, the trouble that she could not talk to people so far was put into words.	The result of politely repeating the dialogue did not cause change as an action, but it was occurring inside her.
Exact Same Words	At the workshop I held	I got close to the opponent’s idea with a smooth attitude. Specifically, I asked using his words and context.		I noticed that the members who also act as mother are good at doing ‘same words’ naturally.
Diverse Understanding	About human relationships within shared house	Talking while distinguishing each other’s opinions and perceptions consciously.	Talk while distinguishing each other’s opinions and perceptions consciously, it resulted in them only claimed their own perceptions and their opinions never matching up, ending up in negative outcome.	Not only claiming Diverse Understanding but also Deep Listening and Tunnel of Emotion must be carried out at the same time.
Finding Together	Relationship with girlfriend	Regarding our relationship, we found another option, ‘We will not meet for a while’.	The possibility of seeing her someday in our lives will be influenced by whether I experience this or not. There still is a room to meet her as a friend in the future.	I decided to ‘end the partnership’ by myself, but we both were able to have the sense of ownership to the decision because there were opportunities to exchange each other’s opinions.