What is the topic of this LibrePlanet 2021 Lightning Talk? Empowering users through Dialogue Mapping using IBIS Why should you care? Turn any plain text file into a decision support tool Use any free software system that can share text files for collaboration on complex issues Yet another way to leverage emacs' "org mode" outliner tool A free idea or standard can be more powerful than a specific implementation KISS: Keep It Simple Silly -- avoid unneeded accidental complexity in essential communications What is Dialogue Mapping? A radically inclusive facilitation process that creates a diagram or "map" on a shared display Captures and connects participants' comments as a meeting unfolds (typically using "IBIS" notation) Who created Dialogue Mapping? Jeff Conklin (mainly), KC Burgess Yakemovic (both with CogNexus Group), others When was Dialogue Mapping created? 1990s, especially as part of the QuestMap software and a related small company What is IBIS? Issue-Based Information System -- a simple "grammar" for outlining complex challenges What are the main parts of the IBIS grammar? Issues/Questions (anything can be questioned) Options/Answers (under questions) Arguments (Pros/Cons under Options) Who created IBIS? Horst Rittel (mainly), Werner Kunz When was IBIS created? 1960s Why was IBIS created? To help groups deal with "Wicked" problems with ill-defined boundaries and many stakeholders Can one person use IBIS by themselves? Yes, but it works better with a diversity of perspectives What is important to know about Dialogue Mapping and IBIS? See below (implicitly under here in the outline) Key books on Dialogue Mapping with IBIS? Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems (2006) by Jeff Conklin The Heretic's Guide to Best Practices: The Reality of Managing Complex Problems in Organisations (2013) by Paul Culmsee and Kailash Awati Constructing Knowledge Art: An Experiential Perspective on Crafting Participatory Representations (2014) by Al Selvin and Simon Buckingham Shum Help! I have to think!: An approach to working through life’s big challenges (2015) by KC Burgess Yakemovic Key needs of groups in organizations that IBIS can help with? Shared understanding (diversity) Shared commitment Psychologically safe place for interaction Minimize clutter, distraction, and inflexibility/inagility Key aspects of IBIS? Questions (?) -- something that needs an answer Answers / Options / Ideas (.) -- possible responses to a question (may not be mutually exclusive) Supporting arguments for Ideas as Pros (+) and/or Cons (-) How do the three types of items fit together as a grammar? Answers go under Questions Pro and Con Arguments go under Answers Questions can go under anything Is it a good idea to be able to question anything? Yes, questions should go everywhere + Details can be added anywhere through questions + We often have unstated assumptions that questions can clarify + It seems to work in practice - Can lead to overly complex maps and a need for specialized software No, questions should only be allowed at the top level + People can get confused by recursion - Not being able to ask questions can shut down exploration Benefits of IBIS? Visualizing discussion Showing all options Highlighting missing information Finding better ideas Information available for persuasion or to present to other decision makers Increased understanding of all participants Engagement of all stakeholders so they do not sabotage decision Can be extended for future needs More efficient focus Helps with improving critical thinking skills Not associating names to items can decrease fear of being seen as too critical Supports creativity in the sense that there is always room for more questions or more ideas Collaborative in the sense of people working together to build a shared artifact even if they disagree Example of a success story for Dialogue Mapping? "How the Delta Dialogues Project Is Using Dialogue Mapping to Build Shared Understanding" About the "wicked" problem of CA water supply "The six-month pilot was successful in building a shared understanding and forging ties among a group of unlikely collaborators Different types of IBIS representations? gIBIS -- graphical (e.g. Compendium, LGPL) itIBIS -- indented textual outline (the form used for this talk) Why is IBIS so simple to read? Users are quickly empowered when techniques are simple and approachable and leverage what they already know A goal is to be usable without training in public meetings (e.g. above examples are understandable) Avoiding clutter not needed for key objective of shared understanding/commitment Easier for Dialogue Mapper (facilitator) to use in a live meeting Why is IBIS and Dialogue Mapping hard to use sometimes? It is a human skill that needed to be learned and practiced Working in real-time in live meeting (so, like performing Jazz music on a piano) Why do we expect professional musicians to have years of practice but we expect anyone can facilitate a meeting with no training? What training does someone doing Dialogue mapping need? Asking clarifying questions Knowing about different categories of questions Listening for implied question (a bit like Jeopardy) Need for practice How to get started? Many people naturally make outlines and list pros and cons Start now with your next meeting with your own private notes Read a book by Jeff Conklin (organizationally-focused with gIBIS) Read a book by KC Burgess Yakemovic (simpler, individually-oriented with itIBIS) How good do you have to be to facilitate with Dialogue Mapping? "The woods would be pretty quiet if no bird sang there but the best." People can still gain benefits from playing live music for themselves and others even if they are not the best -- same with Dialogue Mapping May depend on the situation and the stakes Technology can go wrong (especially multi-user stuff) Facilitator needs a good memory so can relate new or repeated information back to previously mapped Subject matter may be unfamiliar to facilitator Trusting to group intelligence Why is Dialogue Mapping with IBIS so hard to put in practice? Can seem to slow groups down? Does it really slow them down? "Sometimes need to go slower to go faster." It's "new" (compared to printed agendas etc.) It's "old" (1960s, bygone moonshot era) Competes with mindshare of expensive better-marketed "solutions" (David Thomas on Agile vs. Agility) Need for trained facilitator Need for technology support of shared display (with visible pointer) Complexity of some issues even with software like Compendium for multiple nested maps with shared items Fundamentally democratic and participatory aspect can be seen as threatening in some groups How so? Personal agendas in groups (turf, power, control, secrecy, etc.) Jeff Conklin example: power company execs preferred million dollar fines over documenting decisions Knowing when to stop mapping (maybe ask later is there anything to put down) Examples (from Conklin)? Meeting process like when to take a break Some interpersonal conflicts Off-the-record conversations Highly open-ended conversations (like at startup, maybe just capture questions) Emotional issues True Dialog (transcendental state of grace) How and when are decisions made? Run out of time Group senses it is ready Are numerical weightings of pros and cons used to make choices? Usually not Why not? People rarely agree on exact weightings or how to aggregate them What is an alternative to abstract weighting? Endorsement of ideas by named individuals or show of hands and count What are major categories of IBIS questions? "What needs to be done?" "How can we do it?" "How do we decide? (criterion)" "Who are the stakeholders?" "What are the facts? (e.g. How many widgets do we have on hand right now?)" "What is the meaning of a term? (e.g. What is a `participant`?)" "What background that lead to this point?" "What about the future? (e.g. What if we don't decide by some date?)" What are the "three moves of discourse"? Making a case for an idea Making a case against an idea Challenging the context/frame of the conversation What are some common Dialogue Mapping social issues in practice? Someone questions focus of discussion -- "left hand move" of adding a question to the left and shifting everything else to the right Someone repeats a point important to them -- point to where already on diagram and ask them if they have anything to adding People are afraid to be critical -- can simply point to idea and ask "are there any cons?" Who presented this talk? Paul D. Fernhout Where to find this file? https://pdfernhout.net/libreplanet-2021-lightning-talk-on-dialogue-mapping-with-ibis.txt License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA)