March 14, 2011 On Wisconsin At its best, democracy isn't just "rule by the people" or even "rule of, by, and for the people." It's rule by people who listen to each other. Wisconsin's Republican leadership...
March 11, 2011 Reflections From the Storm ’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form “Come...
March 10, 2011 A Brief Description of the Interactivity Foundation Discussion Process* As our catalogue of “Perspectives” grows, it’s probably useful to reconsider from time to time some of the basics of the IF process. That’s what I want to do here,...
March 9, 2011 Deliberative Practitioners at the Eye of the Storm Wisconsin’s ongoing protests provide many interesting lessons for a former advocate-turned deliberative practitioner. How does a facilitator/alternative dispute resolution professional come to find himself carrying a sign and singing songs...
March 7, 2011 Two Lessons for Better Group Thinking One of the most important features of Interactivity Foundation discussion projects is the emphasis on exploring contrasting perspectives and developing contrasting policy possibilities. Along the way to doing this, panelists...
March 3, 2011 What could we do? vs What should we do? ‘What should we do?’ seems to be a fulcrum of our public discussions today. This is a question that is raised in the streets of Madison and Washington alike. The...
March 1, 2011 IF Reports: Multiple Metaphors One of IF’s central activities is to produce discussion reports. We have since the beginning emphasized that these reports are different from other texts, such as conventional policy reports,...
February 15, 2011 Developing Skills Throughout the IF discussion process much emphasis is placed on guiding participants through stages of a process to develop contrasting policy possibilities. For panelists, the primary goal is to create...
February 11, 2011 Plainer English “If you can’t explain what you’re doing in plain English, you’re probably doing something wrong.” Alfred E. Kahn Whereas, prior to this point in time, the premise expressed hereinabove...