A Tool for Wicked Problems: Dialogue Mapping™ FAQs
From the webpage:
What is Dialogue Mapping™?
Dialogue Mapping™ is a radically inclusive facilitation process that creates a diagram or ‘map’ that captures and connects participants’ comments as a meeting conversation unfolds. It is especially effective with highly complex or “Wicked” problems that are wrought with both social and technical complexity, as well as a sometimes maddening inability to move forward in a meaningful and cost effective way.
Dialogue Mapping™ creates forward progress in situations that have been stuck; it clears the way for robust decisions that last. It is effective because it works with the non-linear way humans really think, communicate, and make decisions.
I don’t disagree that humans really think in a non-linear way but some of that non-linear thinking is driven by self-interest, competition, and other motives that you are unlikely to capture with dialogue mapping.
Still, to keep you from hunting for software, the CompendiumInstitute was at the Open University until early 2013.
CompediumNG has taken over maintenance of the project.
All three sites have videos and other materials that you may find of interest.
If you want to go beyond dialogue mapping per se, consider augmenting a dialogue map, post-dialogue with additional information. Just as you would add information to any other subject identification.
Or in real time if you really want a challenge.
A live dialogue map of one of the candidate “debates” could be very amusing.
I put “debates” in quotes because no moderator ever penalizes the participants for failing to answer questions. The faithful hear what they want to hear and strain at the mote in the opposition’s eye.
I first saw this in a tweet by Neil Saunders.