National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)

I want to take some time today to recognize some other folks doing great work in the area of public participation and deliberative dialogue. About a month ago, I joined the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. I have been both impressed and humbled. These folks really get it. They are living their values and they express themselves eloquently through their work. Go, take a look at their website and see for yourself. Better yet, join up. Become a member and support this important work.

Those of us who facilitate at large companies in the private sector can get lost in our client work and miss out on making a positive contribution in other areas. I remember once tying to play a simple jazz piece on my shakuhachi flute with two street musicians outside the World Bank. I was facilitating a tough meeting, lot of rancor and infighting. I needed a break. So I bypassed lunch, and took my flute outside looking for a quiet place to play and re-center myself. Well, there was no quiet place.

What I did on that marvelous May afternoon was watch two wonderful sax players having at it with the very piece I had recently learned at a shakuhachi camp I had attended. I took up the flute and found that I could play along, only on that song, but I could keep up! The alto dude told me to do a bit of improvisation, and so I did. When I was done the two quickly picked up, non verbally saying “that’s enough” Rob. Afterwards, on their break, the older one quietly said. Hey Rob, "It’s not how far you go out that matters, It’s can you find your way back home.”

For me NCDD is a great way to stay connected to home. Values matter. When I am doing my corporate work, I draw heavily from the values that NCDD espouses.