TABLE OF CONTENTS Education is a kind of continuing dialog, and a dialog assumes different points of view.
Robert M Hutchins, Chancellor, University of Chicago, on academic freedom, Time, December 8, 1952
Without friendship and the openness and trust that go with it, skills are barren and knowledge may become an unguided missile.
Frank H.T. Rhodes, Commencement address at Cornell University, May 29, 1983
Collaboration is not about debate or discussion it is about dialogue. The paradox of collaboration is that through the process of interacting with others, individuals discover more of themselves. This is because collaboration often uncovers ideas that we find alien or threatening. These ideas are often the very ideas we have denied or repressed within ourselves. We need those ideas!
The goal of debating is to win an argument. Dialogue, however, is about working toward a common goal and expanding our current thinking. Dialogue is also different from discussion. To collaborate, you have to be willing to listen to what others are saying and allow yourself to be influenced by it. Anything less is merely empty discussion.
Dialogue. Collaboration can only exist in the presence of dialogue. If you try building relationships without having an understanding of your potential partners and their unique perspectives, you will probably succeed in building a negative relationship. Dialogue typically strengthens personal relationships and solves problems, but it cannot be substituted with two monologues. The key difference between dialogue and empty discussion is valuing the points of...
