The Ladder of Inference
Our ability to understand what is being experienced can be limited in one degree or another. It is the root cause behind disconnection and even havoc in our relationships. Our minds have a predisposition to the way we select the data that ultimately guides our decision making. The Ladder of Inference, a term coined by Chris Argyris, shows how we arrive at our beliefs. The Ladder of Inference illustrates how we selectively perceive data, add meanings and assumptions, draw conclusions and adopt beliefs. We have predisposition's and preferences that cause us to select certain data. We then take or not take certain actions that reinforces our perception nearly instantaneously. In a millisecond we leap to our belief.

Dialogue
Dialogue is the critical ingredient to communicating your perspectives. It is based on three important components: advocacy, inquiry and reflection. The concept and practice is the opposite of debate. In using dialogue, it is not important to be right, but to articulate feelings and thoughts you would normally not say. This is Speaking the Unspoken. A relationship committed to dialogue, with the intent to Speak the Unspoken, is centered in courage, believing fear is not acceptable in relationships, and also in trust, based on collective wisdom. Relationships are built on individuals being heard, or fully expressed, without the need to be right.

When you understand the different components of dialogue and use the Ladder of Inference to expose hidden assumptions, you are open to the possibility that your perspective and the perspective of others may not be the only or best overall view of what is occurring or what actions should be taken. This process works when you agree that shared perspectives will provide the awareness necessary for you to hear how you actually feel about issues important to you. It takes focused practice to acquire the skills of advocacy, inquiry and reflection. Understanding the art of dialogue empowers you to use these tools and to bring these skills into regular practice with family, friends and colleagues.

Components of Dialogue

• Advocacy means individuals are encouraged to give their opinions and to make their reasoning explicit. The advocate encourages the other person to help them study the data or information (anything that would be a sensory perception) behind their opinions or beliefs. The attitude of the one advocating is to be open to understanding why they have formed their opinion. The advocate is carefully listening to the position they are taking, in order to explain how they arrived at their view. Advocacy invites inquiry. Advocacy does not resist inquiry.

• Inquiry is the on going invitation by the advocate to have one or more people ask questions that help clarify their perceptions and the information behind the position being advocated. This process explains how beliefs and possible decisions of the advocate relate to meanings, assumptions, and conclusions that are based on specific perceptions or information that typically has remained unspoken. This process encourages the other person to not resist understanding an advocate's position. The inquirer is not attempting to advocate a different perspective or they would be advocating. Each person will have the opportunity to advocate a position if they desire. Inquiry, like advocacy, requires superb listening skills. These skills are acquired through practice; reinforced by the agreement to maintain an environment to encourage and reinforce openness, trust, and learning.

  The result of successful inquiry is for the advocate to appreciate why they have a particular position. Questions are framed around discovering the process at work that caused the advocate to feel a particular belief was right. This allows for learning and to best understand how a particular positions was perceived and if that position captures the entire information necessary to support a belief and a decision.

• Reflection can be occurring while speaking; reflection in action is the ability to reflect on one's feelings and thinking while in dialogue. By carefully listening to what is being said when advocating and inquiring, we are reflecting on what is being discovered to ignite learning. This usually requires a slower paced form of communication to enhance listening, since both the advocate and inquirer are listening to themselves and each other.

  Formal reflection is like a timeout. It acknowledges the challenge inherent in dialogue and speaking the unspoken. We tend to fall away from being present. We tend to believe our truth is the only truth. We tend to resist different perspectives. We prefer to try to control a conversation and to blame others. We ignore how both people may have contributed to the undesired results. We may have hidden agendas, positions that have historically remained unspoken.

  The goal is to take whatever time is necessary to silently reflect on what has changed the atmosphere from dialogue to debate. A chime with a soft tone is suggested, allowing you to stop talking, even in mid-sentence, if debate is taking over. You relax in silence to consider how your Ladder of Inference has impacted what you are feeling and thinking. When you are ready to resume, be committed once again to advocacy and inquiry. Sometimes formal reflection time needs to be longer, a day or week, depending on the emotional aspect of what is being uncovered and the skill sets of the participants.

• Facilitation The professional facilitator's role is to remain neutral to preserve the environment of dialogue. The facilitator is given the authority to call for reflection. Sometimes emotional issues in relationships can be dealt with more authentically with the help of a facilitator. A facilitator will help reframe ways to express advocacy and inquiry. The facilitator acts as a conduit to help people speak the unspoken, while dissipating fear and encouraging trust.

  In larger groups it can be extremely difficult to be a participant to dialogue and attempt to also facilitate the dialogue. When a participant tries to simultaneously facilitate, they usually are not able to advocate their truth while remaining neutral to the advocacy and inquiry of all the participants.

  Barry Soble & Associates offers expert facilitation services.