First off, I should note that Yankelovich's book went into print about six months before the current market drop started. The board may be singing a very different tune now.
Still, there are important lessons here:
There are no stupid questions!
So called Stupid questions often reveal:
the things that we don't know that other people assume we do know
the things we are assuming
it is often a good place to open dialog
Inequality squelches innovative thinking
real solutions require people to treat each other as equals, even when they are not
we have to exit our programmed roles and enter the role of listener, learner, and thinker.
there is no formula for how you do this. Roles are important to maintaining predictable less than I-thou relationships.
but dialogue requires that we break out of the normal patterns
Empathy matters
Never treat a question as stupid
Ask yourself why the question seems stupid while you answer it. Sometimes the answer will improve as a result.
The trick is to unmask assumptions
Most problems are not an issue of what we say
So much as a problem of what we have assumed
Relationships are an inevitable biproduct of real dialogue.
Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page
were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
participants. (August 27, 2008). Relationships And Communities Session Twelve. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from
http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?RelationshipsAndCommunitiesSessionTwelve.