What's happening in the world of DOC? |
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We just ran our second demo event, and made significant progress in refining our approach! We also just published our first guest blog! |
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Last week marked DOC's second demo workshop, with significant changes, including a new icebreaker exercise and a new introduction designed to help organizations understand the developing threat to their health and effectiveness from polarization. This narrative included data showing the increasing challenges for companies dealing with a new generation of workers who have been affected more and more by the toxic incentives toward polarization that surround us, which we posted about a couple of months ago. And it introduced data from a Business Bridging Divides study, which made it clear how businesses are being impacted by these trends, and how widespread the effects are. Participants again got to learn and practice the skills of Reflective Listening, which you can read about in a previous newsletter. |
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True of Me ExerciseBackground• Draws on principles of Applied Improvisation • Reinforces group feelings of commonality • Works in both in-person and virtual workshop settings Structure• One person makes a true statement about themselves • Those who share that trait turn video on; others leave it off • The first person picks someone with video on to go next |
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We broke the ice with the True of Me exercise (see inset), which we drew from the world of improv comedy. Randy led off with a statement—he's a dog person—that he wondered how many other people shared. This was of course a softball, since there were plenty of other dog people, as expected. Others made statements about where they grew up or their quirky ice cream preferences, and through switching on and off their cameras, participants got to see how many others shared those characteristics. |
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While the first half of the exercise dealt with more surface similarities, for the second we increased the stakes, asking participants to think about challenging situations in their lives that had been formative for them. In order to encourage deep reflection during this part, we stopped the recording. Participants indeed dug deep, discussing challenges like feeling out of place in their youth, and even making career-impacting mistakes when dealing with others. The exercise was highly rated—8.4 out of 10—and demonstrated how much we share in common, and how rewarding it can be to be vulnerable. |
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While we'd been excited about the ratings for the first workshop, this follow-up effort was received with even more enthusiasm. Participants appreciated the skills we taught and the practice exercise we used to reinforce them. And satisfaction with the workshop shot up by more than a full point. |
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Perhaps the most exciting results were the changes that attendees experienced during the workshop. Most of the workshop participants reported being more confident that they "can have productive conversations with those with very different beliefs from [their] own" (77%) and more hopeful that "we can have effective conversations about issues affecting our country" (62%). But the really exciting part is how much these measures increased. While the first workshop had increased their confidence by 5% and hope by 14%, this session's increases were 18% and 17% respectively. |
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We also introduced a new way for people to engage with DOC, custom surveys. We want to take the pulse of organizations, to find out how well their cultures are equipped to weather the growing onslaught of polarization, and even whether they're already feeling the effects. And to complement this, you can now request a survey through our website, using the contact form. |
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We're so excited about the progress we're making in improving our offerings, and we're so glad to have you along for the ride! —Randy Lioz, DOC founder |
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Our workshop video is now available by request, if you weren't able to attend in person. You can let us know via the contact form, where you can also subscribe or request a survey. | | |
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Latest Media: Guest Post – Courtenay Budd Caramico on the Nature of Debate |
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In our very first guest post, Courtenay, a moderate, contemplates debates and the spirit of free inquiry with her dad, conservative Warren Budd. His experiences and career, starting with a college debate invite to communists, shed much-needed light on the distinction between opponents and enemies. | | |
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