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Dialogue: The Art Of Thinking Together
William Isaacs Manufacturer: Currency ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0385479999 Release Date: 1999-09-14 |
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Modern conversation is a lot like nuclear physics, argues William Isaacs. Lots of atoms zoom around, many of which just rush past each other. But others collide, creating friction. Even if our atomic conversations don't turn contentious, they often just serve to establish each participant's place in the cosmos. One guy shares a statistic he's privy to, another shares another fact, and on and on. Each person fires off a tidbit, pauses to reload while someone else talks, then fires off another. In Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together, Isaacs explains how we can do better than that.Isaacs, who is Director of the Dialogue Project at MIT and a consultant to major corporations, including AT&T and Intel, believes that corporate, political, and personal communication can be a process of thinking together--as opposed to thinking alone, and then trying to convince others of our positions by refusing to consider other opinions, withholding information, and ultimately getting angry and defensive. This is not pie-in-the-sky, let's-all-hold-hands-and-sing stuff. He offers concrete ideas for both listening and speaking; for avoiding the forces that undermine meaningful conversation; for changing the physical setting of the dialogue to change its quality. The outcome, he says, can be quite different from the traditional winner-loser structure of arguments and debates. Businesses can make more reasoned decisions, and thus earn more money. Governments can create peaceful resolutions to seemingly intractable problems. (For example, Isaacs cites secret conversations between Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk in South Africa, which occurred over a number of years, while Mandela was still under arrest and led to a new framework for their country.) And, although this is a book primarily geared toward managers, even married couples can learn a few new ways to communicate. --Lou Schuler
Customer Reviews:
A 21st Century Management Tool.......2007-07-08
Dialogue: the art of thinking together.......2006-11-11
Dialogue - Communications alternative.......2006-08-31
A Dialogical Dissection.......2003-06-06
Isaacsý describes the four ýpathologiesý of thought as abstraction, idolatry, certainty, and violence. When we engage in abstraction we separate the parts from the whole and treat them as if they are separate when, in fact, wholeness (interconnectivity and interrelatedness) is a condition of the parts. Idolatry is a problem ýof memoryý. It is the acceptance of ýthe false gods or images that we unquestionable accept to guide us in the way we operate, and which blind us to other possibilitiesý. (p.59) Our certainties limit our capacity to think and reflect. We canýt learn when we are certain. Violence refers to our tendency to assert and defend our certainties, our views of the world, at the expense of the thoughts of others. ýThought that imposes or defends is violent. It applies forces to try to make someone different.ý (p.68) What is most interesting about Isaacsý pathologies is that they call into question those habits and ways of thinking that we generally consider to be necessary for self-actualization. Perhaps too many of us have come to be consumed by these pathologies. Perhaps, when people have to work together to resolve dilemmas, these pathologies are at once magnified and amplified creating a context in which truths are subverted and humane change is ultimately averted.
The challenge for individuals and groups is less to dispense with these pathologies than it is to recognize and control them. Here, dialogue serves a necessary social function. The problem is that, for whatever reason, dialogue (ýa conversation with a center, not sidesý, p.19) as a theory is not widely understood, and as a practice is not common to most relationships, public or private. For each pathology of thought Isaacs describes a countervailing principle of dialogue ý participation, unfolding, awareness, and coherence. Dialogue taps these principles as critical resources. They are no less necessary to self-actualization than our pathologies, but perhaps because individualism pervades the western consciousness, they are less apparent. Participation refers to the notion that we are a part of the world and the world is a part of us. Unfolding is ýthe gradual process of learning to tell the truthý. (p.63) Awareness is the ability to suspend our certainty. Coherence is the process of seeing oneself in others and others in oneself. We participate when we listen, we unfold through voicing, we become aware by suspending our certainty, and we seek coherence through respect. To each of these principles and practices, Isaacs devotes an entire chapter all written, it would seem, to invite reflection and reading aloud to close friends or colleagues.
So how do we turn all these nourishing ideas into food for change? We develop our ability to understand what is happening as it is happening (our ýpredictive intuitioný). We seek new patterns of action by speaking about what we know while inquiring into what we donýt know (balancing advocacy with inquiry). We learn to identify and discuss the contradictory forces (ýstructural trapsý), which inhibit our ability to seek and act on shared realities. We learn to develop and support cultures that produce energy, possibility, and safety. (I believe that Isaacs uses the term ýcontainerý as a synonym for culture.) Central to the development of such a container are the practices of listening, voicing, suspending, and respecting. In this environment, leaders can help groups navigate through the fields of conversation (there are four) to achieve reflective, if not generative dialogue. Isaacsý description of the four fields of dialogue represents a useful model for anyone interested in analyzing and redirecting their professional or personal conversations. He argues for the importance of dialogue in a democracy and in our organizations (we cannot adapt and change without an open system approach to communication), and he provides practical advice and strategies for cultivating dialogue in our society, and within an organization.
This is a book for anyone seeking personal growth and for any citizen or employee who believes that the quest for a more humane world can be achieved through our collective intelligence, or perhaps more significantly, for anyone who needs to see the potential of authentic communication.
Insightful!.......2001-10-12
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Dialogue: The Art Of Thinking Together
William Isaacs Manufacturer: Currency 1999 ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000MCNLI4 |
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Investment Intelligence from Insider Trading
H. Nejat Seyhun Manufacturer: The MIT Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0262194112 |
Book Description
The term insider trading refers to the stock transactions of the officers, directors, and large shareholders of a firm. Many investors believe that corporate insiders, informed about their firms' prospects, buy and sell their own firm's stock at favorable times, reaping significant profits. Given the extra costs and risks of an active trading strategy, the key question for stock market investors is whether the publicly available insider-trading information can help them to outperform a simple passive index fund.Customer Reviews:
Concise, efficient.......2007-04-13
Useful Information, but repetitive writing.......2006-07-11
Well researched, informative but too academic and long.......2005-02-05
A little too academic for my tastes.......2004-07-16
Insightful!.......2001-03-29
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The Commitments of Traders Bible: How To Profit from Insider Market Intelligence (Wiley Trading)
Stephen Briese Manufacturer: Wiley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0470178426 |
Book Description
The foremost analyst of Commitments of Traders data, Steve Briese describes in his new book exactly how he uses the data to analyze market movements and identify turning points in the futures market. Under the rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, large positions must be reported by different categories of traders. Typically, the CoT data represents 70-90 percent of market activity in any particular futures markets. By carefully analyzing the positions of large traders, Briese shows readers how to understand exactly who is buying, who is selling, and who is standing on the sidelines. Armed with this knowledge, a trader or analyst can much more easily identify when market sentiment is changing and – in so doing – spot big profit opportunities. The book describes exactly how CoT works and how it has been traditionally used and misused. Briese discusses the predictive power of CoT data – both from his own experience and in light of studies done by academics. Most importantly, Briese provides readers with his own hard-won insights about CoT patterns in different markets and how each market typically has its own idiosyncrasies. He includes a large appendix that will allow traders to compare contemporary CoT charts with historic CoT charts and thereby gain a sense of where the market might be headed.
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Investment Intelligence from Insider Trading
H. Nejat Seyhun Manufacturer: The MIT Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OQIOOE |
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Investment Intelligence from Insider Trading (Cloth)
HN Seyhun Manufacturer: The MIT Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OQMKVM |
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Pass Key to the LSAT (Barron's Pass Key to the Lsat)
Jerry Bobrow Ph.D. Manufacturer: Barron''s Educational Series ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0764124145 |
Book Description
This preparation aid for the Law School Admission Test is a shorter, more compact version of Barron's recently updated large manual, How to Prepare for the LSAT, 11th Edition. The Pass Key version presents three full-length model tests with all questions answered and explained, plus a helpful analysis of the test's four question types: reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, logical reasoning, and writing sample. Both the analytical reasoning and essay-writing sections have been revised and updated in this edition to reflect the latest LSATs.Customer Reviews:
not a good predictor of actual score.......2005-06-07
Decent studying tips.......2005-06-07
Great Deal.......2004-12-17
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Barron's Pass Key to the Lsat: Law School Admission Test (Barron's Pass Key to the Lsat)
Jerry Bobrow , William A. Covino , David A. Kay , Daniel C. Spencer , and Merritt L. Weisinger Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0764104683 |
Customer Reviews:
Execellent study tips.......2005-06-18
A good prep book.......2002-03-21
Don't Buy This Book.......2000-09-06
not a stand-alone, but a helpful guide.......2000-04-30
compact, consice, coherent, and cheap.......1999-11-23
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Census of the United States: Tenth Decennial Census, 1880: Report on Cotton Production in the United States; Also Embracing Agricultural and Physic
United States Manufacturer: Norman Ross Publishing, Inc. ProductGroup: Book Binding: Library Binding ASIN: 0883544288 |
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Molecules and Minds: Biology and the Social Order
Steven Rose Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0471932590 |
Book Description
Are there any limits to what science can ever know, and how far it can be used to change the world, or is science limited by matters of ideology, politics and power? Does the new biology tell us that we are the prisoners of our genes or does our biology make us free? Is a neutral science being misused for military purposes and the abuse of animal rights, or are the new arms race in genetic engineering and the millions of laboratory animals killed each year the inevitable consequences of a science done not' for the people' but to meet the needs of the military, of profit, and of a reductionist scientific imperialism? How should conditions like depression, anxiety and schizophrenia be explainedas products of disordered biochemistry, or of a disordering society? In this set of essays, the author sets out to ask and to answer these questions. Drawing on his own experience as a researcher working at the interface between biology and psychology studying the cellular mechanisms involved in learning and the storage of memory he shows how it may be possible to achieve a unified, non-reductionist science which transcends the sterile old dichotomies of biology and culture, nature and nurture, gene and environment, mind and brain. This book raises important questions about the methods, uses and purposes of science, especially the new theories and techniques of biology after the DNA revolution. Written in clear and non-technical language, the essays in Molecules and Minds will be of interest to students of biology, psychology and philosophy, or indeed to anyone concerned with understanding what the biological revolution of the last 25 years can tell us about the past, present and future of the human condition.
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Polymer Symposia. Number 70. Polymers with Unusual Properties.
C.W. ( Editor ) Allen Manufacturer: Interscience Publishers. ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000KEPSAS |
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Polymers With Unusual Properties (Polymer symposia)
Allen Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0471881724 |
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The Feynman Integral and Feynman's Operational Calculus (Oxford Mathematical Monographs)
Gerald W. Johnson , and Michel L. Lapidus Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 0198515723 |
Book Description
This book provides the most comprehensive mathematical treatment to date of the Feynman path integral and Feynman's operational calculus. It is accessible to mathematicians, mathematical physicists and theoretical physicists. Including new results and much material previously only available in the research literature, this book discusses both the mathematics and physics background that motivate the study of the Feynman path integral and Feynman's operational calculus, and also provides more detailed proofs of the central results.Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Volume!.......2001-02-10
The book contains several different approaches to the Feynman integral and discusses in some detail relationships between these approaches. The exposition is very clear and detailed and the proofs of results in the text are detailed and extremely well written. Also, the text contains many items that have only appeared in the research literature. Some of these results are quite new.
Also contained in this text is a thorough discussion of Feynman's operational calculus, again from more than one point of view. Many of the results contained here have only appeared previously in the research literature and again some are quite recent. This part of the book is also very well and clearly written.
There are also many remarks and examples dealing with the applicability of the formalism to physical situations.
This is a great read for anyone wanting to further there knowledge about these subjects.
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Generalized Dyson Series, Generalized Feynman's Diagrams, the Feynman Integral, and Feynman's Operational Calculus (Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society)
Gerald W. Johnson Manufacturer: Amer Mathematical Society ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0821824139 |
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Feynman Integral and Feynman's Operational Calculus, by Johnson
Gerald W./ Lapidus, Michel L. Johnson Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OLAPR8 |
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The Feynman Integral and Feynmanandapos;s Operational Calculus
Michel L. Lapidus Gerald W. Johnson Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OLAH5I |
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A Degree of Mastery: A Journey through Book Arts Apprenticeship
Annie Tremmel Wilcox Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0140291938 Release Date: 2000-07-03 |
Book Description
In this extraordinary memoir, certain to captivate anyone who's ever appreciated the feel of a good book, Annie Tremmel Wilcox deftly explores the artistry, traditions, and precise techniques of book making and restoration. Using excerpts from her diaries, newspaper articles, exhibit notices, and correspondence, Wilcox passionately recounts her experiences learning the art of making and preserving books as the first female apprentice to the renowned book binder and conservator William Anthony. At once rendering a gorgeous, moving scrapbook of her tutelage under this consummate craftsman, and expertly demystifing the fascinating technical processes of this centuries-old art form, A Degree of Mastery is a singular achievement certain to enchant book lovers and crafts- people alike.Customer Reviews:
Pleasant, but very light.......2005-02-26
accessible, delicate, honest.......2003-12-24
Illuminations.......2002-07-30
Literal or spiritual - take your pick.......2001-09-10
The book is deceptively short. Looks like a quick read, but was so meaty and detailed, I found myself reading it for several weeks in order to digest all the material carefully.
If your taste runs to the obscure, the "sleeper," I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
A wonderful autobiography!.......2001-03-21
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A Degree of Mastery : A Journey through Book Arts Apprenticeship.
Annie Tremmel. Wilcox Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OJ3KDQ |
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