Transformative Listening
Discovering Four Fields of Conversation
C. Otto Scharmer
Presencing Institute, MIT
A Core Question of our time is:
How can we overcome Divisions?
Shifting our mode of listening can be LIFE-CHANGING,
Our Relationships
Our World
because transforming our listening changes the experience of:
Ourselves
There are three Types of Conversations
that have incredibly distinct Ways of Listening:
One Dimensional (1D) TALK is shaped by Self-Affirmative Listening.
1D Listening focuses on what we already know.
1D Listening reaffirms and protects Our Known World.
(1D = One Dimensional)
TALK
1D Conversations
Two Dimensional (2D) DEBATE is shaped by Factual Listening.
2D Listening shifts focus to what is new to us.
2D Listening aims to engage with our Unknown World*.
(2D = Two Dimensional)
DEBATE
2D Conversations
(*This can be in destructive or constructive ways.)
Known
World
Unknown
World
Everything
I know
The Focus
of my Listening
Three Dimensional (3D) DIALOGUE is shaped by Empathic Listening.
3D Listening shifts focus to another person’s experience.
(3D = Three Dimensional)
DIALOGUE
3D Conversations
Our
World
Another´s
World
3D Listening explores and validates Another's World.
This is significant, because it shows that
Different Ways of Listening have the power to:
Transform our Perception of the world.
In 1D Listening we are the center of the world.
We experience predominantly through one perspective,*
but our World can grow small and flat.
(*which can be an important tool for our self-understanding)
In 2D Listening we become a part of the world.
We experience it through two or more perspectives*.
(*which is a key for our critical understanding of complex issues)
In 3D Listening other people become real.
We experience the world through their eyes*.
Our World grows larger and multilayered.
(*which is a key tool for our empathic understanding of other people)
"The unexpected action of deep listening
can create a space of transformation."
Martin Luther King Jr.
