1.2.2 Better Systems Engineering with Dialogue

Managing knowledge involves having the ability to establish intersubjectivity between a group of individuals. This paper describes two case studies where an advanced and highly structured dialogue is used as the key instrument for generating new ideas, and for establishing a common understanding of a new subject. Together with Prof. Bo Goranzon at the Department of Skill and Technology at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Combitech Systems AB spent four years developing Dialogue Seminar method. After a period of thorough testing at Combitech Systems, the method has been in use at a number of other development organisations. The method is based on a view of knowledge developed by philosophers such as Aristotle, Descartes, Diderot and Wittgenstein, where tacit knowledge—or experience-based knowledge—is central. The purpose of the concept is to give a wider understanding of knowledge, and the basic procedure involves training people to change perspective in order to stimulate new thinking. The three different cases clearly demonstrate that the Dialogue Seminar method can be successful in different situations, for example, gathering experience from a completed project, establishing a common language in a newly formed team or helping to specify a new product.