Dialogue, critique and creativity: some questions for the profession

Imagine the scene. You are sitting by a slipway on a sunny summers afternoon where a centre is running canoe rafting sessions for primary aged school children. There are three groups with three instructors and you can’t help eavesdropping. By the end of the afternoon three comments are stuck in your head. Instructor A: ‘That’s good, I have never thought of doing that before.’ Instructor B: ‘I know that’s really heavy. So let’s take a rest for a minute.’ Instructor C: (to the group) ‘Andy doesn’t have ideas, does he.’ Helper: ‘Oh, he’s a bit ‘special’. Is he?’ (laughs from group). Small splinters of dialogue. How we speak is important and each exchange illustrates one facet of why. Such exchanges are crucial to helping our clients develop through what we do