Rules of The Dialogue Game®

This section includes the following:

Rules of the game

How to play

Rules of the game

 1. It's a "time out"

Time to relax, reflect, rejuvenate

2. No right or wrong answers

Except for matters of fact

3. We make no decisions

We seek understanding, not products

4. You may "pass"

We hope you choose to speak

5. Think in new ways

You may change your mind

6. Ask interesting questions

Challenge the group to think more clearly, thoroughly, and deeply

7. Maximize Cohesion

Integrate all ideas and include all participants

8. Honor Diversity

Diversity of subjects, perspectives, voices

9. Treat each other as colleagues

Cultivate honesty

Demonstrate respect, based upon Equality

 10. The Goal: Everyone Wins ! ! !

Everyone enjoys the game

Everyone becomes more intelligent

©1997 Socratic Seminars West. All rights reserved

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How to use the rules

The rules are designed to do two things:

1) Give enough of an idea about the game that anyone can begin to play it

2) Provide a way that a group can continue to deepen its understanding and satisfaction with dialogue.

This is possible because The Dialogue Game always concludes with a period of reflection called theCritique.. In the Critique , we stop talking about the ideas in the text we are exploring, and begin to talk about how the game went.

In examining how the game went, we can consider what we did well together, and where we have room for improvement. By using theRules as the basis for this examination, we change our understanding of theRules as we continue to play.

Thus, theRules will mean something different to a group of experienced players than to a group of novices. And how we understand them together is more important than the words themselves.

You could say that an important part of The Dialogue Game is talking about theRules of the game. The better we understand theRules together, the better we enjoy the game, and the more intelligent everyone becomes.