explore · Communication, Systems Thinking, Reflection · 90–120 min · 15-40 people · low energy
Bohm Dialogue
Twenty to forty people sit in a single circle and talk for about two hours with no agenda, no decision to reach and no leader. The discipline is suspension: noticing your reactions and assumptions, and letting them be seen by yourself and the group rather than acting on them or hiding them. One or two experienced facilitators help at first and then step back to be ordinary participants.
When to use Bohm Dialogue
Use on a longer retreat when a leadership group keeps talking past each other and needs to see how its own thinking works, not solve a specific problem.
What it solves
Leadership teams debate positions so quickly that nobody notices the assumptions driving the disagreement.
How to run Bohm Dialogue, step by step
- Seat everyone in one circle facing each other. Agree the length of the session and who will call time (5 min).
- The facilitator explains suspension, the absence of an agenda, and that no decision is expected (10 min).
- Begin with a period of silence, then let anyone speak to whatever is on their mind (5 min).
- Let the conversation run. The facilitator occasionally points out a sticking point the group seems caught in, then steps back (60-90 min).
- Call time at the agreed moment, even mid-thought (1 min).
- Optional brief check-out: one sentence each on what they noticed in themselves (10 min).
Materials needed
- A room with one circle of chairs
- Nothing else
Facilitator tips
- One session is a taste. The method was designed for regular meetings over time.
- Expect frustration in the early sessions. Bohm saw it as material to explore, not failure.
- Facilitators should aim to make themselves unnecessary as fast as possible.
Common pitfalls
- Someone tries to steer to a decision and the group falls back into a meeting.
- The circle is too small, so it becomes a personal or family-style conversation instead of a view of group thinking.
What it produces
No formal output by design. Over sessions, the group gets better at noticing its own patterns of thought.
Origin
Proposed by physicist David Bohm with Donald Factor and Peter Garrett in 'Dialogue: A Proposal' (1991). — source
Build a session around Bohm Dialogue
METODIC places Bohm Dialogue inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.