Dialogue workflow practices to help your projects and organizations operate more effectively and efficiently.

1. Dialogic
Disciplines:
Requests &
Commitments
Requests and Commitments is About Efficiently Creating
Coordinated Action
Requests and commitments are conversations for coordinated action.
Commitments are a promise to a course of action and result AND a stand for a
new possibility.
In our projects, there are 1000’s of commitments made. How can we bring clarity and
effectiveness to our interactions?
“All
decisions
matter!”
Change Requires 1000’s of Requests and Commitments
Moneyball!…
how do we
improve our
‘000s of requests
and
commitments
average?!?
Impact #1: ALIGNMENT &
COORDINATION
Well managed requests and commitments drive four organizational impacts that contribute to HIGH PERFORMANCE
PROJECT TEAMS in 6 ways!
Impact #2: ACCOUNTABILITY &
RESPONSIBLITY
Impact #3: BREAKDOWNS
(more on last page)
Impact #4: BREAKTHROUGHS
 Powerful relationship to a commitment, beyond
agreement
o Yourself, others, circumstances, time
 It’s a commitment to own a decision, have it work…
whether you agree or not
o Success often has more to do with decision
ownership than quality of decision
Accountability An area for which one can be
counted on. Often written, clearly understood, &
agreed upon
Responsibility Commitment to overall success of
the whole, regardless of specific accountabilities
 A gap between what is expected and desired
 Situation that presents uncertainty, perplexity or
difficulty
 Events or circumstances inconsistent with
commitments
 Declared stoppage in the action
High performance project teams look for breakdowns and
intentionally cause stress and resolve quickly together
In high performance project teams, each person commits to
work towards alignment; encourage people to say when they’re
not
Opposite of BREAKDOWNS, a process to catalyze
performance beyond expectations
• Give-and-take process
• Keep pushing for greater and greater
commitments
• BHAGs
• All about possibilities
Leadership must calibrate when to push
for “stretch goals!”
Leadership must calibrate when to push for “stretch goals!”
Organization action is coordinated
around an hierarchy or network of
commitments
I’m starting to see how
these concepts come
together!
Orbit Consultingworks. All Rights Reserved.

2. Impact #5: AWARENESS
& ENGAGEMENT
Impact #6: AGILITY
Environment of constructive requests and
commitments requires everyone to:
 Pay attention
 Negotiate
 Be ready to contribute
In high performance project teams, the environment of
requests and commitments is not top-down, it’s a
network where there is no hierarchy
Sensemaking might be our biggest challenge. We’re
usually pretty good at the dive-and-catch.
Agility is the sum total of the described TEAM
disciplines and behaviors. It is the ability to:
 Sensemaking to anticipate and identify issues
 Responsive to take ownership
 Problem solving collaboratively to address
issues rapidly and correctly
Requests and Commitments in an Overall ManagementWorkflow
 What do you mean?
 Why does it matter in the
larger context?
 What should I do? You? Who
else should we talk to?
Prepare
Dialogue to Create
Shared Meaning (See
Dialogue 1-pager)
 Customer declares commitment
met or not
 Give and get feedback
 Recognize and celebrate
Request &
Commit
Shared Action
Planning
Execute
Plan,Do,
Check,Adjust
 More than heads down… keep
talking
o Monitor progress
o Discuss obstacles &
emerging opportunities
o Renegotiate as
circumstances change
Acknowledge
Success or Confront
(See Crucial Confrontation
1=pager)
 Construct request
 Make request
 Obtain commitment
 Conduct Follow-ups
Make the
Request
Construct a
Request
Conduct
Follow-Ups
Obtain
Commitment
 To whom?
 Exactly what?
 By when?
 Be clear and direct
 Ensure it’s heard
 Rationale
 Conditions of
satisfaction
 Responses
o Accept/Promise
o Decline
o Counter-Offer
o Contingent
Promise
o Promise to
Promise
 Resourcefulness
 Both Parties
Responsible
 Handle Breakdowns
(see next page)
 Put it in writing to
enhance clarity
 Acknowledge
Characteristics of Powerful Commitments
Public… reputation for competence and trustworthiness on the line; moral
obligation; increase quality of coordination since everyone knows the
intended action and can act accordingly; track progress publicly
Active… continuous communication between customer and performer to
clarify conditions of satisfaction and id any potential obstacles, particularly as
unforeseen contingencies arise; joint responsibility for conditions of
satisfaction; increases empathy; opportunity to voice concerns and
requirements; active = offers, counteroffers, commitments, refusals
Voluntary… performer is free to decline request; when not pressured, helps
allocate org resources best; agile approach allows team members to
volunteer for activities; not the ol’ head nod okey-doke
Explicit …clarifies performer, what he will do and for whom he will do it;
Committees, depts., task forces, or teams do not commit; Individual
responsibility
Motivated/mission-based… customer states rationale, performer
understands it, and accepts it as important; commitment is motivated; link to
overall company strategy… deeper comprehension
Bottom Line
Customer/Requestor
makes the request
Performer fulfills the
request
“Conditions of satisfaction”
"Unless commitment is made, there
are only promises and hopes... but
no plans."
Is it a reliable commitment? Reliable commitments induce others to depend upon it and adjust behavior accordingly.
Generates sufficient confidence in its execution so that customers base their own subsequent actions on its successful
completion
It’s just a basic
process flow/
checklist set of
steps to start!
Orbit Consultingworks. All Rights Reserved.

3. Breakdowns are a Natural Part of Making Requests and Commitments,
and Can Occur at Any Step
Orbit Consultingworks. All Rights Reserved.
NegotiateRequest
Commitment
(Choice)
Execute
Action
& Result
“Breakdown” request
• Unneeded
• Imprecise
“Breakdown” commitment
• Poorly understood
• Un-resolved
• Under-resourced
“Breakdown” outcome
• No action
• No result
• Wrong result
• Over time, budget, etc.
“Wicked” problem are more breakdown prone. Managing breakdowns is a critical project discipline.
Unaddressed Breakdowns (or Managed Breakthroughs) Affect
Team Moods Negatively and Positively
Avoid the Downward
Team Spiral
Access and managing team mood by understanding breakdowns… one a time
Our Team Mood Affects How We Think, Feel and Act –
Ultimately Our Behavior and Performance… High or Low?
Three Contributors to Breakdowns to Be Aware of
Mental Models
• Our filtered way of looking at the
world… interpretations, assumptions,
beliefs, principles…
• … you don’t even know you have
them!
• Underlies how we think, act, and feel
• Work on being aware and changing!
Learn How to
DIALOGUE
Effectively
Dialogue
Conditions
Dialogue
Practices
 Goals
 Common Language
Systems
 Safety
 Mental Models
 Respecting
 Suspending
 Listening
 Speaking
 Acting
Managing breakdowns is the
BIG A-HA!
WOW! Got it.
Requests and
commitments.
Breakdowns.
Accountability and
responsiveness.
Breakthroughs…
And how to access
my team moods…
and create high
performance!What a
powerful way to
lead and manage!