Bohm Dialogue

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Observe assumptions and automatic communication patterns in a whole group without driving toward decisions or consensus.

Use it when: Use when an ongoing group or team repeatedly falls into defensive debate patterns, avoids core tensions, or needs to examine shared assumptions over time.

Skip it when: Skip when the group faces an immediate crisis needing fast decisions, has under 90 minutes, or expects an action plan or entertainment.

Group arrangement: Single undivided circle; no pairs, subgroups, or tables.

Timing: 90 minutes is the minimum viable session length from the source; 120 minutes is recommended when schedules allow.

Materials and tools

• Chairs arranged in a single open circle (one per person)
• Printed ground rules cards (optional, one per person)
• Silent timer or wristwatch for the facilitator

Before participants arrive

1. Place chairs in a single circle where every person has an unobstructed line of sight to everyone else.
2. Remove all tables, flip charts, projection screens, and whiteboards to avoid signaling typical task-meeting expectations.
3. Place a printed ground rules card on each chair if using them.
4. Ensure the room is private and will remain uninterrupted for the entire duration.

Say this to open

Welcome. This session is different from a normal meeting or workshop. We have no agenda, no decisions to make, and no problem to solve. Our aim is to observe how thought operates in this room as we talk together. Please speak when you feel moved to speak, not to fill silence. Listen without planning your reply. When a strong reaction rises, suspend it and get curious about it rather than defending it. Address your words to the center of the circle rather than back and forth between two people. Silence is not empty space; it is where thinking happens. My role as facilitator is to sit in the circle with you, speak rarely, and step back as the group finds its own rhythm.

How to run it

1. Introduce purpose and ground rules 10 minutes

   Read the opening script while seated in the circle. State the six core ground rules: speak when moved, listen without planning replies, suspend assumptions, release the need to agree or disagree, allow silence, and speak to the center of the room. Clarify that the facilitator participates and will not manage turns or drive outcomes. Invite brief questions purely on the operational rules, not on discussion content.

2. Seed the dialogue 5 minutes

   Offer one neutral, broad opening invitation to the room without adding commentary or explanation. Use: 'What is on your mind right now as you sit here?' Stop talking immediately. Allow silence to settle across the room. Do not intervene or explain the question, even if the silence lasts several minutes.

3. Engage in open dialogue 60 minutes

   Allow participants to speak when moved. Intervene only when necessary to protect the container: if two people enter a ping-pong debate, ask what others are hearing; if problem-solving begins, ask the group to stay with understanding rather than fixing; if an anecdote drags out, ask what thought lies underneath the story. State interventions as neutral observations, for example: 'I notice we have divided into two positions. What does it look like to hold both without choosing?' Remain silent otherwise.

4. Reflect on group and personal thinking 15 minutes

   Call time on the open dialogue and transition: 'We have 15 minutes left. Let us reflect on what we noticed about our thinking.' Invite participants to speak to the debrief questions if they choose. Keep contributions voluntary and allow periods of quiet between speakers. Close by thanking the group and noting that no formal consensus or summary is required.

Debrief questions

• What did you notice about your own automatic reactions or assumptions while others were speaking?
• Where did the flow of conversation slow down, shift, or become stuck?
• What was it like to sit with extended silence without rushing to resolve it?

Finished output: A completed group dialogue session with verbal reflective observations; no written action items, votes, or summary reports are produced.

Remote

Use a gallery video layout so all faces are visible simultaneously. Keep cameras on. Ask participants to leave microphones unmuted if environmental background noise allows, so room presence is felt. Explain in advance that silence on video calls feels intense and must be held without panic. Do not use breakout rooms, digital whiteboards, or chat channels during the dialogue.

Hybrid

Bohm Dialogue requires equal presence and shared attention that hybrid setups disrupt. In-person participants inevitably miss remote facial cues and side-channel audio. Run separate all-remote or all-in-person circles rather than mixing participants in a hybrid room.

Access and participation choices

• Speaking is entirely voluntary; participants may remain silent for the entire session while listening and observing their thoughts.
• Chairs should support varied physical comfort needs; participants may adjust their posture or stand quietly at their seat without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

An extended silence lasts two or three minutes and participants look anxious or expectant.

Resist the urge to rescue the group. Maintain relaxed posture and steady eye contact across the circle to show that silence is safe and expected.

Two participants begin debating back and forth, turning the rest of the room into passive spectators.

Speak to the center of the circle: 'I notice this has become an exchange between two people. What is everyone else noticing right now?'

Terms used here

• Suspension: Holding one's opinions, assumptions, and emotional reactions in front of awareness to examine them instead of immediately acting on them.
• Proprioception of thought: David Bohm's term for self-awareness of the thinking process while it occurs, noticing how thought generates feelings and reactions.