The Three Ds

The Three D's: Debate, Discuss, Deliberate


Debate
  1. Focus on the exploration of two different positions
  2. Search for weaknesses in the other’s position
  3. Defend your position
  4. Prioritize the solution to the problem over the relationship between the debaters
  5. Invest wholeheartedly in your beliefs
  6. Listen closely to find flaws and counter arguments
  7. Seek to persuade others to accept your viewpoint
  8. Present your best thinking
  9. Focus on the decision that needs to be made
  10. Set the goal of arriving at a clear winner and loser
Discussion
  1. Exchange opinions
  2. Listen to others to deepen understanding
  3. Maintain an open-mind
  4. Be willing to admit error
  5. Search for basic agreements
  6. Maintain a cordial exchange of ideas
  7. Avoid alienating or offending other participants
  8. Accept the views of others without questioning or confrontation
  9. Recognize that the topic may change over the course of the discussion
  10. Set the goal as strengthening interpersonal relationships

Deliberative Dialogue
  1. Work together toward common understanding of an issue or problem
  2. Search for the value in the views of others
  3. Enlarge—and possibly change—your understanding of the issue under consideration
  4. Acknowledge that many people have pieces of the answer and that together participants can develop a workable solution
  5. Suspend your beliefs as you seek to understand the positions of others
  6. Listen to understand the priorities and values of others
  7. Reevaluate your own assumptions as well as the assumptions of others
  8. Share your best thinking on the issue, but recognize the dialogue will improve it
  9. Focus on weighing the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches
  10. Set the goal of finding common ground for action