Experience Stimulating Conversations?

Rich conversations tickle the mind and challenge us to think in new ways.  Questions prime the well of ideas within the mind. Sharing insights from our knowledge and experience builds on others' contributions, and the bigger picture takes shape. People start considering solutions to a problem differently than when they first joined us.  Or, all of us learn more about why a person thinks as s/he does. 

Challenging exchanges of ideas might be just about life, philosophical in nature, show concern for worldwide issues or concerning latest science and technological innovations. Or it may be meeting new people and listening to what makes them tick.  Have you been engaged in a conversation lately that you hated to end because it was so fascinating?  Stimulation does not come by talking about the weather.

One of the reasons I love collaborating with Dr. Ellen Weber is that conversations we have about ideas keep me thinking and researching for hours.  Ellen has an uncanny ability to turn ideas upside down.  I suggested  that we extend our conversations to more people since they were so stimulating.  She caught that idea and invited many new people to her home.  She began to blog and she went so far as to join Twitter.  When I realized how much she seemed driven to exchange ideas with others, I tried my hand at it.  Nothing can turn me back since I experience the creativity and dopamine that accompanies it.

Social Media Turned the Tide of Conversation - Social media is changing the way we interact with others.  Many folks say they miss the engagement of personal conversation if they mostly engage others online. As a result it's not surprising for them to take a laptop to a cafe so they have an arena for personal and online conversations.  Our whole family is engaged in Facebook for instance and it's full of the latest photos and descriptions of events.  Business leaders find it an easy form to share their work and market their products.  Some can be both addicted to and distracted by these new community worlds.  But people enjoy these new worlds because they are engaging in challenging and powerful interactions with others.

MITA two-footed questions for starters Ellen invented the notion of a two-footed question to help people escape the kind of boring questions that are usually asked.  For instance, if you were to ask, "When it comes to storage, why is less more," the question does not connect to you personally because it is only about the topic.  It concentrates only on knowledge.

Not too surprisingly, if the second foot is inserted, the one that directly connects to you, all of a sudden your ideas are solicited and welcomed.  The question would now be: "When it comes to storage, why can less help you gain more and what difference does that make to you?"  The question now draws from intellect and experience.  You are emotionally attached to your experiences and more easily challenged.

Right and left brain

Ellen Weber notes that two-footed questions work best when you follow the human brain’s natural proclivity to resolve puzzles. The opposite is to stress over problems, and research shows that stressed brains rely more on habits that lock you into ruts, rather than progress with winning innovations.

The right brain leaps to solve puzzles and challenges since it is primed through curiosity.  On the other hand there are a few people who like to show off their knowledge and they are driven by trivia questions and TV shows such as, "Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?"  The left brain penetrates the knowledge.  The combination of both the right and left brain is the powerhouse available for you to test.

How might you engage in new conversations by asking two-footed questions at your dinner table tonight?  One might be, "How did you use your right and left brain today at work or school?"  Thoughts?