Four Ways of Listening

Next week I’m attending the Authentic Leadership in Action regional intensive hosted by the Shambhala Institute. One of the speakers, Otto Scharmer, outlines four ways of listening. I read Scharmer’s take on listening in Adam Kahane’s book “Solving Tough Problems”.

Scharmer’s four ways of listening:

1. downloading, or “listening from within our own story”. In downloading, we start with our own perception and understanding, and only listen for what confirms what we already believe. We listen for evidence of our own belief system.

2. debating, or “listening from the outside”. In debating, we exchange information from an objective perspective, rather than being a part of the exchange.

3. reflective dialogue. In reflective dialogue, our listening is starting to include a personal engagement. We listen to ourselves, and we listen to others, listening “from the inside”.

4. generative dialogue. In generative dialogue, we listen from within the whole – ourselves, others, and the system we create together.

As Kahane describes Scharmer’s listening taxonomy, downloading and debating are “insufficient to create new social realities”. But when we can listen from within ourselves, open up to others, and perceive from within the system, then new realities can emerge.