The OBREAU Tripod: A Tool for Finding Gold

Among the Rubble

Presented byEric K. Kaufman, Virginia Tech

Don Dunoon, New Futures

What’s Your View of Politics?

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Objectives for this Session• Recognize default patterns of interaction that can derail

efforts toward shared leadership and productive conversations on tough issues;

• Be able to identify and describe the three practices associated with the OBREAU Tripod: Working from Observation, Attributing Reasonableness, and Speaking with Authenticity;

• Highlight opportunities for application of the OBREAU Tripod in leadership education; and

• Apply the OBREAU Tripod in connection with a personal leadership challenge.

Connecting with Don Dunoon

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The OBREAU Tripod: Enabling challenging conversations

• Observation• Reasonableness• Authenticity

Three practices to support challenging conversations for groups and individuals

– on virtually any topic where there are differences of view

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The Tripod is an Antidote, Counterpoint to 3 Default Behaviors

Working from negative and untested assumptions about others

Responding as if “we know” what the issue is

Side-stepping or sugar-coating what needs to be talked about

Working from Observation

Noticing – as far as possible without immediately reacting and judging

Asking what is directly discernible – as distinct from inference and conclusion

Intention is to open up possibilities; give ourselves a stronger platform to speak from; e.g. “Here’s what I notice. What do you see?”

Attributing Reasonableness

Imagining what the issue might look like to those involved, allowing that they can be reasonable in this instance

Here the focus is below the waterline of the iceberg

The purpose is to develop possible interpretations to enable testing and exploration

Speaking with Authenticity

Contemplating what is true for you on this issue

Speaking to this while also connecting with observation, and holding open that others are acting reasonably

You can say pretty much whatever you like (including asking questions) providing it is:•True for you•Consistent with presuming reasonableness•Connected with observation

Benefits of using the Tripod• Helps get beyond routine, default behavior

patterns• Opens up new ways of seeing and framing issues

(through Observation)• Fosters practical empathy (through

Reasonableness)• Supports modeling of desired behaviors (through

Authenticity emphasis)• Aids in making headway with issues that can

otherwise seem intractable

Case: Yale Protests & Fallout10/27/15 – Email from Intercultural Affairs Council about Halloween

costumes10/30/15 – Email response from Erika Christakis, associate master of

Silliman College11/05/15 – Student protestor confronts Nicholas Christakis,

demanding resignation11/17/15 – University president and dean of college email

reaffirmation of support for Christakises12/04/15 - Erika resigns from her teaching role & Nicholas

announces a sabbatical for Spring 201605/24/16 - Nicholas and Erika resign from their roles with Silliman

College to “pursue academic work full time”

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Time Remaining:

Jot notes about the Yale case, organizing them by each leg of the Tripod:•Observation,•Reasonableness•Authenticity

Imagine the issue or challenge as an iceberg.Observation focuses on what’s more explicit about the issue, what can be seen directly, what’s above the waterline.

Imagining what could be “going on” for stakeholders, presuming they are reasonable, in 4 dimensions: their possible hidden / unspoken assumptions, interests, feelings, and knowledge regarding this issue

What’s Your Challenge?

• Unreasonable professor?• Increased demands at work?• Child demanding increased freedom?• Changes to program budget/funding model?• Organization leaders refusing responsibility?• Poor attendance record of colleague/student?• Demographic discrimination?• Unsatisfactory political candidates?

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Share your issue or challenge, holding all three legs of the Tripod.

Coach your partner on opportunities to improve Observation and Reasonableness.

Time Remaining:

Benefits of the Tripod?

• Helps get beyond routine, default behavior patterns• Opens up new ways of seeing and framing issues

(through Observation)• Fosters practical empathy (through

Reasonableness)• Supports modeling of desired behaviors (through

Authenticity emphasis)• Aids in making headway with issues that can

otherwise seem intractable

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Desired College Outcomes (Hart Research Associates, 2015)

“Nearly all employers (96%) agree that, regardless of their chosen field of study, all students should have experiences in college that teach them how to solve problems with people whose views are different from their own.”

“Indeed, employers nearly universally agree that to achieve success at their companies, a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex programs is more important than his or her undergraduate major.”

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How Will You Use the OBREAU Tripod?

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Do you want discussion to be Vanilla or Neapolitan?

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What Questions Remain?

Eric K. KaufmanEKK@VT.Edu

www.DonDunoon.com

OBREAU Tripod content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. See www.dondunoon.com

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