Image: Gro HR Consulting

Politics in modern era has reached its peak. The test of democracy has gotten to it elastic limits where certain qualities must be embraced. The idea of “let’s disagree to agree” can no longer do the bidding for 21st century democracy. Hence, the primary of issue of debate has outlived its importance. However, in the exodus of time and space, dialogue has become an important character of this 21st century democracy. 

Quite recently, Ghana’s parliament failed to reach a consensus on the government economic and planning policy for the 2022 year. Both Majority and Minority Members of Parliament held onto static judgements on the budget policy. Each has persuasively debated on why their standpoint is the most beneficial to the citizens of the country. And at this material moment, the citizens are likely to side with the best debaters which doesn’t necessarily mean that they are on the path of prosperity. This has brought a sharp focus to the need of dialogue as championed by Socratics during his days.

Sira Abenoza gave a speech on “Why Socratic dialogue should become our business card” at the TEDx ESADE on 16th July 2016. She emphasize on the need for a dialogue in any given situation, looking at the people involved and the world will become a better place. Merging philosophy into business to come out with this idea of Socratic dialogue to enhance business dealings with and amongst the various stakeholders so as to understanding the nature and feelings of the other. Dialogue enhances the people to understand what the opponent or the third party is saying. 

Contrary, dialogue is not the same as debating. She has identified the way politicians of today used debate in their dealings instead of using dialogue. Dialogue enhance understanding and sharing of ideas between and amongst differing groups. Dialogue is simple looking at the people in front of us and what is it that they are talking about without speaking. Understanding the nature of the people and feelings of the people who aren’t speaking yet are heard in the managers’ office or boardroom meetings. This is how decision makers understand stakeholders without their presence.

Dialogue is also very important in communicating with audiences. For instance as a public speaker or marketer, there is the need to understand the feelings and nature of the audiences in which you are communicating to. Knowing the right keys to hit depends on the proper dialogue established between the communicator and the audience in which he’s communicating to. A marketer must also understand what the client is saying instead of trying to win them. Understanding this process of dialogue makes it easier for the client to be understood and appreciated rather than been won over. Dialogue must be used to quash the Zero-Sum game.

Again, dialogue unearth the locked up knowledge embedded deep inside every individual. For instance, individually, we all have a great knowledge inside us but we need a certain trigger to reveal it. And this trigger is dialogue. Even though debate can be said to be another trigger, however debates can as well coiled the potential back into where it has been locked inside us, when the right trigger isn’t pulled. But dialogue, which in its nature, is very calm and revealing, has the potency to unlock this knowledge fully without any recourse to threat or aggression. 

Further, most knowledgeable people in Ghana, for instance, has often refused to share a platform with people who are eager to debate rather than dialogue. The media has plague itself with people who are trained to debate rather than dialogue for the most inner knowledge that are embedded inside us for development. This is one of the reason why most knowledgeable people, especially the academia and professionals shy away from public discourses in Ghana to protect their image. These group of people prefers dialogue to debates; yet the Ghana media space prefers debates to dialogue.

Also, dialogue is very important in our contemporary dispensation because the tendency to judge people is very high. Before a person of great knowledge has finished speaking, the public or other persons has already proffered judgement into the matter. They often present most of their comment as reactionary and hence comes in more as a threat than a compliment. A threat has the potency to thwart dialogue in the process while as a compliment enhances and improves the tendency to improve the dialogue. Dialogues must be encouraged to help people unravel the deep knowledge that has been acquired over the years rather than judging them before the whole speech is done with. 

For instances before Sir Sam Jonah, could finished his full speech on the return of the culture of silence in 2021, a lot of social commentators has already taken to the street of social media to castigate and vilified an uncompleted speech. Surprisingly, people who supposed to know better were seen in such act simple because their minds are always program for debates. This has prevented well-meaning citizens and others prominent persons to shy away from making constructive statements to help in the governance of the state.

Furthermore, dialogues present an opportunity to detail a whole information which first import might not be that good. However, dialogue gives the opportunity to present a detailed piece whose starting could be bad or offensive or misconstrued when the first part is taken out of the whole. For instance, a detailed dialogue with Former President John Mahama saw him explained his Do-or-die comment he made quite recently on his Thank You tour in the Ahafo Region of Ghana which was taken out of context by the political debate group whose interest lies extremely at both ends. The first impression of the statement gave a bad impression but the detailed dialogue has since laid rest to the issue. Nonetheless, persons with the debating mentality never appreciate a speech from its whole. They only pick statements, words and sentences out of a full paragraph.

Moreover, it is important to deal with silence as the first port of dialogue without going crazy. “Silence,” as the famous cliché goes, “is golden.” It is therefore not surprising that Abenoza has also identified it as the wild card to starting a dialogue. Dialogues are first initiated in the silence of the mind before it comes to light. The famous philosophers also cherished silence as the golden moments for their enterprise, hence it has been identified as the prologue to dialogue. Dialogues are conceived in the mind, manipulated in different ways to see the best way that is suitable and then birthed in clear communication. This helps in preventing the “Prisoners Dilemma” political game.

However, a lot of people are afraid to dialogue because they fear being criticize by others. Even though dialogue must happen between two people, some people are afraid to open up to dialogue because they don’t want to be criticized by the third person. This has become a great hindrance to great dialogues. If Socrates has feared being criticized—though he was—will the world have seen this great dialogues of him to even begin with? However, a lot of people are quick to judge in this cotemporary era because there are trained to debate. So the beginning of a dialogue which doesn’t favor his stance attracts the fiercest opposition because they are trying to trigger a debate. 

Dialogues are great conversations between two people. These are platforms that presents the best of ideas and learnable opportunities to enhance knowledge sharing. For instance people who engages in dialogue rather than debates have a higher chance of appreciating other people’s feelings and concerns. It enables them to put themselves in their shoes and felt what they felt. This is termed as empathy. Empathy is the greatest tool in the world; the world is built on empathy as empathy is built on dialogue. Dialogue has also been identified as a tool to reduce hurt and evil in the world. In effect, The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Bagbin, handling of the Parliamentary “Insubordination” by his First Deputy Speaker which happened in his absence has actually shown how he understood the importance of Dialogue as an integral tool of modern politics.

Dialogue has always presented a growth opportunity to individuals, businesses and corporations when incorporated into their activities. This has created a self-communication machinery where the opponent’s ideas and feelings are put into consideration in decision making and other areas. Dialogues has also open up the minds of people to criticism and threats yet is a great venture for development of the individual. Dialogue also curb the rate of judgement at which decisions are taken or made. Dialogues prevents zero sum games in the lives of its patrons because it enhances understanding rather than a win at all cost or coming out superior in conversations.

In conclusion, I will recommend this for policy makers, law makers, the media and pundits in Ghana. It will offer them a great learning opportunity to unlearn, learn and relearn about dialogues and its importance in their line of work. It will also increase empathy and makes the world a better place.

By Al-Latif Kambo-Naa