Why have we stopped making time for genuine dialogue?

My second blog post deliberately begins with a question. It is the question occupying me most at the moment. Are we not living at a time when everyone says that dialogue between people is the only way forward? That conversations between different people, essentially all with good intentions, can lead to a prosperous future?

I ask because I am considering how to take my data:room approach forward. What value do I genuinely offer, and is there still demand for my expertise? In other words, is there a market? The many conversations I have had with leading thinkers and respected figures point in the same direction: in precisely my field — finding ways to make better decisions and bring people into dialogue to develop real solutions — people often do not make the time under present conditions. We all seem to be occupied with securing our economic survival.

That is understandable; reality has to be faced. Yet I wonder whether this behaviour takes us deeper into difficulty. There is often a rush into action for its own sake. It feels like struggling in quicksand and sinking further with every movement. The familiar advice is to pause, stay calm and avoid sudden movements. Admittedly, there is not much quicksand in the four-country Lake Constance region, so I am relying on Bear Grylls for that particular lesson.

I am finding this situation difficult. Should I wait for times to change? I do not think they will: what we are experiencing is a historically normal state of affairs that will continue for years. Or should I try to change attitudes through small interventions, however modest, by demonstrating that better decisions are only possible together — through dialogue and formats that encourage it?

I lean towards the second option. As Wolf Lotter puts it: ‘Make an effort!’

There is an opportunity here for those who know how to respond to these conditions: a genuine second-order competitive advantage.