Idea for February 2024: dialogic

My idea of the month is dialogic

I’ve learned this month the difference between dialectic and dialogic conversation.

Dialectic conversation ends in agreement, consensus, the one right answer. In branding, this is the big idea (or the central idea or the essence or the core). It’s the one thought that inspires and guides and filters everything. It’s central to the practice of brand leadership or brand orientation.

But is there always one answer? Is today’s polarised culture addicted to the view that there’s one right answer? Can there be many answers, all at the same time? That’s what dialogic conversation aims for. And maybe that’s how we should think about branding.

I owe this to John Willshire, whose new essay is as always crystal-clear and beautifully provocative.