Our office is in the rural town of Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are known as the Heart of England. We also think of them as the heart of Dialogue and its history. It is here that the first Dialogue gathered in 1990 (later published under the title ‘Unfolding Meaning - a Weekend of Dialogue with David Bohm’) and it is here that the seminal text ‘Dialogue - a Proposal’ was written the following year by David Bohm, Don Factor and Peter Garrett.

We have invested in our office. The main meeting room could be described as a board room, yet it opens into the kitchen and is just as much like the kitchen table at home. It is a statement of values. Why? Because we believe that people’s values should be the same at work and at home, given they are the same person, just in different locations. Generally people display very different behaviours at home and at work, resulting in different values and this is what we want to transcend in our office.

Because our working with Professional Dialogue leads to extensive international travel, we appreciate a high quality home base. It is here that we do our best thinking. We reflect on work we have done, incorporate insights into our practice models and design up-coming interventions. We deepen our working relationships with overseas clients through regular conference calls from our office, and it is here that we are most productive and most relaxed.

What kind of environment do you need to be productive? Where do you do your best thinking? Is your work place conducive to high quality thinking?

The kind of office environment we need is what we now have – namely a contained space that is relaxed, productive and well supported. The ambiance of the building matters to us, and the seating, natural light, lack of interfering sound and simple refinement all help. We are interested in whatever is conducive to a good rapport and confidence amongst those working in our office.