OBREAU Resources

Don Dunoon says…

“My aspiration is to see the OBREAU conversation model used by millions of people worldwide each year to support uncomfortable interactions and dialogue. To that end, I’m making available free-of-charge the resources on this page under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licensing. I hope you find these resources useful, and I’d love to hear about your experience in using them. Please get in touch using the contact information at the bottom of this page.

All the best in making OBREAU work for you!”

GROUPS & TEAM – COLLECTIVE THINKING

RESOURCES FOR INDIVIDUALS

GENERAL OBREAU RESOURCES

GROUPS & TEAMS – COLLECTIVE THINKING

Intro paragraph

Collective OBREAU Pause

Text here

Intentional Observation Dialogue

Text here

Full Dialogue with OBREAU

Text here

RESOURCES FOR INDIVIDUALS

Intro paragraph

Personal OBREAU Pause

Text here

Preparing for an Uncomfortable Conversation with OBREAU

The guide will step you through the process of applying the observation, reasonableness and authenticity practices, helping you get ready for a conversation that, till now, might have seemed just too difficult.

GENERAL OBREAU RESOURCES

Intro paragraph

Resources available here include:

The Two-Part OBREAU Video

In the video, total run time 7 minutes, Part 1 outlines essential OBREAU concepts and sets the scene for a case example featuring “President Maria Lon of the South Republic”.

Part 2 shows how President Lon might apply OBREAU in raising a challenging issue with the leader of the neighbouring North Republic.

If you find the video useful, please like and comment on each of the two parts on YouTube!

OBREAU Tripod

THE OBREAU POSTER

The poster supports the videos in outlining key elements of the OBREAU model and vital behaviours. It’s available either in A4 or Letter sizes. You can use the poster as you wish, within the provisions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

The OBREAU Conversation Model - Poster

USING THE VIDEO AND POSTER TOGETHER

Perhaps you’re a teacher in a university or (senior) high school, and you wish to increase your students’ awareness and abilities in conversing on uncomfortable topics. These might be of a more personal nature (say, giving feedback to a classmate) or “bigger”, potentially controversial issues (say, access to affordable housing in the local environment).

Alternatively, you might be a team leader in an organisation wanting to build the quality of interaction among your team members, and maybe between them and customers or other stakeholders.

In these situations – or in any number of others – you might consider sharing the videos and poster and then hosting a group conversation on the ideas presented and their potential applications in your context. Some questions to prompt discussion are suggested in the accompanying panel.

Sharing the resources and hosting a conversation will likely at least spark reflection among your learners on how (or whether) they show up in uncomfortable conversations and what they might do to improve their effectiveness.

If you introduce the resources in a group setting, be sure to bring the discussion back to the conversations you and group members need to have. This will help make the resources “real” in participants’ own settings.

Obviously, a session to introduce OBREAU will be only a first step in building participants’ capabilities in conversating on difficult topics – but it might be an important starting point.

If you find the video and poster useful, it would be terrific to hear about your experience. We won’t publish your responses without your permission. Please let us know how you go here.

From the videos, some discussion topics might include:

  • Do learners recognise the default behaviours of reacting, judging and dancing around?
  • Can they give examples from their own experience?
  • How can these defaults impede safe and productive conversations?
  • What do they understand to be the difference between observation and interpretation?
  • Can they recall an example of the difference from the video?
  • Why is focusing on observation crucial?
  • What is meant by attributing reasonableness in an OBREAU context?
  • How is attributing reasonableness demonstrated by President Lon in the video?
  • Why does attributing reasonableness matter?
  • How do learners understand authenticity in connection with OBREAU?
  • What does President Lon say that might be authentic for her?
  • Why might speaking with authenticity be important for learners in their own lives?
  • Why is OBREAU usefully thought of as a tripod structure?

Find Out More

Contact us to talk about running or adapting Change Conversations: Growing Psychological Safety and Performance for your organisation.