Listening to the Volcano: Conversations That Open Our Minds to New Possibilities

Rumblings from a long dormant volcano provoke a crisis in the village of Smoldering Pines. Desperate to escape the flow of molten lava, the inhabitants meet to create a plan—and are soon at each other’s throats! But led by Milo, a group of neighbors discover a new way of talking and listening that taps fresh sources of creativity and unleashes the magic of collective thinking. While everyone knows how to engage in conversation, few of us practice the kind of meaningful dialogue that is crucial to leveraging an organization’s best thinking. Listening to the Volcano offers an engaging introduction to conversation as a disciplined workplace practice for sparking generative thinking, improving decision-making, and creating effective action. The fable features hilarious (and thought-provoking) plot lines and character illustrations and concludes with a group discussion guide to help you apply the ideas from the story to issues you face in your own organization.