What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do? Essay Example

We organized a conversation cafe with my friend Mary. When we started we did not know what to talk about, thus we started by allowing each one of us to talk generally about what interests him or her in the present day business environment. After some few minutes of the discussion we settled on the topic “what do you do when you do not know what to do?” surely the question looks difficult but indeed there are situations when an individual is supposed to do something, but he or she is in dilemma- a situation that makes a person to be in a situation that he or she does not know what to do. We then formulated questions for our conversation cafes as follows:

• Is it really true that a person may get into a state of not knowing what to do?
• What are the examples of situations when a person does not know what to do?
• How can one determine what to do in situations he or she does not know what to do?
• What are the dangers of not knowing what to do?
• Are there any advantages and disadvantages of not knowing what to do?
• How can we avoid the situations that lead us to the state of not knowing what to do?

Having noted the questions with my friend, Mary, our conversation café went on successfully yielding a tremendous dialogue I have never experienced. Mary and Peter showed great zeal in talk. They were a source of great empowerment to young entrepreneurs like me.

Firstly, we started by considering the question bank before settling on the question, “What do you do when you do not know what to do? The question is so interesting because it looks ambiguous, but again sounds so sensible, as people often reach times when their decisions are never enough t provide solutions.

Secondly, we considered times when it would be easier to find everyone. We then decided to meet on Saturday afternoons because my friend supported the idea and I was also of the same opinion.

Although the conversation was interesting, there are some ingredients we could include if we were to organize the same activity again. One thing we would change is the way to conduct the dialogue or conversation. First of all, I would like to determine the participants, and structure the conversation in a way that both of us participate equally. In the conversation we had, my friend Mary talked more than I did. I would love to improve our conversation by doing enough research through reading books and searching the internet.

Furthermore, I noted that conversation cafes are successful with friendly participants. Mary was my friend and she demonstrated tremendous skills in dialogue using prompting questions for me to respond as I also helped her through the conversation.

In addition, there were no other people other than Mary and I during the conversation. Our planning worked excellently because of the topic we were handling. Surely none would want to miss such a presentation. Mary and I wanted to discuss situations that are hard to determine what to do in business. We ended up searching for difficult situations in business organizations, and to understand how those organizations operated to enable them go ahead.

The dialogue started a vague one with my friend Mary introducing it with a story of a man on a tree by the lake. In the narrative the tree was about to fall down and that it was likely to fall into the lake that had a waiting hungry crocodile. On the tree was also a venomous snake, and at the lakeshore was a lion. The man was there not knowing what to do. Although, the story seemed to imply that death was imminent for the man, it also fitted to the topic, “what to do when you do not know what to do”. Mary then asked me the question “Is it really true that a person may get into a state of not knowing what to do?” I responded to the question and then I also asked her the question “What are the examples of situations when a person does not know what to do?”

The dialogue went on in that manner of answering and asking questions, until a point when the conversation climaxed and both of us had much to contribute .We used business examples, when companies find themselves in situations that cause a lot of stress to business, or when businesses have experienced huge losses and stakeholders are quitting in large numbers.

Consequently, I learned a lot in from organizing and participating in a conversation café. First, I was able to learn that determining questions for the conversation is so crucial in influencing a successful conversation café. I also learned the timing for a conversation café is as crucial as getting audience is one important thing. Advertising or marketing is another crucial undertaking to note before one conducts a conversation café. I have also learned how to conduct a successful conversation café through the stages the conversation undergoes building to the climax and conclusion or final comments by the participants. I enjoyed the dialogue so much noting how it was answering the questions we had towards the topic. I was also able to note some deficiencies in our conversation. Because of shallow knowledge of the topic and poor research on it, we could not go to the finer details. Therefore, careful research and provision of appropriate answers to the set questions make a conversation successful and excellent.

To sum up, dialogue is a process I would like to apply in other situations of life. Dialogue is inevitable, it applies in families, businesses and even the political arena. Dialogue helps in solving disputes and differences. Dialogue can help in family relations where husband and wife are in disagreement over certain issues. Governments may also engage the use of dialogue in case of border, resources, or ethnic disagreements. Dialogue helps to forge an understanding between differing parties. It is not only in business, does dialogue do this but also in human relations and government. While applying dialogue individuals with different backgrounds or governments get to understand each other better, and thus they can influence their future relations in a positive way. In doing this, dialogue can foster creative cooperation between different parties, which are involved in disputes or differences. In dialogue, one learns to listen as the other talks. It minimizes the act of arguing when it is not necessary. The act of listening creates patience in a person and thus successful relations. Dialogue, therefore, is a crucial tool not only for businesses but also for everyday relations in families and governments.