Coordinated Management of Meaning

Coordinated Management of Meaning as a theory with practical application.

Template for Daisy Model and LUUUUTTT Model found here

Human beings are not fixed, we are emerging and dynamic in the way we formulate, create and grow. Yet, sometimes the narratives we share remain the same. The stories we tell, both to ourselves and to each other, represent the social systems we exist within. These stories also form the basis of what we create together through our communication. As such, the dialogue within our interactions can become an entry point for examining internal and external social constructs.

Our stories can change, and when they do, this change indicates that an internal transformation has occurred. This internal transformation then shifts what is created in communication with others. Therefore, communication represents both an internal set of social systems reflecting one’s conditioning and social identity, while also impacting the concrete world that we create together through coordination, or lack thereof, during our interactions.

Background

Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) is a communications theory that analyzes dialogue to determine various factors. For those having a conversation, embedded in their dialogue is the seed of their internal social identity and external social systems. CMM can bring light to what is being created through interaction and the set of beliefs and values impacting coordination. This communications theory has practical application due to the set of techniques that support applied practice in creating better coordination through investigating internal and social constructs. CMM techniques give space for what is present yet latent to emerge. For people with disabilities, this means that we can exist in a way that both recognizes the current state of needs (accommodations, assistive devices etc) while also realizing a dynamically shifting state of becoming.  

Since CMM engages the coordination of what is created through dialogue, it is also a tool to consider the tension between covert and overt aspects of the accessibility movement. For example, in the workplace, the accommodation process and campaigns targeting inclusion of people with disabilities act as formal structures propelling toward access. Yet social pressure, implicit biases and dominant ideology act as informal structures which may stall the movement. Through techniques like the Daisy Model, LUUUUTTT Model, and Hierarchy Model, individuals can bring awareness to internal views and organizational narratives around disability, noticing both what they carry with them and how that impacts what they create with others.

Anchoring the Conversation

CMM exercises can be useful during mediation and intergroup dialogue. The techniques become an interactive anchor gently shaping the focus of the conversation. As participants engage in completing the exercise, their focus shifts away from deconstructing the other’s worldview and calms the amygdala response. Instead, the participants’ focus moves toward self-expression and openness led by completing a task. 

Visual Mapping

The exercises also serve as a visual aid so that each participant can see the social systems, or sets of values and beliefs, that the other engages with as a logical force in the moment of conflict. The visual mapping can serve as a way to gently nudge each party toward broadening their perspective to take into account the other person’s while at the same time allowing the individual to bring awareness to their own systems operating within. Therefore, self-discovery and broadening of awareness are fostered through the application of CMM exercises during mediation.

In Conclusion,

The communications theory Coordinated Management of Meaning deconstructs dialogue to determine how to create better coordination during interactions thus providing a resource to create a better social world. Here I begin this series of Coordinated Management of Meaning. Next week I’ll share what I found by applying the Daisy Model during my research fellowship project!