Communication for Action

Making requests for what you want

In order to get the things you want, often you have to request things of someone. This can also be used for self-directed actions, i.e., you are making requests of yourself.

  • Presupposition: both parties are willing to negotiate to a consensus.

  • Presupposition: the intention of both parties is to produce (realize) the outcome.

  • Presupposition: all behavior is the result of an initial good intention from the point of view of actor.

An outcome is often divided into two parts: a request and a commitment are two halves of a whole Conversation For Action (a concept put forth by Terry Winograd of Stanford University). The purpose of the conversation is to have a person make a request of another person, the second person commit (or promise) to fulfill the request.

  • a request is in the form of a question
  • a commitment is in the form of an assertion

Canonical Request Form:

“I request that you perform X delivering Y by time T

Canonical Response Forms:

One of:

  • Acceptance:

“I will do X delivering Y at time T.”

  • Decline:

“I decline.”

  • Counteroffer: A counteroffer to negotiate the specifications of X, Y, and T.

“I can’t do X but I can do X(1), by date T(1). Is that ok?”

  • A commitment to a future commitment

“I can’t tell you now, but I’ll get back to you about it on date.”

Protocols

All requests require a response; there is no such thing as silence equals agreement. The opposite is the case: if no response is made, the requestor should consider the request declined.

Well-formedness and Inquiry

The well-formedness of the outcome / request / commitment is the result of the full and independent commitment of both parties agreeing to and having, or being able to aquire, the resources, skills and knowledge to achieve the outcome / request / commitment. Each party is completely and independently responsible for the well-formedness of the outcome / request / commitment.

The recipient of the request may need to spend time in Precision Inquiry in order to assure the well-formedness, desireability, and specifications of the desired outcome.