A literature review was conducted on the subject of dialogue. The review examined these topics: how professionals learn and come to reflect critically upon their practice through talk; the barriers that are embodied in prevalent communicative structures and dominant discourses that impede reflective learning through talk; and how these barriers can be minimized or overcome. The study found that the literature points to the potential promise of communication. It suggests that when professionals are encouraged to communicate their personal experience through the expressive language of their own narratives, authentic links can be made between the public world of rational theory and the private landscapes of lived experience. The literature supports dialogic relations in a community dedicated to reflective learning. The literature also points out a paradox: communication can stagnate the growth of an organization just as quickly as it can encourage it. Nonreflective tasks can perpetuate dysfunctional patterns of thinking, reproducing taken-for-granted beliefs and ways of posing and solving problems that limit rather than liberate professionals. Dialogue governed by current dominant rhetorics emphasizes formal knowledge and inhibits reflective learning. According to the literature, five steps can be suggested for organizations committed to reflective learning: (1) recognize the differences between talk that stagnates and talk that stimulates in organizations; (2) deconstruct narratives to find caps, contradictions, and limiting assumptions; (3) promote a learning environment by expressing and challenging these assumptions; (4) cooperate to create a truly collaborative community built upon trust and risk; and (5) foster active and continual critical reflection. (Contains 57 references.) (KC)