Bearing Witness

More on the alchemy and the ecology of the organization...

A couple of things have been bouncing around in the empty space between my ears:

1. This post from my virtual twin brother Jamie Notter.  Not just because he is my virtual twin brother, and not just because I get quoted in the post...I think there is a lot to this topic of Paying the Price for Truth...or anything that we truly believe in.
2. The idea of bearing witness.  I am part of a learning circle that came together about 3 months ago to read some books and have some dialogue about community...one of the things that we talked about this weekend was the power of bearing witness, and how we often overlook this as a tool of change.

I have written here (and will continue to) about a new way of leadership...new language and new archetypes and a new understanding of what leadership means.  I think that a piece of this puzzle involves the practice of bearing witness.

The people at the top of the pyramids that constitute our organizations and institutions often make decisions based on facts and information.  Facts and information are what I refer to as truth with a little "t".  They are important sure, but not nearly as important as we make them out to be...facts, figures, data sets and information are very limited and one-dimensional.  And contextual. And often illusory. And whatever issue you and I decide to discuss, we each get to choose our own facts.

Look at politics.  Republicans on one side of the issue (pick any issue), and Democrats on the other side of the issue.  Each with a mountain of facts to prove their point.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

-Disraeli

Facts are important and we should seek facts, but they are not more important that actual feelings.  Feelings, emotions and beliefs are Truth, with a capital "T." 

The problem is that those that are making decisions about strategy, priorities and the allocation of resources often do not truly understand how employees, clients, patients, students and neighbors actually feel about those things.  And in the absence of the Truth, they rely on the truth.

And you see where that has gotten us.

Enter the practice of bearing witness.  Do you think that schools might be in some way different if senior administrators sat down and actually listened to teachers and students and parents tell their story?  ...if they actually shut their mouths and without explaining or spinning or downplaying listened?  Do you think there are any businesses that might make different decisions if senior executives and board members sat down, shut up and listened to the stories of clients and employees?

The Truth lives between us and it beats the truth every day of the week, but it can only comes alive and dance for us when we are in a relationship of equals. 

Be good to each other.

Comments

[M.E. Steele-Pierce (@steelepierce)]

Wonderful book on bearing witness for each other: Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future by Meg Wheatley (Berrett-Koehler, 2002)

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