In LO12369, Ed Brenegar wrote:
"In many cases, learning produces change which is not safe for people and
their organizations. All the more reason to provide places of sanctuary
where change can be dealt with collaboratively."
The idea of 'places of sanctuary' troubles me greatly.
So does the idea of the 'safe learning environment' - especially if
contrasted with the 'unsafe' working environement.
I find it interesting that working environments are commonly perceived to
be unsafe. Most of the places we work in - or the environments in which we
operate - are safe. We'd have the health and safety inspectors after us if
they weren't. That's not to say that you won't find places where safety
standards leave a lot to be desired, but in general, I think it's safe (no
pun intended!) to say they are in the minority in the West at least.
I also find the idea of the 'safe learning environment' ludicrous. I find
that the term 'safe learning environment' is very often used as a means of
watering down perceived danger. The term does not sit well with conflict -
without which a resolution can sometimes not be achieved. There is also a
naivete' in assuming that people who do not habitually act with integrity
will suddenly do so consistently within a group just because someone has
decided to create a 'safe environment' for them to act like human beings.
The trouble is, I believe, that we do not distinguish between spiritual
danger and bodily danger. When we talk about creating 'safe learning
environments' or 'sanctuaries', we are not talking about the body, but of
the soul - that place Dostoyevsky termed a spritual battleground between
good and evil.
The soul is where I believe a real sanctuary is to be found.
Ed - you touch on this in your quote from C.S. Lewis - "Oh, no, he's not
safe, but he's good."
The soul is not a safe place - but it can be a sanctuary from which we can
effectively evaluate perceived danger.
I'd like to get the group's thoughts on this admittedly rather
off-the-wall, non-conventional question ...
What practical things can managers, leaders and trainers do to ensure the
spiritual safety of people in organisations?
Leon Conrad
The Conrad Voice Consultancy
website: http://www.actual.co.uk/conrad
--Leon Conrad <100755.1675@CompuServe.COM>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>