Archive for the ‘Playspace Dimensions’ Category

The Hermenuetics of Gratitude

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

Earlier this fall I had the wonderful opportunity to spend an extravagant afternoon drinking tea with Jeremy Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro served as the chair of my dissertation committee and continues to be a mentor, role model and dear friend. Though he is a gifted scholar, well-regarded philosopher and early English language translator of Jürgen Habermas’ work, I was drawn to work with him because of his humility, endless curiosity and delightful sense of humor. I sought him out during my doctoral program orientation when, after a long line of faculty had introduced themselves by reciting their long (and somewhat intimidating) list of research interests and scholarly accomplishments, Jeremy stepped up to the microphone, and introduced himself very differently by saying, “Students tell me that I am useful to them in the following ways . . .“ At that moment I knew this was the person I wanted to work with. Many educators talk about and aspire to be student-centered; Jeremy achieves it in all of the ways he has shown up to now hundreds of graduate students over his career.

The Hermeneutics of GratitudeHermes

During our rare, uninterrupted tea together I couldn’t help but tell him again how much he had impacted and influenced my own work—how I can only aspire to his level of generosity and presence with students. He was characteristically humble, and was ready to change the topic, reminding me that I had more than once expressed my gratitude in the past. I acknowledged that I had, and also realized out loud that I had a need to practice something that on the spot I termed  “the hermeneutics of gratitude.”

Rooted in the early scholarly study of religious texts, the word “hermeneutic” is derived from the winged messenger Hermes, of Greek mythology, who carried (and interpreted) the decisions of the gods to other gods and humans. It is to this that the Greek hermeneuenin (to interpret) refers. The purpose of original interpretation of religious texts was intended “to establish normative religious and legal practices” (Slattery, 1996, p. 7). The practice of hermeneutics evolved and was extended by Martin Heidegger, the first to develop and name a philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology, believed that all human experience is intrinsically interpretive.

Hereneutics also holds that the interpretation of a text or experience is highly situational, and may evolve over time based on the context of the interpreter. I realized that this is the reason I am so compelled to cycle back to my gratitude for Jeremy, and for many others who have impacted and influenced my life; from new vantage points I have new appreciation for the gifts of the experience. This is true for me of Jeremy and the space he created for me during my doctoral adventure. I am still learning from the ways he showed up and created space for me.

In this season of giving and receiving, I invite you to practice your own version of the hermeneutics of gratitude and revisit the people and experiences that have helped you become your best self. You may discover even more gifts as your reflect from today’s vantage point, which also gives you a wonderful excuse to express your gratitude and keep the cycle of giving flowing.

Slattery, P. (1996). Hermeneutics: A phenomenological aesthetic reflection. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

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Outing Other People’s Humanity

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

At this year’s Academy of Management conference in Montreal, artist and scholar, Nancy Adler shared that she sees her role as “outing other people’s humanity” while speaking at one of several events in her honor. As she reflected on a few colleagues who were closet musicians, visual artists, and/or participated in their community in other generative ways, she challenged us by asking us why we, in business and scholarship, haven’t begun to think about the beautiful?

Nancy Adler Speaking at Academy of Management Dinner in Montreal

Adler followed this with three more provocative questions about beauty and leadership.

  1. Can we reclaim our ability to see the beauty that’s there?
  2. Can we reclaim our ability to imagine what’s beautiful?
  3. Can we reclaim our role as leaders and human beings to make the world a more beautiful place?

If we truly take up Adler’s challenge and surrender to living these particular questions, I believe we cannot help but out our own and each others’ humanity. For as we reclaim our ability to see, imagine and create the beautiful, the artificial barriers that separate our playful self from our serious work self will fall away, as will barriers separating our goal-oriented self, from our process self; our indoor self from our outdoor self, our artist self from our management self, and all of our other dualistic selves.

As a gay person, I have long held the position that to “out someone” is a violation that could potentially put the outed person in serious harm’s way—emotionally, socially, and even physically—depending on the context. In this case, outing should, except in cases of extreme hypocrisy (a vocally anti-gay public figure) be the sole business of the individual.

Adler has gotten me thinking, though. Just as more people take the risk of coming out about their sexual orientation makes the climate safer and more accepting for all (research shows that people who have a close acquaintance or family member who is gay are far more likely to be accepting), should we not be encouraging others to come out around other aspects of their humanity? Will this not make it safer and more acceptable to be human—to bring our whole selves to work, and into all aspects of our lives?

What, then, is our role as leaders, facilitators, and participants in co-creating the space in which it is safe enough to come out?

What beauty might we discover and co-create together when we reclaim this responsibility?

Posted in Acceptance, Permission-Giving, Playspace Dimensions, Safet Space, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Lady GaGa and Permission-Giving

Monday, January 11th, 2010

“I didn’t fit in in high school and I felt like a freak. So I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang out with and they don’t feel alone. The whole point of what I do – The Monster Ball, the music, the performance aspect of it – I want to create a space for my fans where they can feel free and they can celebrate.”

In From Workplace to Playspace, I write about “Permission-givers.” They are the people who either by their example or encouragement give us permission to risk showing our whole selves, risk stepping out of our comfort zone and experimenting with new ways of thinking and being, and risk the discomfort that comes with learning and transformation.

Lady GaGa is a wonderful permission-giver and creator of playspace. She is also a “permission-taker” as she doesn’t wait to find out what the rules are, or wait for anyone else to give her permission, she just takes it. And by taking it and pushing the boundaries through her behavior, wild costumes and music, she opens up space for others to play with their own identities and capacities.

If you pay attention, you will find permission-givers and takers in every field, and in every successful organization. They are the people who don’t take themselves too seriously to play around with new and provocative possibilities, and risk doing things differently. They may challenge you out of your comfort zone simply by the non-traditional way they show up in the world. As they do, they are making more playspace for everyone.

One of the simplest ways you can create more playspace in your work and personal life is to notice and appreciate the permission-givers. Even better, be one yourself!

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What was the best thing about . . . ?

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Despite the blare of television commercials and media reports from area shopping malls, we are choosing a quiet day of puttering around the house with vague plans for an afternoon movie. I am enjoying this calm and thinking about our dinner last night with friends.

At some point in our feast, between our non-traditional Thanksgiving Ceasar salad and Rita’s amazing stuffing, my partner asked “so what was the best thing about this year for everyone?” As we went around the table, each sharing a bit of gratitude and anticipation for the year ahead, I was reminded of the power of simple appreciation. The things we named—weathering a relationship rough patch and feeling hopeful; happy for abundant client work and interesting projects; excitement about creative energy in a new collaboration, and simply being able to create the space to share a decadent meal in the midst of it all—became a bit brighter in the claiming.

It is so simple, and perhaps a bit new-agey, yet has played out again and again in my experience: what we focus on becomes our reality. As we drove home, completely satiated and a bit over-indulged, I felt the opportunities and generative core each of us tapped guiding us. How nice that we take at least one day a year to slow down enough to notice this. And even nicer that we can choose to do it whenever we feel our vision of possibilities flagging.

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