Organizations today survive and thrive in uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Today’s 21st century organization requires leaders to think in the present moment, in the face of uncertainty or their own frustration or anxiety. Yet employees can become stuck in their certainty, making them unable to ‘unlearn’ practices that are unexamined, ritualized and even harmful to their surroundings. Not having the ability to detach from this certainty can produce fixed beliefs, which leads to a rigidity in thinking and an inability to make changes when changes are needed. For this reason, management scholars have encouraged cultivating an ability called ‘negative capability’ that allows one to refrain from reaching toward resolution and linger in uncertainty and doubt. This capability ensures one can continue to think and reflect in difficult situations, which is a skill needed in today’s volatile and dynamic organization
The ‘negative’ in negative capability does not refer to what is harmful or destructive but rather the absence of certainty or resolution. Learning to be negatively capable means allowing uncertainty to allow for learning and growth. Many people learn this (the hard way) through their life experience, but it is also possible to learn this through purposeful practice.
This is the aim of Mellem Education’s workshops and training programs. The experiential learning that Mellem Education offers is applied to a group that works together. Through playful and reflective activities, the group takes a closer look at some of their existing natural dynamics and is given the opportunity to reflect on whether these dynamics are beneficial, or rather habitual and therefore difficult to change. Through moments of discomfort and dissonance, supported skillfully by the facilitator, participants in the workshop experience the existing tensions in their group, in order to allow these tensions to reveal unspoken and held back needs. Working through the uncertainty and dissonance means that the group gets the opportunity to transform itself, no longer shying away from or avoiding difficult conversations.
The workshops have a game-like aspect, making them fun and light, but also including the deeper, more challenging moments of reflection. This balance builds the team atmosphere in the group, and enhances the learning experience. Participants cultivate their ‘negative capability’, approaching challenges as opportunities for growth, and further developing a sense of responsibility that takes into account the larger society.
Structure
Mellem Education’s expert staff offers this training as a consecutive two-day seminar, with a follow-up meeting two months after the training. Another possibility is leading a one-day seminar, followed by another one-day seminar two months later. The structure can be adapted according to the needs of the company.
Testimonials
“Our management team had an exciting and educational day together with Tali. With her quiet and listening presence, she created a focused space where all the participants felt seen and heard. She showed a very special ability to draw reactions, arguments, questions and conclusions from the participants by setting up a very special framework. It embodied in some exercises and processes that we all were able to reflect on and learn from afterwards. In certain situations, we experienced ourselves far away from our daily comfort zone – and in the pattern that emerged we could recognize ourselves, mirror ourselves, wonder and reflect on how it could be translated into our common culture, habits and daily cooperation in the organization. I highly recommend Tali’s workshop to all organizations that cultivate cooperation across multiple departments and operate with large cross-disciplinary development projects.” – Michael Demsitz, CEO, Boligkontoret Danmark
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“The workshop prompted us to look at ourselves in a new way. It was educational. You can get tired of smart consultants with PowerPoint presentations to train executives. Tali’s approach is present and involves everyone in a new and inspiring way with focus on the participants.” – Katja Adelhøj Lindblad, Boligkontoret Danmark
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“I have attended hundreds of presentations and conferences during my 36 years as a healthcare provider, but I’ve never sat through such an innovative approach towards resolving or just discussing both individual and collective conflicts, often the underlying reason our emotional and physical health declines… I can see where your program can be used within the business community to assist with specific administrative conflict resolution, as well as enhance employee/managerial productivity.” – Joel E. Margolies, DC