Campfires Of Knowledge

Campfires conjure up warm, safe places where story telling, camaraderie, frank conversation, and knowledge sharing can flow. Alastair Rylatt explains why igniting similarly safe spaces in the workplace is an essential management skill.

There is something wonderful about sitting next to a warm campfire, pondering your thoughts and telling stories. Often such campfire gatherings not only help us make sense of the world but can build a strong sense of community. Such bonding, connection and sharing has been at the cornerstone of civilisation since humans first ventured into caves to seek security and protection.

Similarly in the world of work, people seek out connection with others with whom they have a bond or common purpose. In most cases who we choose to connect with is heavily driven by factors such as work function, location or occupation. We also see gatherings of groups within disciplines in business where people are drawn together to explore ideology, concerns and action. This could result in many forms of meetings and conversations ranging from a web-based chat room to an informal gathering of industry leaders meeting once a month to discuss scenarios and future dilemmas.

If we are lucky, the campfires of knowledge we attend or create will help us adapt to the challenges we face. However, our businesses are not always blessed with healthy dynamics. Instead, excessive control, command and hoarding rule the day. Leading to slow responses, inflexibility and poor learning.

To be successful, leadership is required to encourage new networks, cross-fertilisation and flows of knowledge. Whether it is a Health Department sharing the latest research on HIV or the sponsorship of an annual knowledge-sharing event, we need to be creative and imaginative in how we use our connections and know-how.

Needless to say the digital age has provided us with countless possibilities for us to collaborate, network and share. However, if these exchanges are not undertaken in the right spirit they too can struggle. The fact is we can never assume that we have people's commitment, time and desire. We need to work hard to ensure we have the right focus, motivation and systems to build the web of relationships we need to ensure lasting success.

Creating Safe Space

One major factor in building our know-how is our capacity to create safe space. It is my view that creating safe space has now become the essential skill for all managers, coaches and facilitators in business. That is creating the time and place for people to have open and frank conversations on what matters. Many people talk about the importance of teamwork, learning and smarter business but often they do not walk the talk.

To be successful in creating safe space you must first help people discover what they feel passionate about. This must be done without being constrained by hierarchy, ego and status. People must feel safe to be able to share their frustrations and dreams while also exploring unresolved issues. Secondly, business must be prepared to broaden its view of the world and be more receptive to explore the unknown or even the unspeakable. Finally, you must be prepared to evaluate your efforts by ensuring that every conversation has a healthy exploration of sharing and reflection.

What makes creating safe space difficult is that businesses are inherently political in nature. Sometimes business politics can help success, but more often than not it causes the opposite outcome where people spend more time infighting and protecting territory rather than sharing ideas and growing capability. Seven behaviours, which can improve your chances of political cooperation, are:

Never assume you have common ground, work hard towards a shared purpose.
Encourage people to say what they are thinking in safety.
Promote fluid and spontaneous exchanges of ideas.
Remind people that if they think they know it all, they are kidding themselves.
Support people to hang in there, even when things become heated or they feel hurt.
Make sure people are involved in important decision making and clarification.
Constantly reward and thank people for their efforts, without patronising them.

There are many ways to go about creating safe space; here are seven of my favourites, from my latest book- Winning the Knowledge Game

Start with a Clear Purpose - Collaboration requires people to be keenly interested in a big idea or challenge. So before launching off into creating new conversations and relationships there needs to be a common agreement on areas of action or discussion. Without clear focus and motivation your efforts will fail. What is in it for me, must be clearly understood and explained. Having done this preparation you are much better placed to reach agreement on issues such as roles, ground rules, team processes and leadership.
Champion sharing - My experience is that if people are given the support, permission and training they will make a difference. In some of the more difficult cases, people will need a performance improvement plan before any real change can be observed. However in most situations if the process of improvement is approached in a positive way, success will result. At a practical level this could include the following behaviours.
- Keep your requests nice and simple.
- Make it clear why sharing and exchange is important
- Ask of others what we would be prepared to do ourselves.
- Start with safe and easy conversations then move to more sensitive and challenging ones
- Thank people for their involvement whatever the outcome or contribution
Opening up minds - Expansive thinking is a mandatory benefit of creating safe space. Staying comfortable within our known universe is a recipe for disaster. We must be prepared to go to new places and find out new answers to many of our questions. Whether it is becoming more curious in what we do or asking clients and customers for their opinion. We must be better prepared for surprises and prepared to dig out and uncover those special abilities you will need to face your future.
Growing successful relationships - Make it your priority to connect people who have a desire to contribute and take responsibility. The key to growing successful relationships is not about demanding contribution, it is about both inviting people to participate and then asking for their permission. The more managers impose, the less likely we will get the openness we need. Forced participation is not only a killer of contribution it also raises passive resistance that stifles the potential for quality answers, questions and solutions. Seek to be a coach at every opportunity.
Freshen up your meetings - One of the great 'throw away' lines in business is 'We have knowledge sharing, we regularly hold meetings'. From experience such group gatherings are rarely in the knowledge zone. There are of course times when a firmly controlled agenda and debate may be necessary. However, on the whole this approach is excessively used. The fact is you cannot schedule creativity and fun, it must be engaged and encouraged within the right environment. There are many ways to refresh and jazz up your meetings, ranging from simple adjustments, like having different people chair discussions to high-energy weekend retreats.
Circulating wisdom - Without the circulation of wisdom, great initiatives that come from more transparency and openness can be wasted. There are numerous ways to circulate wisdom within business. Encourage people to share testimonials, stories and observations at every opportunity whether it is coaching or leading a meeting. It is here where deeper insights are unmasked. Consider incentive plans to encourage people to create and apply their knowledge. Some workplaces link knowledge management into their performance management agreements. Most of all you need to get the message out that you're serious about winning the knowledge game.
Tune into collaborative technology - Business now lives in the new age of cyberspace, where collaboration technology is the norm. You can start with either an on-line or wireless internet connection to join a discussion group, enter chat rooms or create your own discussions at a moment's notice. If you are lucky enough, you may have access to far more elaborate net meetings and collaboration applications that everyone can use and share at a higher level of intimacy and interaction. Services include - Videoconferencing, Internet Directories, Application and Desktop Sharing, Chat, Visual Tools such as Mind Mapping and Whiteboarding. This of course does not discredit the old faithful telephone conference call to kick the process along

In closing, see knowledge as a living and dynamic process and you will have the mindset you need to succeed.

Alastair is the director of Alastair Rylatt Consulting based in Sydney. His writing, facilitating and training focuses on smarter better business. His latest book Winning The Knowledge Game: A Smarter Strategy for Better Business in Australia and New Zealand has been recently published by McGraw-Hill. To contact Alastair visit www.alastairrylatt.com or e-mail him at alastair@alastairrylatt.com.
First published: 30 January 2004.
Last updated: 6 October 2005.