In collaboration, one repeatedly hears the reply: “I don’t have time.” There is a positive motivation behind this reply too. Methodologically, one approaches such a question in exactly the same way as one would the behaviour of a person that one does not understand.
One seeks out one’s own experience: Where did I have a positive experience of ‘not having time’? What did I want at that moment?
“The door handle on my chicken coop door isn’t working properly. I really should have fixed it. But as I’d come up with a way to get around it, there was no need to repair it. So two years went by whilst I lived with the faulty door. But then I wanted to go on holiday for two weeks and asked my neighbour to look after the chickens in the meantime. But I couldn’t expect him to deal with the non-functioning handle. So I picked up my tools and repaired the handle in a matter of minutes.”
It becomes clear that it is important to make the need visible in order to take action. Here is another example that shows how making the need visible works in everyday working life.
“I send a colleague a short email: ‘We have a Zoom meeting tomorrow evening with an interested participant. You have practical experience in this area. I need you at the meeting.” Within 10 minutes, I received a positive reply to this email. In the past, I used to ask: “Would you like to join us?” or “It would be nice if you could be there.” I often got the reply: “Yes, I’d love to join, but I already have two other commitments that evening so unfortunately I can’t make it.”
I express why I need this person at the meeting (= You have practical experience in this area). Then I articulate how I experience my connection with this person in the situation (= I need you at the meeting). This directness leaves no open space or time. I’m not used to it, but it allows me to relate to the person in a completely different way and puts the focus on the necessity. I actually find it quite enjoyable myself.
Independence goes hand in hand with a sense of necessity.
As well as exploring the situation through one’s own experience, one can also consider such questions as: In which profession is ‘not having time’ a quality? This helps to find a positive approach to the situation.
The following ideas came to mind: stockbroker, runner, simultaneous translator. The impulse to act was: ‘deciding while pointing’.
When you work with organisational issues in this way, you also recognise the will that lives independently in several people and comes to the fore in organisational problems.
