I am not sure what I expected to receive for a response, but I was met with something to the effect that he wanted to move toward “best practices.” In that moment, I realized that not only was he not interested in what I had to say, but that he had employed absolute thinking.
Absolute thinking is a way to present an idea as incontrovertible, unassailable, and universally correct. How was I to respond to his statement of “best practices?” He left no room for dialogue or discussion. Was I to offer up “okay practices” or “less than practices?”
If you manage people or serve on a nonprofit board, I invite you to consider how you think you know what you know. If you are not sure, that is perfectly okay. If your response is that your opinion is based in science or research, that is also perfectly acceptable.
My invitation, then, is for you to go farther in your inquiry. What has worked based on your experience? What do those around you feel or think about the subject? When developing an organization, there are extraordinary opportunities for self-reflection and process-building.
When anyone appeals to the somewhat amorphous and nebulously defined “best practices,” what they are subtly communicating is that they have no interest in any sort of dialogue within which new understandings may be co-created among diverse stakeholders.
After all, does anyone knowingly employ “best practices?” Ostensibly, the entire world is predicated on “best practices,” but for whom? Who benefits from these so-called best practices?
Heinz von Foerster developed something known in cybernetic thinking circles as the Ethical Imperative: “Act always so as to increase the total number of choices.” Are you increasing choices at your organization? For whom?
Not surprisingly, the gentleman I referenced at the beginning of this file never spoke to me again about nonprofit board development. The last I heard, he is developing various subcommittees and an overall board structure “by the book.” I wonder who wrote that book?
About Spaciology
Spaciology is not abstract theory; rather, it is a practice you can feel.
- Inside: Pause, breathe, notice.
- Outside: Design rooms, rituals, and agendas that slow the spin and invite care.
- Between us: Make dialogue a place where different truths can live together long enough to teach something.
Ultimately, leadership is the art of making space for what’s important (for everyone) and letting that clarity shape the next step. When we change the spaces from which we lead, our strategies change with them.
Spaciology Learning Commons
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- Free membership gives you access to community conversations and introductory resources.
- Paid membership opens full access to courses, live sessions, and the complete Field Guide.
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