These sample queries are particularly relevant to creating conditions that support collective safe havens (in a work place). They are adapted from an article focusing on the relevance of Quaker practices for organizational renewal (Louis, 1994). Queries include supporting queries that describe what I must do to support how I want to be in my life roles.
• Am I patient and genuinely present in my dealings with others? Do I refrain from over scheduling myself, maintaining the boundaries necessary for me to be on time, to be patient and present in my interaction and activities?
• Am I open to the benefits of a moment of silence to restore myself during and around the edges of a task? Do I open up the space in my week to be quiet and attentive to an inner voice?
• Do I invite others to be fully present when I am the convener or facilitator of a group? Do I monitor the boundaries of our time together, beginning and ending a meeting's work on time? At the beginning of a meeting, do I give people a chance to arrive physically and mentally, to set aside business they have recently left and prepare for the present session? During a session, do I encourage a pace of discussion that allows us to take in and consider what has been said, to listen before forming responses?
• Do I create opportunities for all to share responsibility for the tasks? Do I recognize that shared responsibility may foster skill development, sense of ownership, and connection among us? Do I recognize that a sense of community fosters task accomplishment and the way the task is accomplished influences the sense of community that arises?
• Do I seek to strengthen the ties among people working together, recognizing that we can tolerate a greater measure of differences on issues in the context of a reservoir of respect and acceptance and that out of differences can come innovation?
These queries may be most pertinent to managers, assuming that they have a relatively high level of autonomy in their dealings with others at work. In contrast, queries for the "managed" and those experiencing deliberate oppression, inadvertent chaos, and/or powerlessness in the workplace might include the following:
• Do I speak what is true for me even in the face of pressure to do otherwise? Do I seek guidance from within and beyond myself on how to proceed when I am facing a dilemma? Do I seek the courage to stand publicly behind what I feel led to support?
• Do I test my assumptions about the unalterability of what I experience as dysfunctional practices on the part of those in power? Do I support the efforts of those in power to improve their effectiveness as designers and directors of the organization's work?
In summary, two points about queries should be underscored. The key is first to craft queries appropriate to the situation that one is experiencing and second to monitor the match between one's current set of queries and the value-based challenges one experiences at work.
These articles are from Resources
for Fostering Vital Friends Meetings
See also: the FGC Quaker Library
