Space for emotion in a tech company?

Trust as a basis for self-management

Octree is made up (for now) of men who work in technology, and yet we talk seriously about emotions. The reason is that we aspire to a society driven by humans and useful technology.

As change agents and through our humanity, Octree is making huge efforts to deconstruct how we collaborate: working together as humans and as professionals are two sides of the same coin. This is beautiful to see and terrifying to share in an environment such as "tech" where rationalism and the cult of performance are elevated to dogma.

Emotion and change

Transforming anger, mourning past fears, acknowledging privilege... Emotion is embedded in all human, individual, and societal change. What if we were able, as individuals, to make our feelings speak at work, to listen to the emotions of the systems around us, and let them fuel change? Not in the service of profit, but in the favor of general well-being?

We recommend not looking for "Getting Started" to answer these questions, everyone approaches their feelings differently but more importantly: we are always changing. Our approach is to explore these questions through research and testing of practices that regenerate the way we experience work.

The right to imperfection

It is important to remember one simple thing: the present is unique. No one in the past has lived in the same situation, and no one has the same history as you. Finding ways for Octree to collaborate and get the individual to talk is therefore a unique search, involving extraordinary people. Of course, this search is sometimes unsuccessful, and may not achieve its goal or may even be counterproductive. What we wish to commend is precisely the research and persistence of this exploration.

No one has ever explored emotion the way you have.

After integrating this sentence, it becomes easier to give yourself the right to imperfection. With this right granted to Octree by its members, everything becomes more fluid. Experimenting with new ways of articulating work and people is then possible.

An (imperfect) drawing of the NNi systemic transformative dialogue process.

Octree, imperfect, can congratulate herself for trying over the years:

💫 To create daily indicators with Emojis

💫 To organize "group focused on one person" feedback sessions.

💫 To create retrospective sessions where we talk about confidence and fears

💫 To create recurring meetings about our individual purpose and dreams

💫 To create an Emotions circle, so that we can address together the exploration and active listening of what is going on in our business

💫 To plan NNI public dialogues based on active listening to emotions in a system as a transformative practice

Our campfire

Our campfire is the initiative. Octree trusts its members to speak up and offer an alternative if something is wrong or can be improved. It's an agreement honored every day, at every meeting: whether we're talking about emotions, activities, or strategies. The initiative as a ritual to nurture change, pause everything, or share discomfort.

So our campfire lies in the trust that we have built together, gradually. Octree trusts all of its members to speak and propose, and the members trust each other. This has allowed us to create new agreements that protect the "safety of our space":

👉 What is shared in the emotional circle should not be used outside the circle

👉 Everyone has the right to silence, sharing is done on a voluntary basis

👉 If a conflict is perceived by a person, that person agrees to address it as soon as possible with the party involved

Our campfire is still burning and is our guarantee that we can evolve with our present.

We invite everyone to embrace the emotional diversity, the different visions, dreams and missions that exist around them. We invite everyone to explore this diversity, even if it is uncomfortable and imperfect.

Acknowledgements

These exceptional people have made an impact on me in this exploration, and I want to thank them here.

Thank you Resck for having me participate in my first "caring" meeting

Jonelle Naudé of NNi for telling me about her training as a systemic dialogue facilitator

Brian Stout for throwing me hundreds of questions about creating regenerative practices

Octree for agreeing to venture into the emotional circle

...and to Carla who reminds me to apply more of what I do at work at home!

Hadrian for octree