The Lateral Dialogues

5. How can we face the climate? Exploring our emotional response to meaningful engagement with climate action (with Dr Rebecca Nestor)

Some consider the climate crisis, the most urgent issue for the earth’s future and ourselves on it. Yet, why is it so hard to engage with it, systemically and as individuals? Why is it so hard to inspire action for those working on the climate crisis? What does it take to work in sustainability within large corporations? And how do each of us, Earth’s inhabitants, get emotionally impacted by the climate crisis? Why does this topic evoke polarization in society and politically, between activists and deniers? 
In this Lateral Dialogue, we are exploring all these questions, through the so-called climate psychology, a relatively new discipline concerned with understanding the dynamics and emotional experiences, related to the climate crisis. For those actively working on this, as well as for all individuals exposed to its consequences in everyday life.  
To explore these questions we are joined by Dr Rebecca Nestor, who has researched the experience of working in the climate crisis and has consulted to people who work in organizations that deal with this matter, climate scientists, and campaign groups. Rebecca regularly runs climate cafes, which are opportunities for people to come together in small groups and share their emotional responses to the climate crisis and create meaning together. Next to this, she's also a board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance. As her tagline says, she provides support for those who are facing the climate crisis. 
The Lateral Dialogues are hosted by Warden Hoffman and Petros Oratis, managing partners at The Lateral Space http://www.thelateralspace.com/ 

4. Can we really talk about the war? Discussing geopolitical and social conflict in organizations and our social lives (with Bijan Khajehpour & Regine Scholz from IDI)

How can we engage in social dialogue on geopolitical or social conflict, such as the war in Gaza or Ukraine? How can we have a meaningful dialogue beyond polarization or political correctness? Why are we psychologically mobilized to fight, even when we are not directly linked to these conflicts and why are we impacted in our ability to think, talk, and act? We are joined by Bijan Khajehpour & Regine Scholz from the International Dialogue Initiative. They explain Vamik Volkan's theory of large group identity and collective trauma to understand how we are mobilized psychologically during a crisis or war. We explore how the dynamics of polarization and political correctness work and what we can practically do, to engage in meaningful dialogue. We finally discuss what organizations and management can do when their workforce is directly or indirectly affected by geopolitical conflict. 
The Lateral Dialogues are hosted by Warden Hoffman and Petros Oratis, managing partners at The Lateral Space http://www.thelateralspace.com/ 

3. Are we all impostors? Understanding self-doubt and -criticism in organizations (with Dr Veronica Azua)

Dr Veronica Azua got motivated to research self-doubt, after noticing a very common paradox in senior leaders: despite having led successful lives and careers, they would still experience heightened self-doubt and self-criticism. In this Lateral Dialogue, Veronica shares some of the key moments, when we are prone to experience such feelings. How being surrounded by high-achievers or part of "elite" organizations intensifies feelings of self-doubt which may not reflect realistic expectations of our role or results. We explore how organizations or particular contexts eliminate the space to feel doubtful or to tolerate not-knowing, and therefore as individuals, we stay with these feelings privately, often resulting in a systemic vicious circle of Doubt -> Unrealistic expectations -> Hard work -> Despair. Veronica finally shares a few practical strategies for individuals and teams to turn this around. Maybe self-doubt and self-criticism is a secret best kept. The Lateral Dialogues are hosted by Warden Hoffman and Petros Oratis, managing partners at The Lateral Space http://www.thelateralspace.com/ 

2. Obsessed with ranking: Inside the hidden hierarchy of teams (with Dr Petros Oratis).

Why do we create hierarchies in groups, even when we intend to be flat? Why are we so preoccupied with ranking, and yet we operate with absolute equality? This episode explores how we are unconsciously impacted by hierarchy, how to recognize the dynamics of hidden hierarchy, and what its unintended effects on teams and leadership are. 
The Lateral Dialogues are hosted by Warden Hoffman and Petros Oratis, managing partners at The Lateral Space http://www.thelateralspace.com/ 

1. Illuminating the hidden aspects of organizational culture (with Dr Karen Gray)

1. Illuminating the hidden aspects of organizational culture: How can we uncover its unconscious aspects? What happens when we expose uncomfortable truths of how we function? Why often culture doesn’t shift even when we explicitly cascade how we should behave differently?
Dr. Karen Gray joins Warden Hoffman and Petros Oratis in this Lateral Dialogue to explore these questions. 

The Lateral Dialogues - Trailer