David Whyte: The workplace poet and loaves and fishes

No celebration of poetry in the workplace can be complete without including David Whyte. He has decades of experience of bringing emotion into the workplace - but importantly, does this with respect  dignity and the understanding of employee and organisational processes.  I wasn't quite sure which of his stunning pieces to incidentalnclude in this blog. In the end I have chosen the one I use the most.  

David Whyte shares his poetry via his website. It's a great resource.  You may find this is an interview by Maria Seddio with David Whyte useful background.. I like it because it probes the why he does what he does and gives an insight into his caution and delicateness in bringing poetry to the workplace. [PDF]

Loaves and Fishes

This is not
the age of information.

This is not
the age of information.

Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.

This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.

People are hungry
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.

  -- David Whyte
      from The House of Belonging 
     ©1996 Many Rivers Press

How do I use this in the workplace?

This is useful for provoking deeper discussion about social movement and language. How one word, one short sentence, once moment - can create a shift in mindsets of others.  It's also about the difference between information and words that move people.  A good exercise with a group using this poem is to consider their own language and they own use of words. What are they commonly using? What evidence do they have of hyperbole and how effective is this?

The poem is not as straightforward as it looks and some people may read into it and feel quite different perspectives from others. It's important to listen to and respect these differences.

Poetry for the theorist: Poetry Month April 2013

If your interest in poetry in the workplace is broader than checking out a few poems, then there's an excellent Afterword to a book that is available as a PDF. It covers the history of poetry in the workplace, contains poems to illustrate the descriptive analysis and overall give a well rounded exposition on the topic.

I've not been able to find out the source of the PDF as I found it rather serendipitously. If anyone knows please leave a comment on this blog.

Poetry Month April 2013: Workplace Safety Poems

Safety? Poetry? You must be mad, I can hear you thinking. But no, there is such a thing and such a poet. Don Merrell specialises in writing poems about safety in the workplace.  Poetry has the advantage of appealing to the emotions. Safety at work is not only about check-lists  board papers, risk assessments and significant incident reviews. It's a mindset - and mindsets are about beliefs and values - which in turn are emotional factors.

I CHOSE TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY (Don Merrell)

I could have saved a life that day,
But I chose to look the other way.
It wasn’t that I didn’t care;
I had the time, and I was there.

But I didn’t want to seem a fool,
Or argue over a safety rule.
I knew he’d done the job before;
If I spoke up he might get sore.

The chances didn’t seem that bad;
I’d done the same, he knew I had.
So I shook my head and walked by;
He knew the risks as well as I.

He took the chance, I closed an eye;
And with that act, I let him die.
I could have saved a life that day,
But I chose to look the other way.

Now every time I see his wife,
I know I should have saved his life.
That guilt is something I must bear;
But isn’t’ something you need to share.

If you see a risk that others take
That puts their health or life at stake,
The question asked or thing you say;
Could help them live another day.

If you see a risk and walk away,
Then hope you never have to say,
“I could have saved a life that day,
But I chose to look the other way.”

How do I use this poem in the workplace?

Safety has an emotional angle and a poem like this allows a small group to discuss issues that might otherwise not be tabled in regular mtgs. I use this only in small groups so there is time and respect for listening to how it makes people feel. Do they have an example of when they "looked away". How did they feel? What might happen if they don't "look away".

Often patient safety is set up to be a systems issue - and it is. But it is also about individual mindsets and beliefs. This poem brings the individual to the fore and helps people understand their role in ensuring a safe process and workplace.

The issues are, of course, not about the poem, but about the workplace and what might be done to improve safety for all.

Poetry Month: celebrating poetry in the workplace

Graphic from grammar.dictionary.com

April is Poetry month.  For many, the last time they read a poem was in school, and even after class discussion they didn't really understand it.  I went off-piste on my academic learning a couple of years ago and completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University. It was a great course, notable for being practical - the academic-speak and theory was kept to a minimum. The aim was to turn out writers - and better readers.

Poetry is not "my thing" when it comes to creative writing. I have recently had returned to me the book of poetry I wrote as a teenager in 1979. Sheesh - the angst!  I do occasionally get my thoughts around a poem, but like may others who scribble their thoughts in verse, it feels too personal to share.

It's this same intimacy that draws us, as readers, to a poem. There's that feeling of instant connection when you read a poem and absolutely identify with the line you've just read. It's as though someone has said what you've been feeling - not what you've been thinking. Poetry has the ability to shine a light on those feelings we didn't realise we had.

Is it appropriate to bring poetry into the workplace? I don't see why not, and there is a whole discipline on this topic. And there are poets who specialise in this - David Whyte being my poet-hero.

Throughout April, I'll be blogging about poetry in the workplace, and sharing some of the poems that have meaning to me.