Around the world, one can find proverbs and idioms that effectively speak the same message:<\/p>\n
The primary message: Don\u2019t stand out or push against the status quo.\u00a0 Accept your place, don\u2019t challenge the authorities, and mind your own business.\u00a0 \u2026and if someone does <\/em>stand out and faces the consequences, then take advantage of their \u201cfoolishness\u201d.<\/p>\n Living in Hong Kong, the first thing I noticed was the top down hierarchy of power here.\u00a0 In the workplace, one doesn\u2019t simply approach the head boss.\u00a0 You have to go through the proper channels and eventually \u2013 maybe \u2013 you\u2019ll get your audience with the king.<\/a>[1]\u00a0 Even when problems are blatantly apparent, no one is willing to stand out and say, \u201cThis needs to be improved.\u201d\u00a0 And if you do, you become the center of gossip while also becoming Public Enemy #1. \u00a0As such\u2026nothing ever really changes unless there is direct order from the top.\u00a0 And even then\u2026<\/p>\n Throughout An Everyone Culture,<\/em> Kegan and Lahey chronicle a group of Deliberatively Developmental Organizations (DDOs) and their unique culture of building people up.\u00a0 In these DDOs, there is a culture of growth.\u00a0 The typical stagnation of remaining in the same position and keeping your head down is thrown out completely in favor of creating a holistic environment that embraces vulnerability, creativity, and the privilege of failure.<\/p>\n We\u2019re often afraid to make a change because we\u2019re afraid of failure.\u00a0 We\u2019re afraid to fail because failure makes us vulnerable.\u00a0 Vulnerability entails discomfort, so we refuse to challenge that which makes us comfortable.<\/strong>\u00a0 However, we can\u2019t grow unless we fail. \u00a0But we also can\u2019t fail unless we try.\u00a0 Yet we don\u2019t try because that would mean sticking our neck out \u2013 not just for ourselves, but for others as well.<\/p>\n One of the key questions Kegan and Lahey raise is, \u201cWhat if we created an environment where it was okay<\/em><\/strong> to fail and make mistakes?\u201d\u00a0 I echo the question as I reflect on how this would change not just the way we approach ministry, but how we approach our relationship with God.<\/p>\n Creating an \u201ceveryone culture\u201d isn\u2019t just about creating an inclusive environment that allows an organization to flourish, but it is about creating the space for grace to live abundantly in our midst.\u00a0 In John Lynch, Bruce McNicol and Bill Thrall\u2019s book The Cure,<\/em> they pose a similar question.<\/a>[2]\u00a0 They use the analogy of living in the \u201cRoom of Grace\u201d where the masks we keep on for the sake of ourselves is allowed to come off for the first time.\u00a0 It is a place where we can look at one another say, \u201cYou may have messed up, but I love you regardless.\u201d\u00a0 It is a place where genuine healing and growth can happen as we walk alongside the One who brings Life.<\/p>\n It is a place where there is no barrier \u2013 a place where \u201cthat giant mound of rotted cat food and mayonnaise\u201d no longer stands between us and God, between us and those around us.<\/a>[3]\u00a0 It is a place of freedom, a Kingdom turned upside down.<\/p>\n What if this was our lived reality and not a compartmentalized life that shuts and locks the ugly away?\u00a0 What if creating an \u201ceveryone culture\u201d extended beyond organizations and into our relationships?<\/p>\n What if we took off the mask? \u00a0What if we embraced our vulnerability? \u00a0What if we learned to truly fail? …and rise stronger than before.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a>[1] Refer back to The Culture Map<\/em> and the chapter on power dynamics.<\/p>\n