You know that feeling you get when someone unfairly and subtly puts you down after you share a radical idea at work? If it happens repeatedly, many people eventually complain about the person to their manager or HR. But what if you could safely address this behaviour, privately and in real-time, instead of waiting for them to repeat it? That’s what we do.
Plato and Aristotle had a Minor Spat
Our conversation began by contrasting Plato and Aristotle. Plato was presented to me as focusing on timeless ideals and abstract forms, while Aristotle - a student of Plato - was described as grounding knowledge in observation and the study of the natural world. This raised the question of where SpatzAI sits philosophically....
Resolved or Escalate. Repeat
Make sure the issue is repeated enough times before complaining. Then: If this happens, wait 90 seconds, stay calm. Be respectful. If that fails, document privately. If they respond this way, then complain anonymously to HR. If they respond another way, involve your manager secretly. Etc. Etc. No wonder there are so many unresolved conflicts causing toxic workplaces. SpatzChat takes a simpler approach.
It’s the behavior, stupid!
I think we often confuse criticism with course correction. Criticism usually comes after frustration has built up. "I'm sick of you always doing that." By then, several incidents may have accumulated, emotions are higher, and the discussion can easily become about the person rather than the behavior. SpatzAI takes a different approach....
A Speculative Research Proposal on Fair Conversation as a Pathway Toward Artificial General Intelligence
This paper presents a speculative research hypothesis rather than a claim. It proposes that fair conversation may provide a richer environment for developing general intelligence than the bounded environments traditionally used in many AI systems, such as games....
Communal Accountability
Most workplace systems still treat objectionable behaviour as something for leadership or HR to decide. That makes sense once a matter has become serious. But what about the moment before that? What about the small public put-down, the dismissive tone, the repeated interruption, the sarcastic remark, the patronising comment, or the unfair delivery during disagreement?
If You Were Sue, Would You Use SpatzChat?
Imagine you are Sue in a team meeting. You suggest an idea. Jim responds publicly: “Babe, that’ll NEVER work! What were you thinking?” Maybe Jim was careless. Maybe he did not realise how dismissive he sounded. Maybe he did. Either way, the real test is what happens next. Sue gives him a light verbal caution:
I’ll Spatz You Later
Imagine if we had a chat-app and platform that enabled teams, during meetings, to address minor objectionable issues on the fly, before they were allowed to fester, compound and escalate into more intractable conflict incidents down the track.
I have been thinking about a possibility that sits at the heart of workplace conflict research. What if disagreement and conflict are not the same thing? Reference: Understand Conflict Most conflict researchers seem to define conflict broadly enough to include disagreements....
Addressing Workplace Impingements
For years I've been interested in workplace conflict or micro-conflicts, but lately I've been thinking about something even smaller. Not conflict. Not even an infringement. An impingement or someone impinging on the other player's space. In soccer, a player can subtly tug an opponent's shirt. It may be almost invisible. The referee might miss it. The crowd certainly won't notice most of the time....
Object123 