Welcome to the monthly Fearless Conversations newsletter - inspiration and tools to help us create a world in which fearless conversations are common in our workplaces, communities and relationships.

Most likely you remember the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped almost a half mile underground for 69 days in 2010.  Recently, the book about their story was released - Deep Down Dark.  Hearing the book reviewed on NPR, I felt resonance with an article I wrote four years ago: "Imagine the Fearless Conversations of the Chilean Miners".  The book, of course, provides so much more information and background than we could know from the media at the time.  Thanks to Héctor Tobar, the story of the Chilean miners lives on and still is available to us for our learning and inspiration.  The article below is a combination of some of my original and current reflections on their experience.

Shyrl

Light from Conversations in the Dark

Can you imagine the fearless conversations the Chilean miners must have had during their 69-day captivity a half-mile underground?  Their harrowing experience could have turned out so badly.  Instead, all 33 miners survived and emerged much healthier than anyone ever expected.  The world was captivated by their endurance and unity.  How did they do it?

  

I have always imagined that, in their own way, the miners lived out essentials of the four practices of Fearless Conversations.  Now, reading Deep Down Dark, I am still inclined to draw those parallels, but in light of the profound awe I now have at how they actually helped one another live under such horrendous circumstances. 

One of the design principles of the conversational process called The World Café is to create hospitable space where different perspectives and ideas are
sought and discussed in lively conversations.  The miners created an hospitable space in El Refugio
(their emergency center) where they launched the conversations that saved their lives. There they gathered to get beyond their fears, to organize their living together, to make decisions for the good
of all, and to support one another with hope.  In El Refugio they built their unity around one spirit, one goal. 

A basic premise of Appreciative Inquiry is that we (individuals, organizations) move in the direction of the questions we ask. With the passage of each day, the miners had to inquire about everything on a continuum of possibilities from being entombed forever to being reunited with their families and friends someday. Though tempted, they could not dwell on the problems that produced the catastrophe, inflame the situation with blame, or fortify themselves with their judgments.  They could not afford to derail their ability to think creatively about all the unknowns they had to endure.  They created a level of trust to stay connected with one another, to devise life-saving strategies, and to respond to changing circumstances.  According to the last miner rescued, "We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight.  We wanted to fight for our families and that was the greatest thing."

The mission of those who practice Nonviolent Communication is to create a world where everyone's needs matter.  The miners had no choice but to "come to the table" with the truth about their own individual needs and with openness to the needs of their companions.  If they were slow to express their needs, others sensed their needs, anyway.  There were plenty of times some of them tried "power over", i.e. getting needs met by making people submit to demands. 
They survived, though, only by "power with", i.e. reasoning with and appealing to one another to act
for everyone's well-being.  Often their communication was complicated, infuriating, maddening. Even so,  ultimately, their empathy for one another sustained them.

Their life-threatening circumstances made it imperative that the miners learn to use their personality  differences constructively.  Though they found the differences challenging, threatening and annoying at times, they also discovered ways they depended on those differences for their survival.  In ordinary circumstances we can use personality assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® to help us understand and use different ways we communicate, make decisions, and exercise leadership.  In Deep Down Dark, Tobar's vivid descriptions and riveting story-telling get us to know the unique personality of each miner -- each with their particular strengths and struggles.  One can see and feel the countless ways they used and bridged their differences to remain united -- indeed, to survive.

The miners emerged from the mine "33 strong"; I like to think that means 33 strong individuals, as well as 33 equaling 1 extraordinary whole.  I am glad Héctor Tobar has written such a magnificent account of the miners' experience.  May the miners inspire and embolden us to initiate and sustain fearless conversations of our own.

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