The heart of many of our issues: a lack of space

Let's talk about space.

The debate on space has a long tradition going all the way back to Thomas Robert Malthus' essay of 1798 in Britain arguing that overpopulation was going to surpass food supplies, leading to mass starvation.

It is funny looking back now on this period as the world was reaching 1 billion humans, 7 billions less than now, a mere 12% of our current population.

The debate continued, arguably is still going on today, resurfacing every so often, sometimes through politically charged accusations. One thing we know is that the debate was misled for a good two hundred years, as starvation hasn't been linked to overpopulation as much as political and environmental events.

The debate on space was mostly about food, as food was mostly about farming, and farming needs land, and land is space.

Yet, today it's no longer about food.

Need for Space

In a way we all come from space, an ever-expanding universe spacious enough to easily manage an incalculable number of galaxies with their own ridiculously large number of stars and planets.

Space is important. It is an intrinsic feature of our universe. Planets that are too close to each other fall into their gravitational pulls. They crash into each other. They obliterate their own existence.

In a certain sense space allows life to happen. It's the weed that starts growing out of concrete cracks. It's the teenager that finds themselves in boarding school. It's the blank page that meets an artist.

We don't value space as much as we need to; and yet, space, both physically and conceptually, is at the heart of a lot of issues we face as humans.

Space & Issues

Climate change, polarisation, housing crisis, even war; everywhere we look, we seem to be running out of space. Sadly space is the feature we tend to forget. It's often invisible or seen as simple background, the vastness of our universe, the forests in our landscapes, the pure air and oxygen we breathe.

Who's advocating for space for space's sake? Not many people. We find proponents of space for themselves, which ironically is destroying that neutral space we all need. Space is the great buffer that protects us all. Space safeguards our social lives, our environment, and even our relationships at work.

Space & Pressure

Technological innovation was often referred to as the shrinking of the world. We'd now be able to travel long distances in a very short period of time. We'd be able to communicate instantly with anybody in the world. We'd be part of a global village.

If you ever had flatmates, as a growing section of the population in big cities have for lack of space, you'd have realised that space isn't only about how many potatoes you can fit in your cupboard. If you ever had an argument with a relative during a common trip or extended holiday celebrations, you'd know that this argument would not have happened under normal space circumstances.

A lack of space creates pressure on the foundation of our society, on our relationships. It's creating a highly pressurised environment where every single detail about our lives - from our political views, to our personal beliefs, to our habits - becomes public and scrutinised.

Social media and the general rise of the internet, with a new wave of personal branding, enabled this lack of space, this anonymity, to disappear. We're now all part of a show for which we haven't signed up, we are celebrities having all the downsides of tabloids without any of its benefits.

Workspaces have sadly not been immune to this attack on space.

Space & Workplaces

Workplaces are increasingly expected to fill up as much of the space we previously enjoyed. They're your new church, your charity, your community. They're your townhall, your financial planner, your health professional.

Companies are expected to become complete institutions. They're expected to cater to your every need, to discuss and agree on all political and social dynamics of the day. They're your new government and family, the modern version of the cradle to grave.

There's a very simple issue at the heart of this development, a similar issue we find at extended family dinners or with our flatmates: it's too much to ask from a single relationship.

It's too much to ask because the lack of space brings everything to the surface. Where previously we'd find some areas acceptable or even enjoyable, we now disagree on things and see the ugliness we were previously too far from each other to perceive. (have you ever looked at a butterfly under a microscope? not as beautiful).

Space as Guardrail

Space protects us. This is LinkedIn, so I am going to focus on space at work and the new expectations thrust upon companies. Companies have been forced into an extended family dinner with their employees.

The issue is that it removes a lot of the guardrails we used to enjoy, one of which is the space to think, the space to err.

In this highly pressurised environment where all issues of the days must be addressed and agreed, from social to political to environmental issues, enjoying space to think for yourself can be seen as disagreeing with the group or overall majority.

It is a big issue. As mentioned before, it is impossible to agree on everything with everyone; we're all uglier in some way under a microscope. But it's also about democracy, about respecting the space other people need to refine and express their ideas and beliefs.

If we're not ready to do this, if we simply believe that people are wrong and need to agree with us, we're not ready to have proper public forums and companies, and it's perhaps better that way.

Companies as Forums

Companies have become the dominant institution over the past few decades. A true success story, there are now many companies much larger in wealth than entire countries. They have claimed a large section of our time, as both illustrated by low unemployment rates and long working hours.

You cannot get away from companies. It is the dominant institution. For this reason, we can't possibly just discard companies. We can't shut down important debates in companies, from social discriminations, to racism, to unfair treatments.

If these debates do not occur in companies in the 21st century, where will they occur? On social media perhaps (we've seen where that gets us). Sadly we've lost a lot of the other institutions where these debates could be occurring, we've been bowling alone (a reference to Robert D. Putnam's the Collapse and Revival of American Community).

Creating a healthy forum is hard. It is the whole of democracy in a room. The kind of stuff our classics talk about. I am also not sure that people are ready for true democratic forums in companies. Forums allow the ugliest to be presented and discussed. It is our family dinners on steroids.

It is not simply doing due diligence to avoid lawsuits. It is not telling people what they should think or believe. It is actively engaging with what you see as the ugliest of the ugly and discussing it. It is hard to do with our family members, and it is harder to do with strangers.

But yet, we ask companies to do it all.

Companies & Institutions

Is it fair on companies? Is it fair to ask one single institution to fulfil us? It seems a lot. It also seems like it isn't necessarily companies that decided to get into this position. It was partly a good thing that they do, as employees advocated for more rights and discussed important issues.

Yet, it might have spiralled out of control for some companies.

How did we get there? I believe there are three areas worth looking into, and if we can't sort them out, three spaces to reclaim.

1/ Lack of Forum Rules - Space to Think Freely

It is a common criticism that today's discussions in companies tend to be highly pressured and political charged, resulting in individuals fearing for their jobs if they say the wrong thing.

This is a big issue. Ideas are ever-evolving. They change as they're practiced and exchanged. Asking people to express their opinions while punishing them if they say the wrong thing (formally or informally via ostracism) is counterproductive.

We cannot expect both companies and people to make up their minds fully on any societal issue, let alone days within anything happening. We also cannot expect people to think freely if they're operating in a highly pressured environment where their livelihood might be threatened.

If companies cannot create proper forums - and it is very hard to do so - they should simply leave the space to their employees to think for themselves.

2/ Scrutiny & Ugliness - Space to be Yourself

We're all work in progress. We might not have thought about every single debate and pushed our reasoning to its end. In fact, research highlights that most of us do not.

It isn't fair and necessary to push people to the end of their reasoning, to connect the mundane to the important. We have many layers of reasoning behind what we do and what we believe. Some of these layers we haven't even explored ourselves.

Is it necessary to push people into an intrinsic exploration of their core beliefs and what constitutes who they are? They say the devil is in the details. It surely is.

It is easy to get us all to agree on the basics, to focus on the common denominator. It is hard to agree on every single thing and its origins, its deeper philosophical origins.

If companies cannot properly explore the ugliness that constitutes us below the surface, they should stay at the surface. They should leave the space for employees to explore and be themselves elsewhere.

3/ Lack of Institutions - Space to Choose

In political science, there's the concept of voting with your feet. It's simply about making choices based on where you go, on what you decide to take part in. For example, someone could vote for a different region of the world by moving to this region.

Sadly today we have less to choose from when it comes to public forums for us to practise and discuss our ideas. Community spaces have been declining for decades.

This is why I say that it's not companies' fault. They've inherited a lot of the roles other institutions were fulfilling. They've become single parents.

This has reduced the space for people to choose their institutions, their forums. Where they might previously go to church, sport groups, or neighbourhood events to discuss the issues of the day, they now have nowhere to go.

Companies need to understand these dynamics. They're facing unreasonable expectations. They're asked to fill up the vacuum other institutions have left behind.

But they cannot fill up this vacuum on their own. It's simply too much for a single entity, a single institution. Rather, they need to take some of the pressure off, to give back some space for, hopefully, other institutions to come back to life.

Reclaiming Space

Space is important.

Companies need to realise that while it is valuable to 'do' something about our current issues, giving back space is also 'doing'.

Refraining from taking the space people need is an important action. It isn't as visible, it might be seen as ignoring, but it's not.

Of course creating true and healthy 'safe spaces' is also important. It is hard to do, and getting the balance wrong is easy and counterproductive. But it is also true that a single institution - companies - cannot create space for every single issue and for every single person.

Employees must realise that companies are companies. Expectations have become heightened. Other institutions are needed. Diversity is also about the diversity of our forums, of the institutions we can decide to take part in by voting with our feet.

Companies are definitely not the best institution to tackle everything that falls on their shoulder. They have a strong responsibility, there's no doubt. But they cannot be alone.

Space is good. If people are forced to have their whole self seen under a microscope, in an institution where they have no choice but to take part in in order to put food on the table, they might feel frustrated, they might feel violated.

Companies are forced in a position where they must be everything. It isn't reasonable.

They must be our family, our place of learning, our provider, our psychologist, our community, our political group.

Yet, we have too many needs for one single space.

One institution cannot be our everything.

We need space for others.