Together London Information

I started Together London to respond to a question: Why do professional teams experience conflict, and what can we do about it? A standard answer might suggest clashing personality types or a lack of “emotional intelligence.” My experience training hundreds of professionals suggests otherwise. Conflict isn’t caused by individual people’s choices. It’s caused by systems of power. Society grants us privileges based on our race, gender, sexuality, class and more. Workplaces tend to reproduce the oppressive power dynamics which sustain these privileges. This shows up in their unspoken rules. Teams must: prioritise the psychological needs of the most privileged over almost anything else; participate in the sham of “inclusive” decision-making; and deny the existence of these rules and the harm they cause. Conflict stems from the mismatch between the supposedly honourable purpose of professional work and the lived reality of these power dynamics. Most professionals claim to reject all oppressions, from sexism to racism and beyond—until it comes to facing up to their complicity in sustaining them, at which point the denial begins. Our current moment makes such denial untenable. If we’re serious about creating a liveable future, it’s time for a reckoning with both our past and the way power shapes workplaces today. I offer Together London’s services in the hope that we can move past denial and begin to dismantle the systems which sustain oppression. —Jonathan Kahn, Founder