Oldal 123 [123]
Do ACCELERATION AND BOUNDLESS WORK LEAD TO
ACCELERATED AND BOUNDLESS COACHING?
It also makes me more courageous. The practice of freedom firstly promotes
mindfulness, secondly the courage to speak the truth, and thirdly critique.
CRITIQUE
Foucault answers the question of “What is critique?“ in a surprising and
extraordinary manner. To him, critique is not a theoretically-oriented cognitive
activity, but something extraordinarily practical and concrete. His famous
definition reads: “Critique is the art not to be governed so much.”’®
What does that mean? Foucault thinks that a decisive factor in this process
is that people influence each other all the time, in most cases reciprocally. Only
in extraordinary forms of “oppressive rule” is one side hardly in a position to
exert any influence at all.
The targeted form of exerting influence is referred to as “gouvernementalité”
or “governance” by Foucault. This means that “critique” as the art “not to be
governed so much’ first of all encompasses that I become more aware of whom
or what influences me and how this influence manifests itself specifically and
concretely.
If, for instance, mass-media applications and techniques instil in me the
idea of having to be contactable 24 hours on 7 seven days a week, the art of not
being governed so much would consist in looking for ways, together with my
dialogue partner, where possible, to uncover and overcome reachability as a
form of total availability.
Social trends, especially in life at work, leading to a delimitation of
professional life, which invariably usher in acceleration without times of casual
leisure and idleness, should not simply be tolerated, but critique would motivate
us not to be governed so much, but to experience autonomy in how I decide
how to spend my own time.
The chance to experience time differently characterizes the attractiveness
of specific consultation processes, e.g. to take the time for oneself and, as a
consequence, to experience time as an enrichment where I do not allow others
to exert pressure on me to find fast solutions but to look for small steps whilst
listening attentively to one another.
One thing is clear and evident and can be experienced every so often in
consultation: It is simply not possible to listen more rapidly. The same applies
to numerous other central spheres in life: It is worthwhile reflecting upon the
16 Michel Foucault, Was ist Kritik? Berlin, 1982.
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