Leaving the Legal Liability Mindset Behind
A defensive position might help us feel protected in the moment but this armour prevents us from having healthy relationships built with trust. We regularly work with folks who have their metaphorical fists up, and while it’s totally normal and understandable, it’s ultimately an unhelpful position to hold, especially when conflict arises in a community.
Too often we work with people who have what we refer to as a “legal liability mindset”. There is of course a necessary place for legalities within organizations, but there is a growing trend of organizations going to great lengths to insulate themselves from responsibility in a way that ignores the relational, human side of conflict. In reality, there are often ways to find meaningful resolution to problems without relying on legalistic or adversarial mindsets and systems.
This legal liability mindset has a handful of characteristics:
Defense, denial or avoidance of conflict
Internal processes that discourage people from taking responsibility and accountability (aka, a punitive approach)
Turning to legal processes as a first step when conflict arises
Leaning on external authorities decide what should happen next
Adversarial, winner/loser energy toward conflict
I always find a great deal of irony in this way of working. The attempt to protect is in and of itself an escalation of conflict. Defensiveness can increase risk and lower the chances of resolution and harmony. Essentially, positions of defense, denial, or avoidance are adversarial to the core, not to mention costly.
The antidote to the legal liability mindset is choosing to commit to doing what’s right. The restorative lens offers so many powerful teachings on how to do this. Instead of continuing to build a fortress, we can shift our focus to owning the part we played in the harm and can offer care to those around us. As practitioners we work intentionally to create a space where people are able to be honest and courageous in their communication so folks can be responsible and accountable for their actions and impacts. It’s natural that we all make mistakes and these moments are opportunities for us to grow as individuals and community members. When we focus on accountability and responsibility, this opens space for those harmed to express the impacts of the harm and their needs as a result. There is power in good-faith participation. There is power in people having space to use their voice. We see the benefits of this process every day and will forever advocate for an end to the legal liability mindset.