08.04.2025
What happens when you invite conflict to dinner? That’s exactly what one peer learning group explored as part of a six-month journey into division and grief within networks...
In this series of Spotlights on Learning, we sit down with Huddle hosts and participants to harvest their insights gained and share them with you. In this conversation with Jotham Sietsma (Independent Facilitator and Senior Associate at Reos Partners), participant of the Working with Division & Grief Huddle, we talk about how networks can prepare for conflict.
What’s your name and where are you sitting?
Jotham Sietsma, and I’m based in Leipzig, Germany.
What’s the golden thread through your life and work?
I think a golden thread is very much around connecting people to work together, to get inspired by each other and make good things happen — whether it's about cooking food or high stakes collaborations.
What was your learning question?
My learning question was: What do I need to learn and unlearn or let go of when working across division in my networks? And a sub question: How am I part of the problem and how can I be part of the solution?
What’s a high point of the Huddle for you?
My high point was a session that was prepared by our [hosts] Louisa and Clara, where we were invited to design a dinner experience where conflict was invited as a guest. I was really surprised by how much it brought me personally and also people in the group... How by shifting your position, it gave you a completely other outlook on what's going on.
[The session] invited us to sit in the design chair — thinking about how you would want to organize this dinner, for example, picking food items on the topic of conflict. I picked Zatar, this spice mix from the Levant which is something where a lot of people say that it's originally theirs.