Radical Honesty as an Intervention: Insights from the Catalyst Lab
In this blog post, Catalyst Alexandra Choutko shares her experiences from the Catalyst Lab, where her initial sense of disconnection led her to create an intervention in the form of a radical honesty workshop. Alexandra was part of the Catalyst Lab cohort 2023–2024.
“I would recommend the Catalyst Lab to anyone willing to develop their skills in systems interventions and to those longing for like-minded changemakers to collaborate with.”
– Alexandra Choutko, Catalyst, Coach and Scrum Master
I have always had a deep longing for unity — real unity, and acceptance for who we truly are. This yearning goes beyond artificial harmony, it is a desire for genuine connection with others and my surroundings, and a desire for deep, systemic change towards planetary peace. With this longing, I registered for the Catalyst Lab.
A Feeling of Disconnection
As I embarked on the learning journey, however, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of disengagement. Despite the beautiful surroundings, the pertinence of the tools and methods, and the powerful hosting team, I found myself feeling disconnected. I felt detached from nature, from the group, and from the process we were undergoing. I kept weaving in and out of it, following my own path, my unique way of fitting in and not fitting in. Along the way, the facilitators' team supported me beautifully on this personal and, at times, painful journey.
Creating a Space for Genuine Connection
This is how I had the idea to create something additional to my Catalyst group project: As part of my systemic intervention, I proceeded to craft a workshop on radical honesty, and put it into practice during the changemaker event Agora der Zukunftsvögel in Lucerne.
Agora der Zukunftsvögel - Picture: Dimitri Brooks
This intervention was born from my deep longing for genuine spaces of connection — a desire to be seen and to see others in our raw human essence, offering the opportunity to face and be faced with our true selves, free from the masks we wear.
Vulnerability as an Opportunity for Change
In this space of radical honesty, I invited participants, most of whom had never met before, to share their thoughts about each other — whether about looks, clothes, or inner feelings.
For this exercise, we agreed to ground ourselves with these two guiding principles:
Whatever you say about someone else is a reflection of your belief patterns, thoughts, feelings, judgments, and ways of classifying reality. It has nothing to do with the person sitting in front of you.
Whatever hurts me has something to do with me alone.
You may wonder why. A movie by Gabor Maté illustrates this strikingly when he asks a woman: "Would you feel hurt if I told you that you have green hair?" – "No, of course not." – "And what if I said you are a monster?" This passage emphasises that we are often hurt only by what we fear might be true. Consciously taking a step back from this reasoning allows us to be open to giving and receiving honesty.
The session was beautiful, and people were deeply touched by the level of connection that was created. Some participants even joined to make the point that radical honesty does not work, but they had to admit that it did. : )
Truth as an Intervention towards Planetary Peace
““I believe we face two choices on the path towards growth and planetary peace: either we express our true thoughts and feelings (transparency), or we eradicate them at their core to align with the person we aspire to be (inner work).””
I have a profound longing to create such spaces — spaces where we reconnect with our true nature and the essence of our being. On the journey to reconnect with that essence, and by speaking honestly, we might hurt people. Yet, we will gain something invaluable: We will be seen for who we truly are, and this allows others to hold and love us for us.
I believe we face two choices on the path towards growth and planetary peace: either we express our true thoughts and feelings (transparency) or we eradicate those feelings and thoughts at their core to align with the person we aspire to be (inner work). But we must stop suppressing who we are.
We must reveal our authentic selves and embrace our true nature – two things that require courage and determination. For even if we may fear being monsters, at our core, we are birds of paradise, ready to spread our wings and shine.
