Plea for the round table
Everything in a circle
The round table is the perfect collaboration partner. A plea for a round table.
How do you approach a round table? Preferably not at all, some would say. Because a round table is per se free of status and hierarchy. It implies freedom of choice – it is a fundamental right that has become a form, so to speak.
This is probably why the round table has a liberating effect on most people. When you enter a room for the first time, for example shortly before an important meeting, the round table is a great signal. Because it is a redeeming precursor of things that are not to come: The frontal dilemma, the unpopular corner position, the loss of eye contact with like-minded people.
The round table looks like an inviting campfire. The most mythical place to come together. An archetype. Deep within us. Sitting together in a circle. Sharing experiences, developing plans. But also reflecting on the other person and contemplating oneself. A center of eternal being and becoming.
Its center, equally accessible to all, symbolizes the ideal of the center that we seek in cooperation with other people. An intersection of multifaceted ideas that meet, connect, change, improve, enlarge and multiply.
The round table is anything but an organ of the middle ground. It provides us with the opportunity to present different viewpoints on an equal level. It is equally visible, assessable and negotiable for everyone. It is an arena, playground and marketplace that is open to people – and at the same time maintains a friendly neutrality.
Above all, however, the round table is a beacon of hope. Anyone who is invited to it can assume that what they want to share will be appreciated and valued. The best case scenario is that it combines the good fortune of its location with the good fortune of the hour.
Despite all attempts to describe it, the aura of the round table remains inexplicable. It seems that its soft, smooth, organic shape not only sends us warm, trusting haptic signals, but that a magnetic pole invisibly concealed in its center inevitably casts a spell over us.
The effect of the round table is perhaps the most underestimated feature when it comes to shaping and furnishing our immediate living environment. At a time when we are relying more and more on the collective, open and spontaneous interaction of our different talents, we need embodiments that correspond to this essence.
The round table invites us to “come out of our corners” and find new centers together. We should rely on it because it is a collaborative partner that always stays in top shape.
