Speech Acts

It is inaccurate to think that the only function of language is

descriptive (representational). That is to say, it is an illusion that
with language there is only words fitting the world accurately or
not.
For a simple example of a speech act, when you say the words,
“I promise”, you are not representing a promise, you are not
talking about a promise - your word brings forth a promise into
the world. It is a way of speaking that creates something in the
world rather than describes something already in the world.
When you say, “I promise”, what falls out of your mouth IS a
promise. It is as though you say the word “chair”, and a physical
chair falls out of your mouth. A promise suddenly exists where
no promise existed before. And, you can’t dismiss that by saying,
“That’s just semantics”.
 Word-to-World Fit <> World-to-Word Fit
Word-to-World Fit = your words match the world.
World-to-Word Fit = the world matches your words.
Word-to-World Fit = In word-to-world fit what you say fits the
world already there. Loosely said, word-to-world fit is the
power of language to represent or describe what is already
there.
World-to-Word Fit = In world-to-word fit what you say
“creates” the world or brings forth a world (or some aspect
of the world). Loosely said, world-to-word fit is the power
of language to bring into existence some aspect of the
world that does not already exist, or to alter the way the
world itself exists by, for example, bringing into existence a
future that was not going to happen anyway.
 The Vocabulary of Committed
Speaking and Listening
Given that leadership is an exercise in language, a certain mastery of
language (speaking and listening) is required.
First we go through the fundamental terms of this vocabulary and then
show how they are networked together to create a rigorous
conversational domain that allows leaders to bring forth and realize
futures that weren’t going to happen anyway.
This language works powerfully when this vocabulary is used precisely
and without shortcuts. Regarding leadership and language, what is
essential is “precision” rather than “eloquence”.
To repeat what we said earlier in this course, integrity is a necessary
condition for workability. In this case, integrity is a condition that must
be present for this conversational domain to produce anything with
power.
You are giving your word to honor your word as your declarations,
stands, commitments, and promises, as we are about to define them.
 The Speech Act: Declaring
The future is brought into existence as a realm
of possibility by the speech act called declaring.
A declaration creates a realm of possibility
through the very act of declaring.
Declarations bring forth the possibility for
something to be.
With declarations, human beings can open up
an entirely new way for the world, or any
aspect of the world, to manifest itself.
The Speech Act: Declaring (Cont’d)
What we mean by declaration is not mere positive
thinking and it certainly isn’t describing what’s already
so, as illustrated by the power of the declaration made by
the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Another demonstration of the power of a declaration is
when someone with the authority for doing so says, “I
now pronounce you husband and wife.” And if you think
a declaration is just semantics, try telling that to the
judge in a divorce proceeding.
And by the way, the person who performed your
marriage ceremony got the authority to do so by virtue of
nothing more than a declaration conferring that authority.
 The Speech Act: Standing For
What you stand for is what you say that your life is
about and for what you can unquestionably be
counted on - whether expressed in the form of a
declaration made to one or more people, or even to
yourself, as well as what you allow people to believe
that you stand for.
Once a new realm of possibility is brought into being
by declaration, one puts oneself into that realm of
possibility by standing for some aspect of that realm
of possibility and letting people know that you are
available and can be counted on.
 The Speech Act: Committing
Once you have taken a stand for something, and let
people know you can be counted on, the next act is
the act of committing.
Saying “I commit to …” is investing yourself in and
putting yourself at risk for realizing the possibility you
committed to.
Your commitment organizes you and gives you a
direction in which to move in your life that allows you
to experience fulfilling on what you are standing for
and what you declared as a possibility.
Your commitment organizes you: for e.g.: Kitchen of
a lady
 The Speech Act: Promising
Once you have brought forth a realm of possibility through declaration,
and generated what you are standing for and the commitments you
have invested yourself in and put yourself at risk for, the question is:
What are the promises which if delivered on make real this new future
(the realm of possibility you declared)?
A promise is your word given to a person or to an entity for a specific
action or a specific result by a specific time. In other words, there is
always a “what”, “to whom” and “by when”.
Be clear that promising is a creative act that puts you at risk, and if you
don’t experience being creative and at risk you have not promised.
Usually people connect their promises made to others with
circumstances and not to their declarations. When you connect
promise to your circumstance there is no pattern registered in your
brain for you to live up to it even though you intend it. But when you
connect your promise to the declaration it registers a pattern in your
brain creating in you a natural being and action to live it.
 The Speech Act: Requesting
A request is the asking of another (or others) for a promise, that
is, a request for another (or others) to promise to take some
specific action or to produce some specific result by some
specific time.
A request is only a request if the person to whom one is making
the request has the opportunity to decline, accept, counteroffer,
or to promise to respond at a timely later time.
A request is not a casual act. If a request is declined (or counter
offered) one should be prepared to provide the basis on which
one is declining (or counter offering).
In the use of the vocabulary of committed speaking and listening
“I decline” does not necessarily end the conversation.
 The Speech Act: Offering
People can offer to make promises. Why
would anybody do this? That is to say, why
would anybody put themselves at risk for
doing something they were not asked to do?
They do so because they are committed,
that is they have invested themselves in the
realization of a future that wasn’t going to
happen anyway.
 The Speech Act: Commanding or
Demanding
With authority comes the right to make
certain commands or demands on others.
While we tend to think of a command or a
demand as un declinable, one can decline if
one is willing to suffer the consequences of
that decline.
 The Speech Act: Inviting
An invitation is distinct from a request. Unlike a request, with an
invitation there is no commitment for you to do something, only
an opportunity.
You can decline an invitation without explaining yourself or
providing a basis upon which you are declining (if this is a true
invitation).
In the domain of committed speaking and listening, leaders use
invitation to have others engage in the possibility as a possibility.
When people get present to a possibility they may not take it on
for themselves, but it does live for them as possible.
A critical conversation to master in fulfilling on your leadership
project and in fulfilling on what you are up to in life that is bigger
than you are, is enrollment. And the phenomenon of enrollment
lives in inviting.
 The Speech Act: Revoking
Revoking your word is taking back your word to keep
your word.
As we said in the discussion of integrity, whenever you
will not be keeping your word, just as soon as you
become aware that you will not be keeping your word
(including not keeping your word on time) saying to
everyone impacted:
a. that you will not be keeping your word, and
b. that you will keep that word in the future, and by when,
or, that you won’t be keeping that word at all, and
c. what you will do to deal with the impact on others of
the failure to keep your word (or to keep it on time).
 The Speech Act: Asserting
Again, from our discussion of integrity:
whenever you have given your word to
others as to the existence of some thing or
some state of the world, your word includes
being willing to be held accountable that the
others would find your evidence makes what
you have asserted valid for themselves.
The Dance of Committed Speaking
And Listening
To arrive at promises that make a difference, there is an
interaction/dialog/dance that involves the following moves:
When you make a request, possible responses are:
- Accepting the request which leads to a promise specified by
the request
-Declining a request which leads to no promise (although there
may be a conversation around the basis of the decline that may
shift an aspect of the decline, or the decline itself).
-Counter offering a request which, if accepted, creates a new
promise
As with a request, offering a promise can be declined, accepted,
or counter offered.
The Pitfalls: What Masquerades as
Committed Speaking and Listening
An invitation that is really a request (your mother
inviting you to Thanksgiving Day dinner)
A request that is really a demand (“you can’t decline
that”) Sincerity masquerading as a promise
A lack of specificity in the “what”, “to whom” or “by
when” associated with a promise
Not putting a promise into existence (having a
promise exist only in your head)
Not learning the consequences of declining a
command prior to declining
 Constituting Yourself Inside What You
Are Creating As Bigger Than Yourself
You exercise leadership effectively through
using and being used by committed speaking
and listening.
A possible template that is totally explicit: I
declare the possibility of being…. Or :
We declare the possibility of being a group,
company, organization … that …
I (we) stand for…
I (we) commit to...
I (we) promise, or request, or offer…