Dialogue in the Dark, a trainer tells her story
Dörte Maack is an actress on an extraordinary stage: since 2006 she has worked as a trainer in connection with the exhibition Dialogue in the Dark® in Hamburg – seminars in a lightless room! In this interview she tells us why this concept is so special.
Ms. Maack herself became blind about 10 years ago and can now only perceive light and dark. She distills her experiences from living with and without sight into extraordinary training concepts for executives and teams. The trained actress worked for many years as a drama teacher, studied education, sports science, and linguistics, and received a teaching position at the University of Hamburg immediately after graduating. The questions were posed by PR consultant Sabine Prell.
Sabine Prell: Ms. Maack, when I attended your seminar, you asked me to take off my glasses. This made me feel very insecure. I only regained some confidence with the white cane. Does this physical aid provide psychological strength?
Dörthe Maack: Well, it's an aid that helps blind people lead self-determined lives. Of course, it takes more than just a white cane for this to succeed. But if it does, it can also lead to psychological strength.
Sabine Prell: As a trained actress, you must find it easy to slip into new roles. How long did it take you to adjust to the situation of being blind – which, of course, doesn't end after just one "season"?
Dörthe Maack: A role on stage and a role in life are two very different things. I fought against going blind for several years, sometimes furiously, sometimes desperately, and as you know, completely without success. But to stick with the image of a role: above all, I fought against the stereotypical image of a blind woman in our society, and I succeeded. My acting background helps me immensely in breaking down these role stereotypes.
Sabine Prell: When I read your CV, I was very impressed by how you see blindness in a "sighted world" as a personal advantage and use it professionally. What gave you the certainty to enter the world of coaching with this handicap?
Dörthe Maack: Even when I could still see, I enjoyed working with blindfolded exercises. When I first encountered Dialogue in the Dark, I initially saw it as a tremendous enhancement of all my blindfolded experiences and opened up many possibilities that extended far beyond that. It was certainly also an advantage to come from the world of sighted people and understand their needs. Dialogue in the Dark and its creator, Dr. Andreas Heinecke, ultimately gave me the opportunity, even as a blind trainer, not only to utilize my talents, experiences, and skills but also to continuously develop them further. Two years ago, for example, we were invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos for the first time with our training programs. I probably wouldn't have achieved that as a sighted trainer…
In everyday life, I find my blindness simply inconvenient, and on rare occasions I do miss seeing, for example, when my children proudly show my husband their drawings. But so far, my blindness has not been a handicap in my professional career.
Sabine Prell: Temporarily "losing" sight and relying entirely on other senses and people is a profound experience for sighted people. How does this experience specifically change professional communication and teamwork?
Dörthe Maack: In the dark, people grow closer, supporting and trusting one another. This alone fosters a genuine sense of teamwork and can break down barriers. Furthermore, darkness amplifies a team's typical communication and interaction patterns. Reflecting on and utilizing these patterns for team development is the focus of the work phases in the bright seminar room that follow the training in complete darkness.
Sabine Prell: May I ask you a very personal question? You weren't born blind, but lost almost all of your sight in adulthood. How much darkness can one actually tolerate? And what are the reactions of your participants?
Dörthe Maack: I can still distinguish between light and dark, although it makes little difference to my well-being whether I work in a dark room or one with artificial light. The participants in my training courses vary greatly. While some seem to have had their fill of darkness after two hours, others don't want to go back into the light at all.
Sabine Prell: The concept of "Dialogue in the Dark" has so far opened up the horizons of a "blind world" to over six million visitors worldwide… What is your impression of whether this experience is received equally by all people?
Dörthe Maack: The "Dialogue in the Dark" exhibition is received very differently by visitors. While all visitors are impressed in one way or another, for some it is more of an exciting event, and for others an experience that completely shakes up their thinking on social issues.
Even in coaching, reactions to darkness vary, but almost all participants use this experience with genuine enthusiasm as an opportunity for learning and development.
Sabine Prell: One last question: "Dialogue in the Dark" can currently only be experienced in Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany. From which federal states do most of your visitors come? And are there already expansion plans?
Dörthe Maack: Naturally, most visitors to the Hamburg exhibition come from Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein. However, there are also many tourists and guests from all over the world. It's similar with the training events. In addition to teams based in Hamburg, teams and management groups come from all over Germany and also from abroad.
"Dialogue in the Dark" is a social enterprise that franchises its technology. Our franchisees are typically museums or science centers. With the training center at the Allianz Global Investors headquarters in Munich and a "Dialogue in the Dark" installation on a university campus in Singapore, we broke new ground last year, and I personally hope for many follow-up projects for "Dialogue in the Dark" in the corporate world and especially in universities.
Thank you for the fascinating insight into your project!