Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 238
Input without authority is not co-learning
Two-Eyed Seeing changes consultation when distinct knowledge systems must contribute without one being translated into the authority of the other
Premise
Executives can invite participation while leaving the underlying rules of knowledge untouched. A community, specialist group, or partner may be asked to contribute, yet only one institution still decides what counts as evidence, which terms are admissible, how disagreement is interpreted, and what can influence action. Etuaptmumk, commonly rendered in English as Two-Eyed Seeing, makes that asymmetry visible.
The framework proposes learning from the strengths of Indigenous knowledges with one eye and Western knowledges with the other without requiring either to disappear. For executives, the test is whether different systems of knowing can shape the question, interpretation, ownership, and outcome.
What the model is: Etuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing in Knowledge →
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- The essential model
- Why this matters
- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
- Key questions
- Selected sources
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryDoctrines, Principles & Normative Frameworks
- DomainAcross Cultures
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Doctrines, Principles & Normative Frameworks
Sets out principles or criteria for what should be pursued, considered legitimate or done. Its contribution is evaluative or prescriptive: it gives reasons for judging conduct and arrangements, rather than merely describing their frequency.
- KnowledgeEtuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing
- Related briefEthical Space: Design the Conditions of Engagement Before Convening the Dialogue
- Key conceptDialogue