Negative spaces as a strategic decision: The case of the Israeli Security Agency.

The term negative spaces was coined in 2021, referring to situations and contexts in which dialogue is not possible or appropriate. The purpose of this article is to further explore this concept by using the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) as a case study to investigate whether organizations can choose negative spaces as a purposeful, strategic decision. The study uses an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, combining the notion of open governments , the Strata Approach to Dialogue Analysis (SADA) framework, and negative spaces of dialogue. It also triangulates research methods, including quantitative and qualitative content analysis, as well as a first-time, in-depth interview with a former Head of Communications for the ISA who served in the organization for fifteen years. • The term "negative spaces" refers to situations and contexts in which dialogue is not appropriate or possible. • This paper uses the Israel Security Agency (ISA) as a case study to investigate whether organizations can choose negative spaces as a purposeful strategic decision. • The SADA model is used to analyze the ISA's approach to dialogue, including motivations and orientations towards dialogic communication. • Findings point to the ISA's strategic decision to remain in the negative spaces paradigm, aligned with its core organizational goals, values, mission, and culture. • The ISA's strategic decision to stay in negative spaces could be changed in the future to a more dialogic conduct, depending on the organization's strategic interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]