Weeknotes #21 — Hiding issues in full sight?
A recent theme for me has been understanding and balancing these beauties: risk, trust and culture.
If you regularly do stuff to stop risks becoming live issues in ways which do not address or even acknowledge root causes — is that the right thing, ethical or even helpful? ‘Regularly’ has been included with definite intent.
I’ve been re-reading an old post from John Cutler:
I always remember culture is, ‘the worst behavior you accept and the best behavior you reject. Recently I’ve also been thinking more about, ‘the losses and missteps you acknowledge, and how you respond’ and ‘the exceptions you make and the things that never budge’.
Why aren’t losses and missteps acknowledged? Doesn’t everyone remember that quick wins or exceptions often turn into longer term loses? Why wouldn’t you want to bury down to understand reasons behind what made something go wrong (or frequently nearly wrong)? What about the pleasure after going through the pain of discovery?
Catching up on other weeknotes I found this from Emily Labram.
Part of the answer to my recent questions is trust? If you don’t believe you’ll be trusted, supported and permitted to understand and then fix something — why keep trying?
If you don’t practically and regularly exhibit trust in people — why should they trust you? If you believe you can only show your worth to your family, friends or organisation by being the ‘so-called-super-brainy-hero-can-do-everything-cos-everyone-else-is-rubbish-or-stupid-ninja’ — then you aren’t going to give anyone else the opportunity to show that you aren’t that person. Are you?
If you are that so-called hero, remember this from Emily Labram, ‘And trusting that in trusting them, I don’t become less valuable.’ Nothing and nobody is perfect. You and me don’t know everything. Delight in having people around you who can do stuff you can’t. Technology, services, people and lives fall out and over (doh) so acknowledge that and let people figure it out. ‘A prompt is enough; the right opening question — and then, wow, the team flowers into creativity.’
If that team has an issue or idea to share — shut up and listen though, before that, read this from Hera Hussain which is horribly good:
Don’t repeat the zingers from hell and….
‘At one point, I just sat back and let them all discuss how ‘they’, if they were in an abusive relationship, would not want to search online and would want to talk to a human. My experience of building Chayn and working alongside survivors (up to 70% of our volunteers are survivors of abuse) was just disregarded’.
Please don’t be those people. I know I’ve been guilty of misplacing my enthusiasm that I’ve spoken more than I’ve listened (and I’m the quiet one). I’ve sometimes thought that showing an interest and helping is about providing answers when it can about asking a few questions — then stopping and letting others think out-loud.
And me at the moment and before my next weeknotes? I’ll keep asking careful questions, considering how to pause on the wrong actions and setting out how issues are smells which shouldn’t be ignored.
And Finally…
I’ve mentioned Sheffield’s Lord Mayor at least twice already in previous weeknotes. I HAVE MET HIM.
For the Tramlines festival he did this…
I don’t fully agree with every line and that’s (obs) ok*. I get and love the sentiment behind it all and what he’s aiming to do. He may well do or say other things I don’t fully agree with — and that’s (obs again) ok too. In fact I hope he does. He isn’t doing the same old thing to get the same old response — which is what Sheffield needs.
I believe he’s wanting to throw the doors open so I fully trust his intent just as much as his actions — which organisations, groups and people could well learn from in every context.
(Side rant: If being Lord Mayor for a year makes him some extra cash later on — great and good for him. If anyone wants to complain about councillors and politicians lining their own pockets, they should start looking at those with long-term power already, read the underhand practices in Rotten Boroughs or support their local press first. All before deciding to politely vent at Magid on Twitter who is doing his thing in the open).
*Small point: It’s only cos not everyone has a ma and not every ma deserves love back. As that’s a bit bleak to end with — here’s a dog. She kisses him at the end!
