Seven Themes From Seventeen
What a year. Here are seven themes that have come up for me personally through 2017 that feel like they might have value beyond my own reflections.
1. We are a work-in-progress
I started 2016 with a freelance assistant but since Jan 2017 Let’s Go has been a team of four proper employees. This means I got a totally new job. I’m lucky to have a fiercely talented team — both in terms of what they do and how they go about it. But it’s also been a new thing for me to navigate. And my ultimate reflection is that leading is always a work-in-progress. I’ve had to face up to the ways I get in the way, as well as recognise the ways in which I’m growing into the job — but in this I have tried to not be too hard on myself. How could you be more kind to yourself as work-in-progress?
2. Our metaphors matter
I’ve always been sensitive to language, but I’ve been tuning into metaphors more and more as years pass. These figurative ideas shape so much of our how we move through the world. This year as I’ve found myself in lots of conversations about people’s careers and have been reflecting on how unhelpful it is that we talk about “career path” (which sounds so solid and clear) when the reality of building a strong career is multidimensional, exploratory and changing. I’ve found “career threads” much more useful metaphor and I wrote this article for HR magazine that explains a bit more how this might unlock more confident, grounded choices about work. What are your threads?
3. Creative practice is helpful for humans
As a person with a creative practice, this year i’ve been reflecting on what that means and why it might be worth all the effort. In conversation with some other fellows, I wrote a blogpost for the RSA outlining the benefits creative practice has for individuals and society. I say it fosters three vital things: dignity, resilience and vision. I would love society to move beyond thinking of creativity as “a special gift”, “a way to pass the time” or “a type of job” — and towards us seeing the transformation that is possible for all of us when we make things we want to make for the sake of making them. If you can stomach it, I also wrote a mammoth 2500 word-er on what I’ve learned through my own creative practice. What do you want to make more in ‘18?
4. We owe honour
Everything we learn comes from people and everything we build is on the foundations others have set. Recognising this is rewarding for everyone. In November/December I was overjoyed to share a bronze plaque to commemorate 25 years of What If Innovation — where I spent a transformational 8 years. It was a collaborative effort (with Martin Amor and designed by Lize Theron) and came from around 90 of us who have experienced the power of the place and want to send them best wishes into the future. Where do you owe honour?
5. The world moves towards a mission
After a decade as a generalist, I focused Let’s Go on the one thing we care about most and can do brilliantly: helping leaders and organisations get more from collaboration. I was always jealous of people who had “a thing”, and the journey to find it for me was not an easy one at all. But since finding a focus I’ve been blown away what has come our way… in Dec we got a cold call from the VP of a FTSE 100 company who found us on Google, in Jan our work is being presented to the global executive committee of a major financial services company, and in Feb I’ll be speaking to 180 global leaders who want radical change in education (with Ashoka). This would’ve been unheard of two years ago. How could you move towards things you care about most?
6. There is power in team
I found the Let’s Go model (our way of making sense of collaboration) last year, and this year learned the value of moving from abstract ideas into tangible tools — and the power of being a team. The Collaboration Cards (which turn the model into 30 tangible conversations) went on kickstarter and have now been translated into French and Lat Am Spanish (next year: Mandarin and more). The Pulse Check (with thanks to Dr Laura Wies for academic advice) is a group psychometric that measures how a team/group is collaborating — and it comes out of Beta in Jan. Never could’ve done any of this on my own. Who is on your team?
7. All’s Well
Continuing the bronze-plaque theme to 2017, this one is embedded in the pavement of Camberwell where I live (with thanks to Leoni Bullcock). It is part of my ongoing obsession with the local coat of arms and (more specifically) the town slogan “All’s Well”. It is so relevant to so much of our town’s history, but also I see it as a contemporary rallying cry — not that “everything is good” (it’s clearly not) but that we can engage with and invest in our own wellness, even through the most excruciating external circumstances. And now “All’s Well” is the theme of the 2018 Camberwell Arts Festival. What can you do to invest in your own wellness?
Wishing you all an enlivening and enlightening Eighteen
R x
