Give me a reason
Everybody needs a reason to keep doing what they’re doing right?
Sometimes we don’t take the time to understand why we are doing something. The common questions are often ‘why though?’ or something along the lines of ‘for what purpose?’
Translate this visceral feeling to a professional context, and we can quickly find ourselves in all sorts of emotional turmoil about whether what we are doing is ‘correct’- and can unfortunately override the exploration of whether what we are doing is ‘right’.
Professional anxiety can push one to want to demonstrate that they are in fact ‘right’; or that they do know what to do, and that what they do isn’t potentially wrong or misguided. The underlying anxiety is a need to keep that momentum going where we are expected to ‘perform’ or respond to something.
Everyone can learn from failure; sometimes we have to go down the wrong road in order to find the right direction. If we are asking why along the way- maybe we start to see the signs earlier and we learn from those failures.
Working within a particular sector can make these emotions more acute- the need to drive forward and know we are right may be driven by a strong motivation to change things for the better. The need to keep the momentum may not be for the sake of the person soldiering on; but for the people who depend on them to make that change.
However, this isn’t anything to do with politics or Brexit… this is about third sector organisations striving for social change. The purposes of which should be straightforward right?
We want to ‘make things better’ by addressing issues such as education, mental health, modern slavery, trusted relationships, poverty and many many issues that effect our society.
The beneficiaries of which are not primarily ourselves- however sometimes we may have experienced them in our past which can motivate us; but those individuals we encounter and work with are facing these challenges right now. Who we need to help and support right now! Who we need to make sure we get it right for…
This can create tremendous amounts of professional anxiety for an individual; so to kind of y’know… bring the analogy full circle… perhaps we need to remind ourselves why we are doing what we are doing?
Practically this could apply to Systems Change maybe? It’s no different to surviving the creeping dread and imposter syndrome of everyday professional life. If we can make ourselves more comfortable with failure; it might put others at ease.
If I want to change a system; it’s important to have a clear purpose and also acknowledge the intentions behind why the system is fighting back.
Then, if whatever you’re doing doesn’t meet that purpose, you may know it’s time to back to go back to the drawing board. However, remember that everyone else will be going through that battle as well, so this may be a vital part of the challenge you might face. Either way, no one has failed and hopefully everyone has learned.
It’s probably not the whole story, but maybe it’s a helpful way to anchor ourselves against the storm of potential opposition or feelings of futility we are likely to run aground on.
Just keep asking why. You might even get an answer.
