My Learning from 2019
I’ve just moved back from London and recently had the opportunity to reflect on just some of my learning from 2019 to share it with the social design community at Design Innovation Research Centre’s final DISCO event for 2019. While not exhaustive and situated within the context of Barnardo’s, I hope it has crossover value for those working within similar organisations.
1. Convene around stories, principles, values. Working within a highly decentralised organisation across the UK, we often spoke about how to continue to push power down and out. But of course, in a decentralised organisation, we also need to ensure alignment, quality assurance and be accountable not by ‘carrot and stick’ or traumatising audit processes but to the people we serve.
We know we should convene around stories, principles and values, but we need to get really specific — right down to language, scenarios, collective knowledge so that we ensure we’re very clear before moving forward. For example, one person’s idea of being child-centred through ‘participation’ by inviting young people to an event surrounded by adults is another’s view of poor inclusion and power dominance. We need shared and vivid collective understanding as we move towards our goals.
2. The power of the basics. People are spread thin under their passion and a system that we all collectively hold up. Much of what we pushed for over 2019 was conscious design. However, as we continue to push for changes in the way we imagine the children’s social care sector, we need to go back to basics. By seeking and understanding common patterns, using (and creating) building blocks, and utilising (and packaging up) shareable evidence across organisational boundaries, we can take an organisation forward.
What I learnt is we are not stifling innovation but freeing ourselves up from tinkering at the edges or drowning in busyness because we’re ‘getting the plumbing sorted’. Without this very conscious use of evidence-informed design and a humble approach to doing ‘the basics’ we risk poor use of resources, leaving others behind, of being beholden to commissioning cycles in the design process (at a foundational level) or missing opportunities to surface and challenge deeply held institutional and social beliefs.
3. Celebrate the small, slow movements towards change: It’s in the everyday decisions, behaviour, perspective changes, that we see our way to moments of transition. Change is as fast as the strength of the relationships you build. No one is impressed with your shiny systems strategy if they’re so nervous about being able to open the google doc you sent to collaborate with you (true story). How can you reveal new perspectives if your senior stakeholder meetings are governed like school teacher reviews? Take notice of the small shifts in language, behaviours, decisions being made around you every day, learn from these and celebrate them collectively as tiny signs of how you need to adapt.
4. We need both imagination AND confidence: We speak of a greater need for collective public visions of preferred futures. But we also must have the confidence and courage to swarm together the array of small steps aligned to that direction and create legitimacy in our organisations for these steps. As we take a portfolio approach to ‘now, next and future’ changes we seek, it is our job to take the anxiety off the table for those who deal with genuine concerns of citizens (or their own lives) each day, so that organisations can think across time horizons concurrently.
5. Tough decisions will hurt: It’s time for designers to step out from their privilege to make brave personal and professional decisions that create positive change. I believe you will be rewarded for sticking your foot in a door that is ajar or indeed prying one open. It is sometimes really uncomfortable, lonely and tiring. Find others, join up, and use what is in your power to shine a light into dark spaces.
6. Talk more plainly: Those who know me know I’m a reasonably open and straight-talking person, but I do love a bit of jargon. I’m trying hard at changing this last bit! We are all missing opportunities to communicate widely and listen actively by talking to ourselves and others in jargon. We loose richness in our closed sector groups by the words we choose (that often I don’t even recognise as jargon) or by different interpretations of concepts by other sectors or citizens — so unpack these together and communicate more widely and often as it will bring a greater potential for collective action.
7. Create clear pictures of what diverse, inclusive and supportive teams are: It is incredibly hard rallying for positive social change. We need to be kind to others and ourselves. We know that by nurturing communities, finding allies and embracing diversity, we are stronger together. But now, I have a picture of what ‘good’ looks like in a team, the way you interact, support each other, communicate. For this, I have the lovely folk at Barnardo’s to thank for this beautiful, crystal clear picture.
The move from 2019 to 2020 in Australia has been a particularly challenging one for us all. Moving forward, I hope 2020 heralds significant collective citizen-led change and look forward to meaningful learning and listening opportunities to enable this.
For more on my learning at Barnardo’s do check out this podcast for This is HCD.
