Reflections on a conversation
Reflections on a conversation
This week I had the privilege to co-host a conversation among a group of people who are all passionate about what one would colloquially call 'systems work' (I know, what does that even mean? But that is another reflection). They have all spent most of their careers thinking about and exploring different ways to act with a systems lens, be it from an evaluation perspective, from a facilitation perspective, from an organisational perspective, or from a consultant's perspective. Bringing all these experiences together led to a firework of thoughts building on each other, which made 90 minutes feel like the blink of an eye.
Among many things, one thing that stuck with me is that there is seemingly no time for reflection in most organisations. That is a sentiment that many shared including myself. But without reflection, there is no learning and, ultimately, no change. That reminds me of a piece of work a friend of mine did a few years ago in Gateshead, UK, which he aptly concluded with the statement that 'learning is a luxury.' I experience the same in my own organisation. Although I have to say that there is quite a lot of reflection compared to other places, it still always feels rushed and all spaces for reflections need to have a clear purpose and are time-bound. What I'm missing is a generous space for purposeless exploration and reflection. I know, that is a lot to ask, as there is work to do, lives to improve. But isn't the consequence of not taking the time to reflect that there is never any deep change happening? Aren't we then as a consequence just perpetuating a way of being and doing things that we are used to? If we don't reflect how we show up in the act of wanting to improve other people's lives, we perpetuate the situation that allows their lives to be miserable. Shouldn't we even question the aim for somebody to improve somebody else's live? And even more, somebody from the "Global North" to want to improve the lives of people from the "Global South"? As soon as you even take some minutes to reflect without a clear outcome in mind, as I do now, you might start to question actions and justifications for these actions that you just before thought were obvious.
The ultimate paradox that I believe Gregory Bateson left us with is the question: what if the very act of consciously trying to solve a problem is what's creating the problem in the first place?
But let's not get paralysed by this question - as I and other people I know have been. I am not advocating to stop everything we do in order to only reflect. I am also not saying we should stop doing any work in the "Global South" or on disadvantaged, poor or marginalised communities in general. What I am trying to point out is that things are not as straight forward as they seem and that without reflection we are often just recreating the situation we try to change.
I'm going to stop here for now - there is much more to reflect on but as one of the generous people who responded to my little survey from last week pointed out: shorter texts could be as valuable as longer ones. Thanks for the hint. :-) I'm deeply grateful to the 13 people who followed my invitation and responded to my 3 questions. If you have not done so and still would like to, please don't hesitate, I'll keep the survey open for another week. The link's here. Thanks.
The Paper Museum
Emma Proud reflecting on the same conversation I reflected on in my weekly email above:
7 reflections on systems work
People are not turning up
- At saturation point, with lots of competition for attention
- A 'culture of crisis' leaves no time for reflection
Make this work feel essential, and create from what we have
- Lean into ease, fun, play and presence
- Meet people's (and organisational) needs
Move beyond tools, to what lies beneath behaviour
- Shape the 'plumbing' - the mechanisms that encourage behaviours
- Pay attention to relationships
Move beyond the structure and formality of 'partnerships' and 'collaboration'
- Design with (and for) the dynamics of relationships
- Lean into 'in between' space, and improvise into emergence
Remember, everything's relational
- Recognise that we work in and with polarities
- Understand ourselves, embrace diverse perspectives and be present
Notice how biases pull against opportunities
- A bias for structure and certainty may limit emergence
- A focus on utility and results hurry [sic] us away from emergence
Recognise that reflection is a privilege
- Use it wisely, and bring in diverse voices
- Ask, 'how might we be valuable?'
Thanks Emma for this succinct reflection.
Photo
Palm trees in the Orangerie-Castle in Sanssouci Parc in Potsdam, Germany. My own image. I sometimes struck by how much effort we humans extend to shape nature into a specific shape that we have decided is pretty. For example having palm trees and citrus trees in Northern Europe in the 18th century. When talking with the gardener, it became clear that they need to employ all kinds of techniques to keep the trees alive. But why? Don't we have wonderful nature here as well?