Inspired Larrikinism

The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility. ~Angus Buchan

Usually when you are searching for something, you find it. That's faith speaking! What I've been searching for recently is a disposition. Something that speaks to what I celebrate in unruliness, or even rebelliousness, that is settled on having a reason for such misbehavior. I found a term capturing this sentiment: larrikin. 

Since the days of attending Australian church-plants in the City, I've come to appreciate the unassuming way that Australians do Christianity. The Faith Like Potatoes movie can also be cited as some inspiration in my understanding of the Aussie-style Christian faith. And so now I aspire to connect with a simpler, rowdier me that is wild about Jesus and cross and not so concerned with rules, regulations, and the right way of doing things.

I sense a stirring of the pot going this way, as we may have gotten too accustomed to being calculating. It makes sense to think of life this way the older we get in the information age. Is it not irresponsible to do things dumbly when we have so much access to proper methodologies? But then what of faith? What of miracles? What of Jesus NOW?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrikin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_like_Potatoes

Complain With People, Not For People

This morning I rose with the thought implanted by Brooks, "do things with people, not for". As I searched that idea, I wasn't quite getting what I was looking for. I was getting articles about being a people pleaser, or why people don't support you, or when you don't feel interested in people. I was looking more for this idea about building something together. The web, being as self-helpy as it is, could not catch what I was meaning with the ambiguosness of prepositions. But I did get on a path that seemed meaningful, starting with Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People:

Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.

Simple enough. Not because someone else deserves it, per say, but because you are the kind of person that does good in the world. But it still had that "for" idea that I was looking to avoid. Doing things "for" people presumes that you know what they need, and maybe even that they are waiting for you to do it. Not always the case. I find a lot of the things I am doing for people, they have no idea I am considering and when it comes there way, it may be a nice additive, but not an essential piece of what they feel they need. So these things I am really doing for me. 

Changing the focus to doing things with people will help my doing fors materialize as a lot more meaningful. Build something together.

Interestingly, I'll have to come back to some of these ideas, because the second half of the morning venture found me searching articles about complaining. Harvard Business Review and Maya Angelou say don't do it. William F. Buckley says complain. I see his point. We've become kind of docile, but I tend to side with HBR and Angelou. We don't need to complain as much as see what needs to change; and head into some kind of action. 

To Buckley's point, though, action seems pitiful. The juggernaut of reality is so big, what are my little actions going to do? Well, I'm not quite sure, but I know I cannot stand by and do nothing, so I've got to do something. 

But what?

• https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/835156-do-things-for-people-not-because-of-who-they-are
• https://dailystoic.com/a-stoic-response-to-complaining/
• https://www.sanjuan.edu/cms/lib8/CA01902727/Centricity/Domain/218/Complain%20by%20William%20Buckley.pdf
• https://kensho.life/weekly-happiness-booster/moan-less-complain-better
• https://hbr.org/2021/04/managing-a-chronic-complainer
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/moments-matter/201803/complaining

Life and Other Subsidies

 "The purpose of the economy is to promote human flourishing" 

Joan Tronto, quoted in The Stolen Year, by Anya Kamenetz

I've been looking for a theorist that "flipped the script" on the economy; our purpose is not to use human flourishing to promote the economy, but the other way around. I found an unlikely hero in Joan Tronto. I should not be surprised. Where else would a theory of care (true care... caring for rather than about) come from other than a Marxist feminist woman? And it's interesting to consider the contrast of a man's version of care, as put out in something like the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; a care for things (the objects of a man's affections) rather than people. I'm certain that there is a lot to unpack in the contrast of care between men and women. 

Considering the economy, though, there are so many unnecessities that we take for granted; essential. We have become enslaved to the economy to the extent that our flourishing costs at least 100k in the US, when, by contrast, it costs a wild plant or animal very little to survive on our vital earth. We know that the future must take into consideration energy efficiency in the pursuit of caring for mankind, the spitting image of God. Ah, but that's just it! In our modern economy, what is our real value?

Until we bodily come to the revelation that our ultimate goal is not pushing forward the flourishing of modern life, but rather the flourishing of life, period, we will not become revisionist with our economy. I'm not sure what it would take, but I have my fears.

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Giving People a Hard Time is Hardly Worth It

I've had some misunderstandings occur this week: things I did not clearly understand regarding what others were expecting, and things that others did not clearly understand regarding what I was expecting. After an interaction between the CEO and myself left him frustrated with my recommendation, my supervisor intervened. She pulled me aside and explained to me the merits, and imperative, of resonance, defined as the quality in a [sound] of being deep, full, and reverberating. Somewhere along the way, social psychologists, adopted the term and replaced sound with dialogic resonance. The key strategy that my supervisor cited for me to work on was repeating back what was said to arrive at clarity around expectations and to build mutual respect in conversations.

I'm appreciative that this insight occurred on the coattails of a key insight gleaned from EL's July Issue, Nurturing Well-Being in schools, Fixing Your School's Well-Being Ecosystem. I knew from the moment I read this piece that it was going to be in my reflection this week:

Spread Blameless Discernment

Acknowledge openly that we all play the blame game. When things go wrong, we blame ourselves, others, circumstances, or some combination of the three. But getting to a "better normal" will require what's often referred to as blameless discernment. Muster as much objectivity as you can to ascertain what is really happening rather than simplistically attributing the problems to one person, group, or circumstance. And even if practices a particular group tends to follow do seem to be part of where things have gone off-track, frame this discovery in terms of where to start solutions rather than pointing fingers.

Is your default, "If I were a better leader, my teachers would be OK" or "If the teachers would just act like adults …" or "Once the pandemic is over, ___ won't be an issue"? These are examples of blaming oneself, others, or circumstances. Each may hold part of the truth, but the root problem—and solutions—are likely more nuanced, and you can't solve the root problem unless it's correctly identified.

As you shift organizational norms and practices to help everyone reclaim their energy, collaborate with key colleagues to use blameless discernment to understand how you got to where you are, what needs to change, and how to best lead that change. Questions that can help you adopt this mindset include, "What might an observer new to our situation point out about how we got to where we are?" "What data might we examine to confirm or dismiss our assumptions?" and "Are we failing to see our own blind spots or failing to step into the shoes of others to better understand their needs or actions?"

In a conversation with a colleague this week we resonated that emotions matter. And as I kept at more fully understanding what lay in the resonating insights I was capturing, I discovered both how essential they are to highly functioning teams and organizations AND how deficient I am in creating resonance. In fact, it is often enough the case that I am at the root of ill feelings. After a week of navigating heightened negative emotions, I am receptive to the message that blame and assumptions are not only unnecessary but may be increasingly counter-productive. Having conversations, with the disposition of spreading blameless discernment as described above, is impetus for highly productive resonating discourse (see: Leverage High EI Conversations).

I am grateful for this week's insights because I think they are going to serve me well in the coming years, both at work and at home. More that that, they are going to serve others well, my wife and family included. Sorry if I gave you a hard time, honey. :) 

Further Reading:

• https://www.eiq-2.com/index.php/resources
• https://www.movethisworld.com/category-sel-state-standards/summer-2021-sel-legislation-updates/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/12/17/why-socialemotional-learning-isnt-enough/
• https://www.moe.gov.sg/education-in-sg/our-programmes/social-and-emotional-learning 
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277569050_Resonance_in_conversational_second_stories_A_dialogic_resource_for_stance_taking
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354248238_Resonance_in_dialogue_The_interplay_between_intersubjective_motivations_and_cognitive_facilitation

Possible, Plausible, Probable

The area in which I need the most growth is delegation. I am fortunate. I have a partner and employee who can support our work. However, we are pretty much day-to-day right now. I have a long term vision, but I am trying to navigate us muscling through immediate and urgent needs. And each day seems to bring new unforeseen challenges. No doubt some of these items can alter: I got a message from a colleague today with a plan to do a workaround that could buy us weeks of time to prepare for digital onboarding of our instructional systems. The key is to constantly assess and evaluate and prioritize, but do so within the context of a larger plan and goals. I think the next step that our team is ready for is for me to share my formal and linear prep document that I share with my direct supervisor which I have been working on for weeks. It serves for me as a model of the process. Going from good to great happens by parts and in phases. It is iterative. There is a constant reflective process where the frontier space is experienced as fresh and exciting along the way. This kind of positivity can only be found if we have the faith to move forward, step by step, in that what we need to accomplish is possible, plausible, probable.

https://www.calendar.com/blog/how-to-catch-up-on-work-when-youre-behind/#:~:text=Take%20a%20short%20break%20of,you%20can't%20figure%20out. 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/08/18/falling-behind-on-work-take-these-steps-to-get-back-on-track/?sh=5cda4c2434be