It's easy to understand why people in large systems do the things they do.
Because the systems are composed of so many working parts, a tiny error somewhere can eventually lead to a cascade of catastrophe.
Or at least that's what the fear is.
As a result, most of the people working within these systems are terrified that they are going to get punished for causing a malfunction, so they opt for a "better safe than sorry", "have all my bases covered" approach to everything.
This results in blanket policies, reactive strategies, and a general unwillingness to rock the boat, making changes only if absolutely necessary and only after mind-numbingly long periods of time.
Bureaucracy, red tape, infuriatingly inflexible gatekeepers, we've all met them.
And hate them.
And yet, they aren't there by accident. They are there by design.
Which means that they can also be designed away.
Hence the immense importance of thought leadership, safe spaces, and granting autonomy.
Learning in a Safe Space is Important. Both for the Teacher and the Student.
"Of course you know the answer, you're the teacher."
I've been told this many times over the course of my work as an educator, almost as a sort of protest against my "difficult questions".
The thing is, when I probe further, my learners often know at least some part of the answer.
It makes me wonder why they aren't willing to offer what they already know, even as a partial answer.
There is the obvious fear of ridicule, cultivated through a system that sees failures as wholly bad and celebrates only the best successes.
Which means that they don't yet feel safe to try.
Though the time I usually have with my learners is short, hours compared to the years they've been in 'the system', I'm constantly trying to improve the speed and efficacy at which I can make my learning spaces safe for them.
I've managed to shorten it to an average of just over 2 sessions of about 1.5 - 2 hours, which means they will have spent about 3 - 4 hours with me before we start feeling comfortable with each other.
I used to need at least 3 sessions (about 6 hours) before I get to this point, but experience is a great teacher.
And I'm determined to learn from her as much as I possibly can.
Failure Stories vs Success Stories. Which is More Useful?
Most of what we try, fails. And these failures aren't visible.
Successes, on the hand, are highly visible. In the age of social media, even more so.
And society demands that the image that we portray is that of success.
When you apply for a position, you are rarely asked about your failures. If they do ask, you are taught, even somewhat expected, to answer in a way that flips the answer into one about success.
When you introduce yourself, you don't tell people about the number of times you've started unsuccessful businesses or the number of unsuccessful job applications you've made.
When you screen a potential business partner, you don't ask about their prior failed ventures either. It seems almost rude to do so.
And yet, so many of these stories of failures contain such valuable lessons. And there are so many more of them.
Success stories can be inspirational, of course. But the real learning is in the stories of failures.
We really need to create spaces that are safe to tell these stories, so that more people can learn from them.