(Self) Reflections From Practice - What This Work Asks Of Us

I’ve been wondering about how we shift from a fixation on problems and solving them to a focus on aspirations and figuring out what it takes to be aspirational as people, whānau, communities and systems.

Finding problems within our current systems and paradigms may be important, yet I (and others) wonder if this will actually achieve the kind of futures we are envisioning, in which we live below our ecological ceiling and above our social floor (See: Doughnut Economics).

When we talk about taking or embedding wellbeing approaches in our mahi, the shift from a deficit and problem framing paradigm to one that is generative and strengths based is necessary, yet seems to be a place where we all trip up in.

“If we only seek out and design for patterns within the existing paradigm, we will continue to create patchwork solutions and reinforce existing systemic states. By default, we will design extensions for what it is rather than what ought to be. Not all systems can or should be repaired, especially when a system is unsustainable or inflicts harm.” - Leah Zaidi

Remembering that I’m as susceptible to these things as anyone, taking a systems point of view is not to imagine that I/we are able to avoid the dynamics and drivers, but rather to be reflective and reflexive about them and how we might respond differently. Which is fancy chat for ‘I do this sh*t too’.

So as usual I looked in to what these words actually mean - to aspire and to be aspirational. Something that stood out for me was the meaning of aspiration being to enable breath.

Thinking of what this means in Aotearoa specifically, in te ao Māori breath is an integral part of the vitality and essence of life. The expression ‘Tīhei mauriora’ and practice of hongi acknowledge and symbolise the breath of life in the creation story of the first human being carved from clay and atua breathing life in to her. This belief is woven deeply in rituals, practices, pūrākau and kōrero that weave an interconnected world view about hauora (health, spirit, life) connecting back to this first breath, creation and generation. (See: Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes Tīhei mauriora: the history and tikanga of our breath).

“Through breathing, we are giving light and energy into the atmosphere”. - Dame Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira

I’ve previously reflected on what it feels like to be in systems - the lived experience of them - that we have an intuitive sense of when a system pattern is playing out - we can feel them. And now I am thinking about how often these spaces feel confining, claustrophobic, are places where it is hard to breathe; and how especially true this is for those at the receiving end of the multitude of systems, services and programmes in theory designed to ‘help’ and ‘solve problems’.

So I wonder what it could look like to have aspiration and be aspirational in our systems, to breath life in to our systems, and create the space and practices for us to breathe within them? Perhaps a way for us to think, be and do differently for this could be in looking at the rituals, practices and stories that we have that express our worldview in our practice.

We know in systems mahi that what we believe is true and valuable has more influence on what does or doesn’t happen, than what is ‘actually’ occurring or that evidence shows us; its why being western science evidenced based is not enough, because facts don’t drive our decisions - our worldviews, mental models and values do.

“The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in” - Harold Goddard

The importance of shifting values and of stories in understanding systems and enacting systems change is well demonstrated (See: FrameWorks Institute, The Workshop, Common Cause). In complex systems especially, there is the principle of historicity (See: Elizabeth Eppel) in that complex systems have a collection of histories that influence people and interactions in ways that we often cannot see. The history - the stories we tell about why, what, how and who - influence the starting point for change, and that what is possible now is driven by the decisions that have been made in the past (path dependency).

Exploring these hi-stories can help us make sense of complex systems, and seeking to shape new stories provides us an opportunity for creating new futures that are on different trajectories to the current ones (rather than simply trying to improve the current state and solving problems).

“Positive stories of change can play a powerful role in shaping systems. In systems-thinking, stories can take the form of systems archetypes which depict recurring themes and organizational dramas. Though these patterns are important for uncovering problems, they also have the potential to help us identify patterns of hope and aspirational futures.” - Leah Zaidi

Zaidi writes about reframing system thinking tool/s (here being archetypes) to identify strengths, hopes and aspirations - rather than fixating on finding the problems for intervention. This makes me think of trauma informed therapeutic practices of looking to build virtuous cycles, rather than trying to interrupt or ‘fix’ the vicious cycle (See: ACE’s and trauma informed care practices); relational and strength based approaches that seek to build on peoples internal and external resources (For e.g. ROPES tool for identifying: Resources, Opportunities, Possibilities, Exceptions, and Solutions) and create new patterns and systems for us to thrive and be well. (I’d like to acknowledge Aimee Hadrup for sparking much of this thinking/dot connecting with others leading mahi in this space).

I wonder what our approaches to systems change may look like if we applied these principles to our practices? If we seek to create our new futures, rather than fix the problems in this one. If we look to understand the strengths and resources in people, whānau, communities and systems and to amplify and breathe life in to and around these. If we find practical and meaningful ways to be aspirational and strength based, to build the virtuous cycles that will uplift us and those we work with, so we have alternatives that can become our new defaults for when we fall in to our vicious cycles.

And at the end of the day, this to me feels like a more uplifting and mana enhancing way for us to be, and be together in this mahi. Because if we aren’t able to be aspirational, how can we possibly create systems that do this for others and frankly, isn’t that what we are here for?

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And a general note about these (self) reflections - while I am the one writing about these things, they are not my thoughts alone; as is true of most, if not all ideas they are a product of and attributed to our relationships, experiences and connections. I’m so grateful to all the people in my life, work and otherwise as you make it possible for me to have any of these thinkings in the first place and give me the encouragement to share them, simply with the intent of building on a shared kōrero about what this mahi might ask of us and each other.