Belfast is beautiful today. Spring is kicking winter into touch. I went out for a run along the river Lagan at lunchtime. I was thinking about a piece in the HBR which I had been reading this morning about medical diagnostic mistakes due to "poor thinking" and the benefits and risks of what they describe as heuristics. It reminded me of a recent experience.
I was asked to facilitate the process of developing a vision for youth justice in N.Ireland. I suggested that we needed to bring the voice of young people into the process. As a result the NIO commissioned a group of young people to go out and talk to other young people about their experiences with the legal system and why young people get into trouble.
Their feedback was the kick off session at a two day multi agency event made up of professionals and agencies working in this sector. The young people had prepared thier information and presentaion very well They said the number one reason that young people gave as to why they get into trouble was BOREDOM.
At this point a senior professional in the audince interrupted and said that this was wrong because their agency's recent research (done in conjunction with an academic body) had highlighted that drugs and alcohol as the number one reason. The young presenter calmly responded by asking "Why do you think they do drugs and alcohol?"
A salutory lesson about how professional entrapment in diagnosing societal issues may lead to misguided interventions which tackle the wrong things.
Yesterday I met up with Majella McCloskey who is director of CO3 (Chief Officers Third Sector) in N.Ireland to follow up on the outcomes of Dave's much talked about since Masterclass in Belfast. Majella has really taken on board the power of narrative. She told me that last week there had been a joint dinner of chief officers with public sector leaders in N.Ireland These events are ususally evaluated by classic reaction sheet.
This time Majella broke with tradition and asked participants after the event to send her two ancedotes relating to the evening. The first was an email to their chairperson describing ways in which being at the dinner had been beneficial to them. The second was to a peer in another organisation telling them why going to these dinners is not a good use of time. Majella has found the content of the ancedotes which she has been sent rich in information, and very useful for planning future sessions.
Kayaking tonight. Rock and Roll.
Anne
Comments (2)
Hi Anne,
Very good to read your blog and to see Cognitive Edge tools being used in the Third Sector. I'm involved in working for the Church and am currently doing some work looking at providing young people with a space that they can call their own.
I was intrigued by the report back that the young people gave about the root cause of their difficulties - boredom. It seems to me that this is similar to people in other organisations putting unrest down to "poor communication" - something that they have difficulty in articulating? What have the young people found on the layer below that?
Would also be interested in swapping notes as I've attended a workshop which the local Police force put on which brought together people from different agencies trying to get them to think of new ways of working together. They started well with actors portraying people in the community but then the process broke down because they were looking for purely ordered solutions.
Thanks,
David
Posted by David Williams | February 29, 2008 9:46 AM
Posted on February 29, 2008 09:46
Anne - couldn't help thinking did they say why young people got bored?
Look forward to reading Majella's report on the CO3 event, and finding out what I missed and why I should (or shouldn't) go the next time.
Posted by Maurice Kinkead | February 29, 2008 10:53 AM
Posted on February 29, 2008 10:53