Thread by @ImmyKaur

Creating legibility, coherence, being proximate, turning up, synthesising, connecting dots, emergence, knowing how to move through complexity and so on and so on, there’s lots you can do but seek certainty in uncertain, emergent, unknown, complex work is not what you can seek.

The things you can do is actively connect dots, nurture connection, understand, create iterative cycles of legibility, coherence, communication, make visible the invisible, be proximate the lightbulb will switch on, get hands on, create cycles of learning with peers ..

… distribute this, if there connection, tend to these edges, not everyone can go bonkers deep + that’s good. But, your heart and soul has to yearn for that, because it’s always going to be bigger, more complex, more uncertain, unnerving than certain + predictable, everyone ..

… is uncertain, anxious, unsure, delving into unknowns, how you make peace with that, liberate yourself in that magic + possibility, + how you find each building block + connection each day helps, trying to make it too comfortable, or hide the complexity, or uncertainty ..

.. is bad for everyone. It’s all uncomfortable, uncertain, unknown, so how you collectively create that safety, those bridges, the everyday building blocks, the deep dives, the dreaming capacity, and weave them is at the heart of that, we have to stay away from seeking truth, ..

.. certainty + particularly seeking that from one person, or a role, or thing a management or operational solution can get us there, + liberate ourselves from that. The metaphor of the building site, knows many trades, skills, connections, joinery is required, + the unknown is ..

.. problem solved, when we aren’t sure we start from where we are + cross that bridge with all the tools + wisdom we have, not a textbook answer. But, it’s your heart + soul that makes the intellectual practiceable, that gives it form, as well as the theory or ideas.

It’s why I fully agree with @AnnetteDhami + @indy_johar that the organisation is an inherently flawed construct for this kind of work, discovery + craft, + jobs, roles, titles, hierarchies, so much has to be unlearned + reimagined, whilst also recognising the system we are in ..

.. the jobs, money, material + other practical needs we have, in a political + systems context that is an austere divisive mess. But, still we try, there is so much work, + labour behind the practical things we see to reimagine this reality, structural, emotional + more.

In the end, it’s why when it just means something different to some leaders, they do dedicate their lives to moving that space forward, or discover what’s next + even that is going to be inherently uncomfortable to a certain, predictable 9-5 pattern, which in itself is flawed too

… within all of that, if you can still get up, + move throw the moment of being disabled by it all, + actually find joy, peers, a collective goal, mission bigger than you all. It’s still insatiable, nothing quite like it.

Creating comfort and psychological safety is important but this can go into a static comfort where we can’t move stuff on, there’s a safe discomfort and ambition that’s needed, that’s different to active danger.

Even going from doing this with nothing, to doing it with salaries and pensions has taught me a lot about why we end up static in the system not able to move things on radically like our ancestors did, not that I want that precarious survival life, there is something very ..

… different about the imagination, work, spirit of those I’ve grown up with and the ideas of safety, comfort, predictability currently in certain parts of the sector, demographics and so on. It’s something really different to the cultures I’ve grown up in, learned in.

Not right or wrong but an observation, about how things get so stuck, zero sum, uninspiring and oppositional only.

I personally struggle to resonate with the I have a pension, salary, and so much more to do this work, but it’s still not enough, without recognition of the systemic condition that’s are created, + collective responsibility to figure out the future, but I know it’s not simple ..

… hence why it’s good to surround yourself with people who can navigate that detail with you, because for me just making enough of living to do this work is such an honour and I just want to get on, but I know how alienating that can be, but sometimes it’s kind to say ..

.. the level of certainty in this unstable world is not actually possible, or is unkind because it’s hiding the reality of what system conditions, or what some people are holding to shield you from the reality. It’s complex though, + this is a product of my upbringing and family.