Like peanut butter on sticky human problems
Life hack + work hack
Did you know that peanut butter effectively removes those annoying sticker films that seem to be blemishes forever?
It has the right chemistry. Grease and grit. For those of us that like and can survive around peanut butter, it is somewhat pleasant, opposed to more harsh or chemical treatments.
As I was observing my team the other day, I thought of this.
They were expressing the multitude of human and system dynamics they navigate every day in the quest to solve problems and remove churn that leave public servants feeling stuck.
Compressed timeframes. Procurement process. Lack of transparency. Capacity deficit. Disorientation. Politics. Insecurity. Role clashes.
It’s like, it doesn’t matter what it is… tree sap, labels, unknown toddler applied substance… the people I work with show up with focused attention, curiosity, system awareness, teamwork, and grit to figure it out.
Miracles. Doing God’s work. Indispensable.
I’m not sure if this is how you would describe peanut butter. But this is what people have been saying about my team.
And, just about anyone can have this miracle stuff in their cupboard.
Some of the ingredients you can get at the check out line up.
Others, you need to cultivate for a while as you practice, learn, and grow.
Perhaps unlike peanut butter, the ingredients we bring are not always on the label.
When clients and potential partners ask us to show up, we do our best to explain what they can expect. There are broad objectives we express that signal what we pay attention to. What kind of goop they bring… well, we have no control over that.
So, the peanut butter we bring is rarely the same consistency and how we apply it varies greatly. We have a diverse team that is constantly adapting.
This is what human and systems work requires generally. Which is also something we are teaching people around us: figure out how to be responsive and resilient given a complex environment.
Anyway, now I’m hungry.
(Which happens to be one way we describe people who are especially keen to solve the kinds of mess we sign up for.)
H
