A phrase we’ve been using a lot so far in this project is “I don’t know, let’s try it out!”
Rather than spending a lot of time modelling approaches on paper and agonising over approach and details, we’ve been testing things just to see how they work in practice and then working out the kinks.
I think there’s a lot of reasons why this approach (called prototyping) is appropriate in the Fit for the Future project:
- Context matters – and differs. One size fits all can’t work in care.
- It allows for collaboration and co-design – all people involved can be part of prototyping
- It lets us see how something works in practice
- It can be much more time efficient
- It gives us evidence to share with others
- It removes the ‘fear factor’ of something failing. By failing small and early, we can learn and move it. It’s a much more efficient way of failing, because we can understand why and improve.
In fact, the West Lothian Care Home Lab is a more formalised version of this overall approach. (for information on labs more generally seeย http://www.iriss.org.uk/project/social-services-lab)
But in North Lanarkshire, Falkirk and Argyll and Bute- we are starting small, testing, and learning. It’s a great way to build momentum and focus on doing.