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<\/p>\nScottish Social Services are facing a time of change; with changing demographics, increasing budget restraints and policy drivers such as Integration and Self Directed Support. The landscape of Scotland\u2019s services may look radically different in the future.<\/p>\n
So how do we cope with a period of change when we are faced with so many unknowns? How do we find the space to be productive and innovative when we can\u2019t anchor our ideas onto any tangible reality?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve become increasingly interested in negative capability, the state in which a person \u2018is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason\u2019. (Keats, 1970: 43.)<\/p>\n
Unhelpfully for us, this is the first and last time that Keats used the phrase, so we\u2019re not quite sure what it means. People now use the term in the artistic world, psychoanalysis and in leadership development to describe comfort in the unknown.<\/p>\n
Ok, so maybe it makes sense to think about negative capability as a contrast for positive capability. Positive capability is the knowing of stuff \u2013 the facts and skills to use them. Negative capability asks that we shy away from \u2018knowing\u2019 in favour of staying \u201cin the place of uncertainty in order to allow for the emergence of new thoughts or perceptions\u201d (Eisold, 2000, p.65).<\/p>\n
In an environment that rewards activity and action, it can feel very uncomfortable to experience the unknown and be seen not to be doing anything about it. At an event I attended last year on the topic, I spoke with a practitioner who was put under constant pressure to present information that wasn\u2019t available \u2013 through a series of speculative presentations and papers. The actual outputs themselves were conjecture and not useful, and actually detracted time away from other meaningful core activity. This activity gave the impression of facts, and the safety net of feeling like the organisation was making decisions based on knowing things. In fact, she felt they were missing out on an opportunity to explore the unknown, and develop their own internal structures to be more resilient no matter what changes faced them.<\/p>\n
Negative capability wouldn\u2019t be much use without the positive capability to navigate it \u2013 the skills that help us build relationships and learn.<\/p>\n
In the state of the unknown, when outside forces can\u2019t be tied to fact or certainty, is the perfect time to set out a vision for your own future. Using the space to think creatively about what you want to do, what your values are and where you see yourself in the future is useful. Ultimately, these are the things that will help you position yourself when events eventually unfold.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m reminded of Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAlice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, \u201cWhat road do I take?\u201d
\nThe cat asked, \u201cWhere do you want to go?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Alice answered.
\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the cat, \u201cit really doesn\u2019t matter, does it?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here at IRISS, we find ourselves in the flux of change. Through the recruitment of a new director and the development of a new 3 year strategy, we find ourselves really having to embrace not knowing things too.<\/p>\n
In the next three years we will be embarking on a place based project called \u2018The Big Idea\u2019. This project will support one geographical area in depth to broker, break and renegotiate the boundaries between the community and services to build lasting connections and a more resilient community. In some ways, this project will use our existing skills as an organisation, but I expect that working in one area in such depth will also challenge and push us.<\/p>\n
To achieve the outcomes of this project, we need to be responsive and flexible to what the community wants and needs and embrace our own negative capability.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very unnerving, but full of potential.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the project, I hope to capture and share the experience on this blog\u2026 Let\u2019s see what happens next!<\/p>\n
In this blog I referred to:<\/p>\n
Eisold, K (2000) The rediscovery of the unknown: an inquiry into psychoanalytic praxis. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 36(1)
\nFrench, R, Simpson, P and Harvey, C (2009) Negative capability: A contribution to the understanding of creative leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Acknowledging the unknown Scottish Social Services are facing a time of change; with changing demographics, increasing budget restraints and policy drivers such as Integration and Self Directed Support. The landscape of Scotland\u2019s services may look radically different in the future. So how do we cope with a period of change when we are faced with … <\/p>\n