All About People

And so it falls to me to (happily) introduce the last of our introductory blogs, tell you a bit about me and what brings me to All About People.  

Two years ago, I realised there was something I needed to do, somewhere else I needed to be. I needed to find a way of being able to work differently and start from a different place. Often this was a nagging suspicion that too often we were just ‘fixing’ and not focusing our time and energy on where we would make the most difference.   

Eight or so years before that I’d decided to give the whole ‘changing things from the inside’ thing a whirl. It wasn’t straightforward. I thrive in environments where decisions can be made carefully but with some energy and pace and where curiosity and trying things out are valued as much as getting everything right first time.

With my co-conspirators (of which there were many) I spent a lot of time working out ways of shifting cultures away from always needing to know the answer to spending more time in the messy bit where collaboration really happens and where new patterns can emerge. I learned so much about what it takes to build and nurture environments where working in genuine partnership with people and communities is part of the fabric, not just bolted on or a box to be ticked. A culture where we listen to really understand and where assumptions can be challenged. Often this was about having to courage to revisit the assumptions we’d made about where we were and where we were going. It was always about integrity, purpose and vision and not being afraid of asking questions and challenging what we think we know. Where no one person is the expert but where everyone brings skills and experience. Above all it was about starting from the understanding that is relationships that make the most difference, not transactions, which means investing time in finding shared purpose. It was both fun and serious in the way that the best collaboration and participatory work is.

That experience and a lot of sharing and learning from others helped me to really shape what’s important in what I do and how I work. It’s helped me to understand how important it is that we stop focusing on changing and improving services. It just results in more services. It’s not what anyone wants or needs really. It’s just the way we’re used to thinking and working. It’s neat. It keeps things in boxes. 

We need to focus on community, families, relationships and shared understanding. Thinking and talking about how we develop policies and services around relationships is always better. It opens up space for real change, it reduces the spaces and boundaries between us, and it means everyone can have a voice. It frees people up to be part of their own solution and to learn from each other. It’s more effective. It can also be a bit messy (see Rosie’s blog on Collaboration Chaos).

This is the space we work in at All About People. We can help create the time and spaces for conversations to happen with purpose, with real connection and in way that sustains real change in your organisations and systems.

Our collective CV is pretty impressive. We’ve led major programmes, published statutory guidance for the NHS nationally, developed policies and strategies and led participatory approaches on some of the most complex areas of health and care policy and commissioning. We’ve done it with pragmatism, passion, humour and often a fair bit of robust tenacity. We’re good at getting the job done.

More importantly though we’ve taken care of where we are starting from. We’ve spent time exploring our values, dreams, passions and motivations, both individually and collectively. We’ve had some wonderfully frank, funny, serious, and wide-ranging discussions. We’ve been careful not to rush over more difficult conversations and we’re often reminding ourselves to slow down, to pause and reflect. 

And so we have our starting place. A starting place where we don’t assume to know all the answers and know that it takes time to find a common language and a common vision. A starting point that is about people and communities and creating spaces for connection. A starting place that sees value in every voice. Where we recognise that everything is complicated and there isn’t one right solution. And above all where we prize the connections we need to make a fairer and kinder world. 

When I’m not thinking about all this (and sometimes when I am) I can be found wandering the Yorkshire hills, wrangling a 6 year old, swimming in unfeasibly cold water or reading (here are my top ten books of 2023).

Want to hear more from All About People? Sign up to our mailing list here, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @AllAbtPeople, or contact me directly at ruth@allaboutpeople.org.uk