Organisational dissonance occurs when an organisations stated beliefs, purpose, culture and actions do not all align.
There are plenty of examples of organisational dissonance, and currently, in Australia, we can see it playing out in the highest levels of government as well. Some of our bug bears, and most glaring contradictory misalignments include; Organisations that claim that businesses should be a force for good but are themselves, non-profit entities. Taking the benefits of non-profit status, while having the stated aim that it is, in fact, businesses that should be the driving force for change. Political parties that are staunchly anti-union, anti-strike action and generally have an attitude of ‘grin and bear it’ when prescribing action to their constituents, shutting up shop and closing down parliament to sort out their own internal problems, rather than simply do their jobs. Non-profit organisations that claim to want to have long-term impact, but only focus on selling and promoting short-term, instant gratification projects and activities without working to have programs and frameworks for the long-term. At the same time failing to help their supporters understand and see the value in long-term engagement to solve problems. Organisations with stated aims to assist members of a community through a single area of intervention, wanting to help a group of people, but only providing one element of the help. Ostensibly because they care about the welfare and opportunities of this particular community in need. At the same time they are refusing to work alongside or collaborate with other organisations, who provide different kinds of necessary support, to the same community. This kind of in-fighting among organisations is rife and causes misery inside and outside of the organisations. Schools that claim to value education and delivering quality education to children, that simultaneously cut the lowest performing and most in-need students in order to keep their performance results high. Organisational dissonance is one of the biggest blocks to actual equality of opportunity, as we descend further into a culture of ignoring the gaps between stated aims and beliefs and actions. No-one is perfect, no organisation is perfect, but systemic hypocrisy and dissonance should be identified and changed. Quickly. When the Just Be Nice Project works with out partner organisations, one of the first things we look for is signs of organisational dissonance, staff dissatisfaction, cultural difficulties, uncertain future goals and a lack of trust. It is possible to align what you say you want to do, and what you do and how you do it. It might not be easy, but it is possible. That is what makes character-led organisations so valuable.
In our short term, news cycle, tweet filled, Instagram storied current environment, is it any wonder that our politicians are leveraging our ever-shortening attention spans for their own gain?
Australia hasn’t had a Prime Minister go to full term since John Howard’s tenure ended in 2007. The revolving door makes a mockery of the concept of ‘Party Leader’, and the infighting and factional divisions that make up the back room, self-interested, self-centered political scene do little to advance Australia in any meaningful way. While the media blasts the most vulnerable communities and individuals for roaming in 'packs', being beyond help, and needing to be stopped at the borders, lest they destroy the country. We have the 'Prime' members of our society doing more damage to our reputation and the steady management of the country than any group of disadvantaged individuals could ever possibly do. If we want politicians to step up for the best interests of the country and the people who live here, we need to focus on long-term outcomes and hold them accountable to those outcomes. When we allow short-term political leaders to promote and enact short-term, knee jerk policy and legislation while pandering to the most extreme factional concerns, we do the government and ourselves a grave disservice. To improve the equality of opportunity for all, including the most disadvantaged communities, we need to invest in their long-term development. We need to ensuring that communities in need are getting the help that they need, when they need it, for as long as they need it. Want to feel safer? Invest in marginalised, disadvantaged communities and give them a chance to become some of the most productive, innovative and driven contributors to society. Concerned about the future of small and medium sized businesses? Invest in low socio-economic communities so that they may become the consumer base that supports and invests in small local businesses. With 2.9 million Australians currently living below the poverty line, lifting the lowest 10% of the country out of poverty would be an exponential boon to all businesses. Worried about the health and well-being of Australians? Encourage long term investment in the development and improved accessibility of the great fresh produce our country produces. Encourage investment into feeding the stomachs and minds of our children in schools across the country, ensuring that every child gets the best in nutrition, engagement, education and support all the way through their school years. Concerned about the revolving door of leadership for our Prime Ministerial office? Hold all levels of government accountable to long term outcomes. If focus more on what leaders say rather than what they do in practice, we will end up in the downward spiral of negative, backstabbing, short-term, individualist politics. Those at the far end of the political spectrums, to the left or the right, will always be able to take more extreme positions on issues and rabble rouse as a result. Unfortunately, extremities mean that the majority are being ignored. When it comes to equality of opportunity we should look to representatives who are looking to improve the lives of the many, rather than the lives of the few. If we want to improve the quality of our leadership in this country, we need to demand that our representatives are not asset rich and character poor. We need to have longer memories, pay more attention, demand answers and hold politicians, and the press, accountable for the disappointing state of affairs. We can do better, we must do better. Not just for ourselves, but for the future generations of Australians who will miss out if we don’t invest in them today. The Just Be Nice Project is committed to developing and investing in projects, programs and infrastructure that provides assistance and development to people in need for the long term, regardless of who is in charge in Canberra. If you have had enough of short term interventions, we would love to have you involved in the business of helping people, properly.
In an excerpt from the fantastic, and highly recommended book from Independent Thinking - The Working Class, Ian Loynd hits the nail on the head with the following observation;
Those children who need our love the most will ask for it in the most unloving of ways, so we remind ourselves that the stories behind their misbehaviour, disengagement or irreverence will not make us angry but break out hearts. – Ian Loynd. These children, if not helped, grow into adults who were not loved or supported when they needed to be, and we tend to be far less forgiving of adults who are disengaged, irreverent or misbehaving. Perhaps when we consider how to help adults in need, we consider how our actions when they were children affected them. Investing in the future means we should aim to support all children in a way that never leaves them short-changed of opportunity, support or love. When it comes to developmental assistance to individuals and communities in need, it is of the upmost importance that we look to long-term, transparent and effective interventions.
When the largest investor in healthcare, social welfare and environmental sustainability is only run in increments of 3 years (The Australian Federal & State Government), we are already fighting an uphill battle for long-term, effective investment. Incremental positive change traditionally leaves less time and opportunity for handshakes and announcements for politicians seeking re-election. When a party responds to emotive and divisive issues with the intent of re-election, we see investment in short term programs, big announcement and unaccountable, vague community development interventions. When the same three-year term is plagued with in-fighting, leadership spills and policy back-flips, we miss out on even more opportunities for long-term, transparent, developmental investment. In our view, the government exists to improve the equality of opportunity for all citizens of the country, in order to do this, long term investment needs to be made into transparent and effective frameworks for assisting communities and individuals in need. Less time in-fighting, less time pandering to the extreme ends of the political spectrum and more time leading the charge on actual innovative investment, community development and equality of opportunity. Looking for ways to be world leaders in the development of people and knowledge. Investing in sustainable and effective means of education, energy production, housing and small/medium business development. Working to ensure that we have a healthy, happy and well supported population. When the government isn’t even focussed on getting the job done, when politicians aren’t held accountable for their policy backflips and blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars, when we give the government permission to start impeding the opportunities of certain groups of people, we are setting ourselves up for a difficult road ahead. One where ultimately, everyone suffers. It is worth taking the time to investigate the policies of the major and minor parties. It is worth holding them accountable to more than the most recent ‘complaints’ in the divisive and sensationalist press. It is worth taking the time to understand that everyone will need help at some point, in a variety of ways, and that the best environment is one that provides that help to everyone. We need to look to long term investment in not only the things that affect us right now. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” —Nelson Henderson. The best kind of investment is in not only making the country great for all people today, but for all people tomorrow as well. Sometimes those in charge of governing need some extra reminding of that fact.
Today we are hearing rumblings of yet another leadership challenge for the role of Prime Minister of Australia.
It is alleged that perhaps Peter Dutton, minister for Home Affairs, will potentially challenge Malcolm Turnbull, Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Australia. With the overwhelming discussions of the difficulties faced by so many, whether it be economic difficulty, mental health issues or community cohesion, we believe that the one of the most important avenues to addressing these issues is understanding, listening and compassion. Compassion and understanding for the circumstances that lead people to act in a certain way. Compassion and understanding for the circumstances that prevent individuals and communities from achieving their full potential and being able to take advantage of opportunity. Compassion and understanding that not everyone has the same lived experience as us, and, rightly or wrongly, that informs the way that you see the world. Now we would like to turn that compassion and understanding to Minister Dutton, but it is a little bit difficult, with the details of his life and career prior to entering parliament being a little bit vague. We note, however, that in response to the asylum seekers he says to The Australian; “It’s essential that people realise that the hard-won success of the last few years could be undone overnight by a single act of compassion in bringing 20 people from Manus to Australia.”* We could not disagree further, with the notion that compassion is a sign of weakness. Compassion is a sign of strength, competence, unity and a strong sense of identity. Compassionate treatment of those in need is a clear sign that we are a country with strong, generous and welcoming values. That we pride ourselves on working to improve the lives of all people in the country, whether they are born here or not. Compassion is an indication that we are competent and skilled at taking people who have little, and helping them find their way to having enough. We believe that Australia should strive to be the best place in the world for anyone to be. The best place for equality of opportunity. The most accepting and understanding country in the world, and the most compassionate. Compassion is not weakness. Being scared of people in need, is. *Source Article
When we speak about feminism, we are speaking about;
The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. When we speak about black lives matter, we are speaking about; The advocacy against violence and systemic racism toward black people. When we speak about wealth inequality, or social inequality, we are speaking about; The uneven distribution of resources across a given society. It is important that we have language available to discuss the concerns and barriers to opportunity that are faced by different communities around us. We must acknowledge that some people inhabit multiple ‘communities’ and that each one of these groups may face very real and complex barriers to opportunity. By acknowledging these kinds of barriers, without ranking them, we are able to discuss them sensibly, to talk about the most relevant and accessible ways to remove barriers. Some communities have overlapping concerns. Many communities have groups and sub-groups in them that have differing, diverging or independent concerns. It is not to say that any are more or less valid or important, certainly some concerns affect more or less people, but that is not to say that they are less real, or less important. They simply affect people on a smaller scale. In some instances, removing barriers to smaller, granular communities is a very effective way to begin a pathway to improving opportunity for larger, more homogeneous groups of related people. For instance, attending the needs of Refugee South Sundanese Nuer Women in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne, might be an effective way to implement, workshop and develop strategies to assist migrants generally in the future. In other ways, removing barriers to large, homogeneous communities containing many sub-groups is more effective – i.e. universal healthcare for everyone. This is far more effective than trying to assess and determine how each individual should get funded or not funded for healthcare. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, in her book We Should All Be Feminists notes that we should not be limited by the stereotypes of individual labels like feminist, but that we should use an understanding of the need to address things like gender inequality through the proper language. This is to say further, that we should take individual responsibility to understand the needs and inhibitors to productive discussions on these issues in all directions. Instead of saying that you believe in human rights (which should begin a conversation about the rights of all humans), to say you are a feminist is to acknowledge “The specific and particular problems of gender.” We wouldn’t tell someone who had bowel cancer to simply say they were ‘sick’, that would not acknowledge the specific and particular nature of their illness. Of course, everyone with bowel cancer is sick, in the same way that feminists can be concerned with human rights for all. The importance of identifying barriers is so that we can address the causes and effects of these inhibitors and remove them. We need to stop comparing and fighting among issues, saying things like “why be a feminist, why not care about all human rights?”, “Why black lives matter? Why not all lives matter?”, “Why are we talking about Indigenous disadvantage, what about the other poor people?”. To name an issue is to have a discussion about that issue. Certainly, there is overlap between issues, but there is nothing less productive than to enter a discussion about the disadvantage experienced by one community, with something that looks like “what about this other community?”. Yes, we can speak about various kinds of disadvantage and inequality, but we must look at each school of difficulty for what it is, not what it is in comparison to other inequalities of opportunity. Looking at how different kinds of disadvantage inter-relate is important, fighting about which kind of disadvantage is more important to talk about at any given moment, is counter-productive and we should probably do it less. Practice understanding, practice learning about experiences different to yours, and as always remember, Just Be Nice.
Diversity won’t magically appear by passively saying that we want more of it.
Diversity needs to be developed. It needs to be developed by improving equality of opportunity in diverse communities. Diverse communities mean different things to different industries. Diversity can come from gender, age, country of birth, level of education, type of education, interests, socio-economic status and background. Lived experience and missed experience. Where people are from and where they live currently, what their family situation looks like and the way that they process information. Diversity is about casting a wide net and finding ways to incorporate people from all areas of the net into what you do. Unfortunately, opportunity is useless if people who are on the receiving end of this opportunity don’t recognise it. It is ineffective if there are people who believe that this opportunity is ‘not for them.’ We need to spend time investing in communities that are traditionally under-resourced, under-skilled and less confident that the opportunities for development that exist in the world, apply to them. Diversity won’t happen if we attempt to develop it in silos. You can’t simply demand that we have more female engineers, without first engaging young people in developing the relevant building blocks of knowledge, upon which they can become engineers. You cannot demand that there are more people of African descent working as lawyers without developing the skills, confidence and experience of those communities to understand, what a lawyer is, what they do, why you would want to be one, what you would need to do to become one and why it is possible for you to do that. Identifying opportunity blockers and removing them. Attempts at diversity do not start in the boardroom, they start in diverse communities. If you do not have a single board member who did not go to an independent school, then is gender or ethnic background the only diversity that you need to improve? Or can you address the gender and ethnic diversity issues by developing individuals from resource-poor environments of all ethnicities and genders? Is diversity of experience just as important? An interesting element of our community-based diversity development programs is also addressing the fact that technically, you cannot ask diversity related questions when hiring people. You cannot ask if someone is a Muslim, or Sudanese, or if they’re pregnant or if they grew up in a resource-rich or resource-poor environment. You can guess a few things by looking at someone, but it is illegal to hire or not hire someone based on their gender or ethnicity. What if you had a steady stream of diverse, work ready, skilled, willing and able candidates coming through as you looked for hires? What if you didn’t need to ask any diversity questions because you knew that the candidates came from diverse backgrounds? What if they came not looking for charity jobs in order to meet diversity hire quotas, but came ready to go. Ready to contribute in a relevant and meaningful way to the work that you do? At the Just Be Nice Project we identify links between available development opportunities and desirable industry skills. Working to build programs that improve equality of opportunity for diverse communities, supporting their development and bringing skilled, engaged individuals to industry. Diversity starts through the support of community development, it is a long-game, but one that can pay big dividends to the industries and organisations that support it. If you are looking for ways to improve diversity in your organisation. Get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.
Imagine a scenario where you are in need of help.
Perhaps you are homeless, perhaps you are a struggling single parent. You have been battling this scenario for many years, you have made efforts to improve your situation, but it is exceptionally difficult. From time to time, over the years, people have popped in, asked for your story. They have listened, empathised, express sympathy. You have told them your story, your fears and difficulties. It is emotional labour. Exhausting. You trust that they care. Then they do one thing for you, maybe two… Maybe you never hear from them again. Maybe after the story they don’t do anything. Sometimes, after a big effort of help, for a period of time, when it all gets a bit much for the acquaintance or friend, when the service runs out of resources, or when the family lacks the material means to continue to assist. Then, after the glimmer of hope. After the baring of your soul and exposing your most vulnerable fears and difficulties, nothing. The promise of help, the promise of understanding and a feeling of connection and possibility. Then nothing. Now imagine this happens over and over again. And over and over again. Eventually your ability to trust that good things can happen, that help is real and might work is damaged. Maybe irreparably. When real help turns up, after all of these disappointments. When actual opportunity knocks, how would you have the capacity to not only recognise it, but to take it up wholeheartedly? Consider if surgeons started surgery before they were confident that they knew what was wrong, or that they started doing surgeries without taking the time to do the training and learning about how to diagnose and perform surgery. Consider if they started operating before they had the resources to finish the surgery, stopping halfway and leaving you open and vulnerable on an operating table. We would consider that to be negligent, we would not consider ‘isn’t some surgery better than none’ to be an adequate excuse. Likewise, sometimes rushing into ‘help’ without proper a proper understanding of what is happening, what is needed to help and the resources to help can be worse than waiting, taking your time and ‘not helping’ right away. People in need, do indeed need people to be nice. We can all be nice, if we are already nice, we can all be nicer. It is harder to do good. Doing good requires time, dedication and resources. Doing good requires more time, but being nice can happen right now. If you find yourself in a situation where you feel compelled to do good for someone in need, maybe take a moment to audit your capabilities and the needs of the person you are speaking to. Is it a moment to Be Nice, or is it a moment to Do Good? Be honest with yourself and with the person in front of you. How many botched surgeries would it take for you to distrust surgeons and perhaps end up avoiding life-changing or life-saving surgery because you'd been let down before? If that same surgeon had simply said, "I don't know just now. I can't do anything right at this moment, but I am working to get the skills and resources together to be able to fix this for you or others in the future. Right now I can be nice, be understanding and apologise that the help that you need is not available. I can seek out people who may be able to help, but I'm not sure where they are or where to start. Right now, I can give you a coffee, a sympathetic ear and a moment of empathy and understanding. I am sorry that the help is not right here for you. I will help those who help others so that this does not remain a problem for ever." In the future, the person needing help may indeed have the trust required to buy in to the help, when it finally arrives. Improving the process and outcomes for everyone. We encourage everyone to be nice, on their own time, all the time. We help everyone to do good, ensuring that you become part of a process that provides the assistance that people need, when they need it, for as long as they need it. If you'd like to be a part of the solution. Subscribe and get in touch below. We'd love to have you. The influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those that follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. I believe that the reasons for ending all further Muslim immigration are both compelling and self-evident. -Anning
This week senator, Fraser Anning of the Katter Australia Party (Full Transcript here) addressed the Australian Senate..
Excerpts of the speech, party leader Bob Katter's response and Annings non-apology are all available to watch below. We cannot stress enough, this xenophobic, inaccurate, wildly inflammatory speech does nothing to advance the cause of improving equality of opportunity for any Australians. For a representative of 'Australian' Ideals, Anning seems to forget that the second verse of our national anthem begins with; "For those who come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share." Without even going into the abject abuse, disenfranchisement and continuing negative impact of colonialism on the Indigenous Australians, the current anthem for Australia includes room for those from across the seas. Not Europeans from across the seas. This divisive, hurtful and false rhetoric from our parliamentarians must be called out, but even further, their divisive and damaging actions must be called out too. This is not ok. Australia can absolutely do better. We see the very best in the opportunities for positive impact that can be had, through effective corporate and community engagement and management. Keeping people doing what they are really good at, on the road to effective impact, and making sure that people who need help, get the help that they need, when they need it, for as long as they need it. Keep looking out for each other, keep supporting the most vulnerable in our communities, and as always, Just Be Nice. While all Muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are Muslims. So why would anyone want to bring more of them here? - Anning
We tell people “It’s ok to not be ok” and that is true, it absolutely is.
We don’t tell people “It’s ok to be poor” Because we know it’s not. Not simply that it’s not ok for them. But that it’s not ok for us to know and do nothing. It’s not ok if we acknowledge that we aren’t doing everything we can to create an environment where everyone has an equal chance of providing for themselves and the people they care about. It’s not ok when we know that it is not simply a matter of ‘laziness’, or ‘not being engaged’, or ‘not caring’. The myth of the feckless poor is only an excuse for people to ignore the issues that disadvantaged communities and individuals face. We would do well to remind one another that poverty is not a lack of character, it’s a lack of cash. Trickle-down economic policies that ignore the responsibility of those with to contribute to improving the lives of those without. In a time of unprecedented economic success and growth, we have a responsibility to say that it’s not ok to be poor. We should be compelled to action to take responsibility for people that are doing it tough, dealing with the inequality of opportunity that affects the 2.9 million Australians that live below the poverty line. Over 1 in 10 Australians. Right now. If we are going to be concerned with mental health outcomes, as we should be, we need to acknowledge the fact that economic distress is a huge factor in emotional and relationship stress and other mental health issues. Feelings of hopelessness, an inability to take control of your life and get after the things you want to achieve, deep and constant feelings of uncertainty, feeling inadequate because you are struggling to provide for the people you care about. These are all very real mental health issues that stem from economic distress. It’s ok to not be ok. It’s not ok for us to not do anything about the factors that lead people to struggle in the first place. Just Be Nice. Be Good. Do Good. |
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