You’re at the Halfway Point!
Friends! You have made it halfway through this course, which is no small feat!
Congratulations from all of us – we’re so proud of you for leaning in and doing this work!
So please do a happy dance, give yourself a pat on the back, give your team members a high five, and do the gut check before moving onto the next modules.
Please don’t proceed to the next modules until you feel really good about the work you’ve done so far.
And, sincerely, congratulations!
Task #1: Gut Check Before Proceeding
While going to scale is exciting and often pursued with excitement by funders and other stakeholders, it can be a mistake to do so too hastily. If we are not careful, we can unintentionally spread something that is problematic – overly conceptual, too complex, inequitable or damaging to those we seek to help. We have to thoroughly test and refine our solutions, making sure we are really meeting the needs of the groups in question.
Before we charge forward with distilling and packaging our solution in the tasks that follow, take five minutes and try to honestly answer the questions from all the previous modules:
- Do I have a team or organizational culture that is ready to scale?
- Do I truly understand the problem I am trying to solve?
- Do I deeply understand the layered contexts that produce and perpetuate the problem at all five levels of oppression and liberation?
- Do I fully understand my relationship to the people trying to solve the problem
- What engagement framework am I using and what is my role?
- What shifts have I made in any problematic narratives I was using?
- Do I know my solution actually works? (and have I evaluated it with an equity lens?)
If the answer to any of these questions is “No” or “I’m not sure,” then it’s important to give yourself the time and space you need to really do this work. You can certainly keep going with this module and next week’s but double back to this work as soon as you can. It could take weeks, months, even years but it is indispensable in building the relationships, designs and confidence needed to move forward. It is very much a question of “pay me now or pay me later” – if we don’t thoughtfully design our solution – and do so through trusting relationships with individuals, organizations and communities – it can really come back to haunt us as we seek to expand our impact.
Inner Work: Reflections on Module 7
Please use this inner work reflection time to deepen your reflection on the ways you have personally learned and grown from working through the first six modules of this course.
- What changes have I personally made to support my team in being able to operate more from a place of regenerativity and liberation?
- How has my personal understanding of the problem evolved?
- How has facing into the problem at all five levels of oppression and liberation helped me understand better my own experiences of oppression and liberation?
- What is my design role, and how do I feel about it?
- How have I changed how I show up in relationship with the people most impacted by the problem after gaining clarity about which engagement framework we’re using?
- What shifts have I made in any problematic narratives I was using? How has consciously shifting the story I am telling about my work changed how I feel about my work?
- How confident am I personally that my solution works, now that I also know to consider that fully through an equity lens?