Target fixation - when out on for a spin in the woods on the mountain bike and you look at the rock you don't want to hit, and because the more you focus on it , you are more likely to hit it. If you manage to look past the obstacle, to where you want to be, you are more likely to miss it.
In the words of Radiohead "You do it to yourself, you do, and that's what really hurts..."
These are a couple of metaphors that came to mind reflecting on the NDTi Community Led Support - sharing the lessons from Scotland session I was at today. Too often the rhetoric and the targets set for real change have fallen short of delivering what was envisioned when Self Directed Support was first announced, and today candidly held up a mirror to this reality and asked what we were going to do about it.
The day involved looking at the process of trying to stay true to the spirit of Self Directed Support, and Co-Production, in the face of huge pressure to "rebrand" old processes and not actually change the power dynamic and (crucially) the outcomes for people. Practical examples of this were shared indicating the power of positive focused work which takes it's lead not from a pre-planned template, but from what the community and people using services needs, taking account of their skills and gifts. These are my observations from my limited involvement - below is a link which gives more detail -
https://www.ndti.org.uk/our-work/our-projects/community-led-support
Lou Close had said it was something that would interest me, and she knows me well!
There were some significant examples of progress that had been made in the Scottish sites, and there was a focus on maintaining the integrity rather than replicating the programme just for the sake of it.
This was a day to make you feel you are around people who utterly understand that "experts" don't have all the answers, that positive attitude and a focus on what matters can (and will) allow us to deliver much better outcomes with people, and encourage us to let go of tired attitudes and methods that hold us back. The strength of feeling of shared confidence in working it out together and being part of something significant, has led some to call it a movement, not just a programme.
From what I saw today, they might be right!