In the Bible, Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she was unwilling to keep focused on what laid ahead. In the Qu’ran she stayed behind in the city and it was destroyed.

No matter which way you tell the story, her death was because she kept longing for the life she had. She was being called to something new but kept looking back to the past.

One of my least favorite phrases to hear in any youth work meeting is ‘well…. historically speaking we’ve done….’  Fill in the blank with an idea, a method, a program that worked well any number of years ago, but now might not be the most efficient, most relevant or most productive way of working.

That’s not to say that we can’t learn anything from history, or that long running programs are by default irrelevant or inefficient. If you have evidence continuing to support your program outcomes or methods for working then keep it up!

What I’m saying is that simply because that’s how it’s always been done, doesn’t mean it’s the best program or method. Programs, people and methods need to change and evolve with time, technology and culture.

Seth Godin talks about this in a blog post about defending the status-quo. He gives a list of warning signs that you might not be as revolutionary as you once were, or as you might like to think you are. I can see many on this list that are very applicable to youth work programs and organizations but I’ll just highlight three:

1) Do you undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change?

Most young professionals and youth workers can identify with this. Don’t let your agency, manager or board of directors ignore your ideas simply because of your youth. Listen to critiques they may have (they have been doing this longer than you) but also come in well prepared and with evidence to support your idea.

Leaders: Don’t steamroll the idea simply because it’s coming from a new staff member, a younger youth worker or A YOUTH.

2) Do you focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you?

In youth work, we all know that money is tight, resources are tight, time is tight. However, we need to think strategically about the long term goals of our programs. We’re often so far behind in our planning for the week that we don’t have time to think about where we want to take our work in 6 months, let alone 3 years.

Strategic planning is critical to resource, staff and time management though and will create more effective and sustainable programs in the long run.

3) Do you slow implementation and decision making down instead of speeding it up?

Don’t meet just to meet. Often the meetings that I most hear ‘historically speaking’ in are the ones that rarely accomplish anything. The agenda is the same week after week. Use an action plan in your meetings, give clear direction to your team and expectations. Use monitoring and evaluation to ensure that you’re moving forward on new ideas.

I would review all the warning signs listed in Seth’s post. Use it to help you and your organization move beyond what has worked historically and begin to craft a new history by shaping it with ideas that will change the future.

Question: How are you going to fight against the status-quo today? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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