#systemsstudy

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection On Systems #12

“Ombudsman”

So cool! I had no idea this role existed! Until I began spending time in hospitals & skilled nursing facilities, and googled this with a doctor; No it’s not named after the winning plaintiff in a court case (which is what I initially thought) - it’s actually the name of an official role in a system.

From Wikipedia:

“An ombudsman, ombuds, or public advocate is an official, usually appointed by the government or by parliament, but with a significant degree of independence, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights. In some countries an Inspector General, Citizen Advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a national ombudsman, and may also be appointed by a legislature. Below the national level an ombudsman may be appointed by a state, local or municipal government. Unofficial ombudsmen may be appointed by, or even work for, a corporation such as a utility supplier, newspaper, NGO, or professional regulatory body.

The typical duties of an ombudsman are to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. Ombudsmen sometimes also aim to identify systematic issues leading to poor service or breaches of people's rights. At the national level, most ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the entire public sector, and sometimes also elements of the private sector (for example, contracted service providers). In some cases, there is a more restricted mandate, for example with particular sectors of society. More recent developments have included the creation of specialized Children's Ombudsman and Information Commissioner agencies...”

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection On Systems #11

When perspectives converge, it's helpful to be able cite at least 2-3 articles / studies that support your position. Similarly, one can ask to be pointed in the direction of research that supports another practitioners' philosophy of practice (and not in an ‘I gotcha' way, as that’s relationship damaging in the long run…(I know, because I just made that mistake :-/)…. But rather in a sincere, attempting-to-understand, information-seeking way).

A sincere ask on this front not only demonstrates curiosity about anothers’ point of view, but also invites them to examine the foundations of their beliefs. 

Keeping the bar high for everyone. 

In the moment,  on the ground,  here & now.

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Race and Whiteness In The Era of Trumpism

Presentation by Tim Wise in the Rector's Forum, at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Sunday, April 30, 2017

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Great Q & A from David, at about 41min:

David: “…What levers of power, what mechanisms do you see as most effective in blurring the lines, and eliminating the lines separating… or allowing people that are in a less privileged position, to gain more power? Is it greater access to education, and higher education?”

Tim: “Well I think it’s certainly important. The problem with greater access to education and higher ed is that you can have a very well funded apartheid educational system. You can (also) have a very well funded apartheid health care system. I think a lot of times what we do is we look at systems that we want to make better, and we think ‘well if we could just have a program to deal with this, or some money to deal with this’…and money matters, don’t get me wrong, but I think the problem in our schools is not just that we don’t have the resources to make things more equitable. It’s that we don’t have the pedagogical approach, the curriculum, or the necessary mentality to make things equitable. As I tell teachers all the time, this school system was set up to be unequal. Its not an accident… If you think its just a matter of more money etc., you’re missing the point. If you’re in a sausage factory and you’re standing at the end of the conveyor belt and it keeps giving you sausage, and you’re wondering why you did’t get chicken nuggets, you clearly didn’t read the sign. It’s a sausage factory, so it’s going to keep giving you sausage until you retool the machine! And I think the problem is that we act sometimes - even the most progressive of us - like the system is failing, how do we make the system work?? No the system’s working y’all. That’s the problem. The system is doing exactly what it was intended to do. So the levers that we’ve got to manipulate are the ones that literally change our mindset about what the purpose of schooling is. Is the purpose of schooling just to help you get a job, in an economy that’s going to keep you vulnerable, probably for the vast majority of your life? Or is the purpose of education to fundamentally transform the social structures and create greater equity for all? And I think that’a a mentality that we’ve got to have that’s as important, if not more so than the money.

Next question please.”

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection On Systems #10

Effective systems include accountability. 

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection On Systems #9

An effective system shouldn't require an advocate for a positive outcome.

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection on Systems #8

skillful action = minimum effort -> maximum output

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Big Think: Eric Weinstein: Our Cult of Achievement Is Crushing the Genius Out of People

From the Big Think Site: 

“We want our surgeons to be excellent. We want our classical music performers to be excellent. But do we really want excellence everywhere? This is the provocative line of thought economist and mathematician Eric Weinstein is currently chasing....”

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection on Systems #7

Moral Conundrum Questions (not rhetorical, but genuine & information seeking):

1) If I participate in a system that I don’t fully believe in, am I being integral?

2) If I participate in a system that I don’t fully believe in, and do nothing to try to change it, am I complicit?

3) (Whatever the answer).. How far does this extend? — Classroom? School? City? County? State? Nation?

I think about this stuff a lot, and sometimes it feels overwhelming :(

[artistsintheclassroom8]

Mini Reflection On Systems #6

After a certain amount of time in a system, one starts to become the system; Values are internalized, behaviors & dispositions, normalized; Experimenting with new approaches, or maintaining practices that fall outside the norm becomes increasingly difficult, as it requires supplemental & sustained energy to ‘swim upstream’ - which seems to steadily diminish the longer one remains in the system.

Possible solution? 

Culture Change: Normalize & encourage risk taking, innovation, and experimentation. Incentivize failure (first incentivize success) (before that, define success) (then, continually re-define success). Make self-study, systems-study, and self-as-it-relates-to-systems-study widely held, acknowledged, and encouraged practices.

[artistsintheclassroom9]

Across The Chasm: Six Aims For Changing The Health Care System

Palomar Medical Center. June 2018. Escondido, CA 

• Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Across The Chasm: Six Aims For Changing The Health Care System

From the Article:

“Not only is the current health care system lagging behind the ideal in large and numerous ways, but the system is fundamentally and incurably unable to reach the ideal. In order to begin achieving real improvement in healthcare, the whole system has to change.... Safety must be a property of the system...” 

I appreciate this article being posted in the hall of Palomar Hospital’s Interventional Radiology Department @palomarhealth; Publicly acknowledgment of a gap, or chasm, and a clearly stated vision, are great first steps toward system improvements. 

As always, for me, the personal is the professional, and the professional is the personal; Thanks for working to get better, and for taking good care of my Mom in the process ❤️