Hi! I’m Allison and I’m an evaluation and organizational learning consultant. My master’s degree is in Public Policy and I think a lot about how systems and policies affect different groups differently.

I have this quirky attribute while if I start watching a show regularly, I have to finish it regardless of whether it holds my interest. Think, late seasons of True Blood, Dexter, and Handmaid’s Tale, which have fallen below my bar of how I want to spend my time, but for some reason I feel compelled to see them through.

Even as I’m watching them, I know that I don’t want to be anymore. That there are other more engaging things I can do with my time. That we’re in an age where you can read a synopsis if you really need to know how the character’s arc concluded. Yet, I watch them through and honestly feel a sense of relief and freedom when I finish the last episode.

Does this ever happen to you in your work? There’s something that you do because it’s always been that way. It’s not necessarily harmful, but it’s really not serving its purpose anymore. You know there are better ways to do things, but you’re having trouble getting around to making changes.

A really important thing that I learned when studying Public Policy, was that the status quo is a choice. There are real and opportunity costs to doing something knowing that it could be better. It’s difficult to find the time to make changes when you’re working at or above capacity, and we know that it’s those very same changes that may free up time to create more opportunities for this.

One simple tool to challenge the status quo is the classic Start | Stop | Continue. I encourage organizations to bring this in at existing team meetings. If there’s an area that you know needs to change, send out the tool ahead of time and invite staff to think about what you might stop, start, and keep doing in that area, and bring their thoughts into your next meeting. This leverages your collective knowledge and strength, and can lead to unique and fruitful opportunities to rethink the status quo, being intentional about what elements carry on and which might have overstayed their welcome.

What’s your Dexter? Is there something going on within your organization that’s just the way you’ve always done it, even though you know it needs to change? Hit reply and let me know!

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