Opening and Closing: A Leadership Perspective in Welfare Organizations
A Short Reflection
In modern welfare organizations, there's a delicate balance between opening and closing processes. While we often think of machines and formal systems as closed, and human judgment as what opens new perspectives, the reality is more complex.
Humans can become mechanistic in their thinking, stuck in routines and biases. Conversely, standardized methods and research can challenge assumptions and open new perspectives. Sometimes an RCT study can make us question practices we've taken for granted.
Leadership in this context requires skillful navigation of when to open and close discussions:
Opening is crucial when established practices fail, when tensions need airing, or when new perspectives are needed.
Closing becomes necessary when decisions must be made, when direction is needed, or when constant questioning paralyzes action.
A completely open organization where everything is constantly up for debate would be paralyzed. A completely closed one would miss crucial signals and lose capacity for innovation. The art of leadership lies in reading when to create space for dialogue and when to make decisive calls. And how to dialogue/communicate this with the Humans involved.
Like the broader dynamic between human and machine in welfare systems, we need both opening and closing movements - both questioning and determination - to create effective practice.
These oscillations between openness and structure, between reflection and decision, drive development forward.