I was struck by a telling comment made in a conversation with a senior public sector manager (as it happens in the NHS) last week.  The comment was that there is a real danger that those with a professional interest in involvement are among the most vulnerable when it comes to job cuts.

The argument goes along the lines of - this is perceived to be a 'soft' target, because it deals with 'soft' issues, and in a period of retrenchment the managers in the ascendancy will be those who can promise both hard deliverables and clear action plans based in transactional approaches - in other words those who 'get it' will be trumped by those that can find 'easy' cuts.

Of course there is some real truth in this type of fear - and I doubt there are many who work in involvement who don't see the potential for this scenario to come true.

But you know, there's an old adage about fear - "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.....which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance"  as used in this quote by US President Roosevelt in his First Inaugural Address in 1933.

So, how might we avoid the paralysing effects of this fear?  Well, acting anyway is clearly one answer.  So too is bolstering the evidence which justifies the action.  And these two interact - without the action it becomes impossible to provide the evidence (a case to be made to all those who say, where's the evidence for involvement?).  And so too is the act of entering the argument - not allowing silence to prevail in such circumstances - there are good reasons to involve people in our decision-making, and we must make the argument for that too.  And help others make the argument. 

We hope Fontis can be a means to achieve just that.

If you share this fear, help us to combat it, and help others to do so - visit our Forum Pages, and generate the debate and necessary actions...