Hello Ksenia,

Isn’t it funny how new insights or ideas often seem to emerge at unexpected times, and in unexpected places? In the shower. Or during a swim? One of these recently surfaced through a conversation with my 7-year-old after she attended a mosaic-making workshop.

As we discussed the process of creating the mosaic, she highlighted an element I didn’t expect - the grout. She proudly explained that, even though I couldn’t see it, the grout was actually the most important part, because it held everything else together.

This triggered a realisation. The grout was a wonderful metaphor to describe the invisible elements of our work and lives, which we often forget to pay attention to, but are often the things that matter most of all.

The grout represents ways of working and culture. It represents the values and relational fabric upon which everything else proceeds. However, despite acting as an essential foundation for the more visible parts of our work - the reports we write, the events we curate - we often forget to pay these invisible elements the attention they deserve. We forget to honour the grout.

My 7-year-old's mosaic

At the Centre for Public Impact, our approach to reimagining government is shaped by the notion that how we are in the world has a profound impact on what we do in the world. As Adrian Brown has written, “if we really want to see enduring change in government, this requires more than simply focusing on what government is doing. We must reflect on the being of government — the underlying values, beliefs and assumptions.” 

But this can be hard. As a society, we’re not very good at noticing, naming and honouring that which isn’t immediately obvious to us. And this matters because it’s not possible to bring about change without paying attention to the system as a whole — even those bits which we cannot see. It matters because the unseen elements of our work have a significant impact in their own right. And it matters because, put simply, the things we can’t see matter. Until we grasp this, we can’t make the progress that so many of us want and need. 

This conversation with my 7-year-old reminded me that we need to make time to discover, recognise and acknowledge that which isn’t immediately obvious. We need to focus less on celebrating the shiny “stuff”, and more on the less visible elements - relationships and ways of working - which enable the rest to happen.

I truly believe that our greatest contribution at CPI is not what we create, but how we create it. This is worth celebrating.

Best wishes,

Thea

🐦 Follow Thea on Twitter

What else we've been talking about

• 🗣️ What is sensemaking?: At CPI, we help government organisations by supporting them as a learning partner through sensemaking and action-learning. Explore our new series of articles sharing examples of this work in practice, and insights into what we’re learning along the way.
  
  
• 🩺 A new deal on autonomy and accountability in health and care: How can management of the UK's National Health Service be reoriented towards local accountability and learning, and away from top-down control?
  
  
• 💰 Funding the Third Horizon: Carrie Robinson reflects on the Philea Community of Practice sessions she hosted in September 2021, exploring what the 'third horizon' is and what it means to fund it.