Would you rather:
- Enforce the rules and have an orderly, safe, consistent environment where there is healthy accountability, or
- Be compassionate to the most vulnerable and make allowances for human frailty
Have you picked one? Good!
You’re wrong.
Whichever one you picked you are wrong. Don’t feel bad. You aren’t the problem. The problem is the question.
The world likes dichotomies. You are either cat person or a dog person. Every Chicagoan is either a Cubs fan or a Sox fan. You are either conservative or a liberal. People are either good or bad.
Dichotomies are nice and simple. They’re also usually wrong.
My favorite dichotomy is that you have to choose between enforcing the rules and being compassionate. Depending on which side a person falls on this false choice it can be described as:
- Order vs. Chaos
- Brutality vs. Helpfulness
- Enforcing the rules vs. Following our Mission
- Keeping our Staff Safe vs. “Anything Goes”
This so-called “choice” is based on the fact that the world thinks that the only way to enforce the rules is to punish people. Yes, Punishment-Driven Enforcement is not very compassionate. It is not the only way, though.
Empathy-Driven Enforcement (which is taught in these emails and in our training programs) allows you to enforce the rules AND be compassionate. The reality is that you can’t ignore your rules (as I’m fond of saying, “Chaos is not a strategy”). You also ruthlessly going around punishing the most vulnerable for their vulnerabilities.
The key is not WHETHER you enforce your rules. It is HOW you enforce your rules.
So, the next time a co-worker tries to force your organization to decide between these two extremes, remember that there is a third way!Ryan Dowd, Atty., MPA
The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness
www.homelesslibrary.com |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment