Peter Slattery

I shall make my last Bali reference for a while. We are home and it is nice to be here. There are many stand-out things about Bali, but my last comment for now is to notice the importance people place on being part of something. The temple next to where we were staying was the focus of weeks of preparation. It is noticeable that people dress pretty much the same, and engage in similar activities. Bali is not without hierarchy, and there are many nuances I must surely miss, yet the joining-in, the part-of-something, the interconnection between people, place, ceremony and occasion is observable and almost palpable.

People work hard, and they work together. One more example of the importance of belonging to something, being part of something, and connected to something. I am told that if some great crime is committed within a temple the punishment is banishment. Not beatings or incarceration, but the removal of connection with people and place. And again it’s only an impression, and possibly superficial, but I saw very little graffiti, very little of ‘adolescent acting out’, very little hostility or aggression. And yes surely there are problems, but it is rare, especially outside the major tourist area, to even hear a raised voice.

And while I do suspect that the goat’s sense of belonging may well have been short-lived, I still regard Bali as a place of considerable peace, beauty, and purpose.

Love riding a bike. Don’t like falling off it. Or being knocked off it…sydney traffic ain’t bike friendly. But I ride anyway. And with a 4 year old on the back I am mostly on back streets, foot-paths and through parks.  I notice in the papers lately (Sydney Morning Herald March 16th) we in Sydney are described as one of the most cycle-unfriendly cities in the world. I’m inclined to believe it. Cycling in America is fun compared to here. And you don’t need to look far to find things wrong with the United States…but I enjoy being there and find people friendly INCLUDING towards people on bikes . And they can’t hear I have an alluring aussie accent when they drive past so it cannot be my irrestible antipodean…ness, that is warming people to me.

John Pucher from Rutgers University in New Jersey reckons we need to get rid of the laws about wearing helmets and start to develop a culture of safety and where cycling is less about flash bikes and drop handle bars and more about ordinary people just getting about. Sounds good I reckon.

I have lived in Copenhagen, Ie cycle heaven. It would be a rare Dane who would not look before opening a car door to get out. Here in Sydney, people throw a huge slab of metal in front of you without a thought. And that’s it isn’t it? We are not taught to ‘THINK BIKE’…which is what we should be doing with our children and young people at school. I suspect not all Danes (though most probably) love bikes…but I also suspect they still look before opening a car door. Laws about wearing helmets seem NOT the way to go…promoting cycling does.

It would not be hard to start this stuff early. And if I had any say in the matter, I would like young people driving at an early an age as possible. Not getting licences.  That we can still do in the teens (or better still, late thirties!!). But we know it is hours on the road that protect young and new drivers. Being able to handle skids and what to do when you hit an oil slick, and really, how many times has that happened in my decades of driving? Yes I know it does happen, but not nearly as much as driving down an ordinary street with cars on it and pedestrians who might just jump out at you. I suggest lots of hours behind the wheel starting as young as possible so that when we arrive at teenagerdom, driving might not have quite the status, excitement and death-defying attraction that it does now. We have this great system in Australia where we manage to coincide leaving school, getting a driving licence and being allowed to legally drink all at about the same age. Now that was a neat piece of planning wasn’t it?

So: bikes good. Teaching our children and young people about bikes is good. Combinging this with time driving would also be good. Gee…drivers who can drive AND who look out for cyclists (in a good way)? What a dream.

Whether you love Richard Florida or love him less, he does say interesting things from time to time. In ‘Rise of the Creative Class’ he has the following to say….

‘As we have seen, most people do not quest after some workplace zen:They desire challenging work, good pay and reasonably competent management that does not get in their way.’  P 133

and…

‘…creative people and knowledge workers respond well to organizations with solid values, clear rules, open communication, good working conditions and fair treatment.’  P133

and…’failing companies’ are:

‘…beset with near constant stress, continuous uncertainty, chronic management turnover, frequent changes of direction and general chaos.’  Page 141

Would I be drawing too long a bow to ask just how might this all apply or not, to communities, to community work? To agencies in the welfare/youth sector? To the work we do with young people? To families? To how we spend out daily time? Hmmm…would it be time for coffee?

Ian Plowman, helpful and friendly person that he is, sent me an email in response to me referring on my website, to the terrific research he has done about what helps country towns flourish. I have cut and pasted Ian’s email below. Interesting stuff. And I am always keen to think about what these specific ideas mean for young people, for youth work, for the community sector in general, for running a school, for living in an apartment block……???…!!!…???

Thanks Ian. Keep it coming.

Hi Peter,

I’m pleased to see that my research still has currency.  Here is a summary of the main findings plus a link to the full report.

Given your blog entries on communication, you might also be interested in my current work, aimed at improving the resilience, creativity and dialogue within communities.  If you’d like to email me, I’ll send you an overview of a suite of techniques collectively known as ‘Meetings without Discussion’ and subtitled ‘Productive meeting techniques for helping people to contribute willingly, to listen respectfully, to consider deeply and to decide wisely’.  It has found effective use with teenagers, with government executives, with communities and with desert-dwelling indigenous peoples.  They all love it.

The most innovative country town had:
• The highest proportion of new residents,
• The highest level of home ownership,
• The highest average level of education,
• A high level of overseas travel,
• The fewest leaders,
• The highest proportion of people who had knowledge and expertise they were willing to contribute when required,
• A number of strong civic bodies in addition to Council.
• A Council that preferred to support civic projects in partnership with community groups rather than initiate or lead projects.
• A high level of passion and a low interest in the pursuit of funding.
• A higher proportion of professional people,
• Strong support for and pride in the artistic and creative dimension of its town.

In general innovative towns:
• Are not innovative because of a particular size, geographic location or particular industry,
• Are highly tolerant of diversity,
• Are very welcoming to visitors,
• Take pride in and contribute to their community, (participative democracy)
• Have a low dependency upon leaders and a high dependency upon idea and responsibility sharing,
• Have a low dependency upon governments.

A fundamental truth.  Most people have mobility choices: to move towards something that is attractive, away from something that is unattractive and to stay somewhere that is sufficiently attractive.  People who are the most mobile are commonly the most creative.  The innovative talent that most towns crave, they already have.  Intolerance will chase it away.

Recommendations:
• Invest heavily in diversity in every dimension,
• Invest heavily in leadership rotation, responsibility sharing and the growth of civic responsibility,
• Make all visitors feel welcome.  In particular, welcome the weirdo’s.  Form a visitors welcoming group.
• Promote your town shamelessly; talk it up; invest in it socially and financially; make it easy for others to want to do the same.

More information:
http://www.business.uq.edu.au/display/research/Research+Reports

Perhaps our paths might cross someday.

Warm regards,

Ian

I have on another occasion, referred to the research of Ian Plowman, and because I have been visiting and working in country towns recently and have at leas four more trips coming up shortly, I have decided to put up in a little more detail, some of the research findings about what helps country towns flourish. Interesting reading.

Why do some towns thrive while others languish?

Why is it that some towns demonstrate resilience, optimism and growth, whilst not far away there are other towns in decline? A study of 8 small Queensland towns.

 New research conducted by a partnership of UQ Business School, the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries has suggested some surprising answers to this question.

Eight Queensland country towns, ranging in size from 600 to 10,000, participated.  Though their identities remain confidential, two of these were from the South West, two from the South East, two from Central Queensland and two from North Queensland.  It is suggested that the findings have universal relevance.

Conducted by Senior Research Fellow, Ian Plowman,  the research takes a psychological and biographical perspective. 

The research was both quantitative and qualitative, involving structured interviews, surveys and census data. 

 Results reveal some ideas that add to or even challenge conventional thinking.  For example:

• Size, a sound economic base, or natural geographic attributes did not necessarily make a difference.
• It is the people that make a difference, the attributes of those people, and the critical mass of those attributes.  For example, net inflows bring diversity of ideas and experiences.  The least innovative towns have net outflows, and it is the most innovative people that leave.  Evolutionary psychology explains why. 
• The more innovative towns are also differentiated by younger average age, higher levels of education and greater frequency of overseas travel, all sources for new ideas.
• Also differentiating the more innovative towns are higher proportions of home ownership, signalling a willingness to invest in that town. 
• The least innovative town has the highest proportion of its residents renting, despite average occupancy of 30 years!  Contrary to popular wisdom, the least innovative town has the highest proportion of leaders while the most innovative town has the lowest. 
• Yet the most innovative town has a much higher level of distributed leadership and civic responsibility broadly shared.  Also surprising is that the most innovative town showed the lowest inclination towards pursuit of funding.
• The research report contains recommendations for communities, for Councils, and for State and Federal Governments.  Many of these are implementable immediately without cost. 
• One that is likely to generate debate is the suggestion that no person should hold any civic position, be it President of the Show Society, Secretary of the Sports Association, or local Mayor, for more than one term.  Leadership is a two edged sword.  It is an act of civic responsibility; it is also an act of denying someone else the opportunity to gain civic experience.  The more broadly that understanding of civic experience and responsibility is spread, the healthier and more innovative is the town.

 

I sometimes wonder about the term ’role model’. Might be a bit too simple or something. But where I have no doubts at all is in thinking that young people need elders and youngers around who inspire, encourage, and uplift. And do so in major and minor ways, sometimes actively and sometimes simply by being who they are and simply being around, and sometimes simply by being. So with these thoughts in mind I am putting up this post for Uncle Martin. And for all of us. 

Uncle Martin. You are one cool dude. And this is a tribute to you. These are some pics I took the last few times we worked together at the Beyond Empathy camp for young people.

And let me say I enjoy your playfulness, your modern and respectful blending of the old and the new…you have a great way of practically and constructively combining new and old ways. I like how you bridge cultures in a modern world, and I enjoy the playful noise that you bring along with you wherever you go as you jump in and do EVERYTHING on offer…and I value your quiet teachings. I am glad we are friends.

The wonderful artworks here are by Steve Donovan. (All of them I THINK). And the music is…hey guess what? Might just be you Uncle Martin.

I have been hearing and reading about unemployment in Australia. And having posted numerous comments about ‘Belonging, meaning and connection’ I have been intrigued to hear that jobless teenagers will be denied the dole unless they agree to undertake training under a government plan to prevent the creation of a new generation of long-term unemployed.

And Kevin Rudd has offered state governments part of a $100 million funding pool if they lift Year 12 retention rates toward 90 per cent within six years. Kevin has apparently said that that he would not allow young people made jobless by the recession to “do nothing” and would instead tighten eligibility rules for the youth allowance to press them to gain skills for use during the inevitable recovery. And there is something in here too about lack of eligibility for the parents of unemployed people under 20 years of age. Have I understood all this accurately?

Okay, it is a really good idea to look after our young people. I am all for it. And a really good idea to make sure they are occupied. (Mind you, I could apply the same thinking to people of all ages). And a really good idea to make sure they are included as a meaningful part of our communties, our society. Alll very good.

And yet there is something here about the fine tuning, the language, the meaning, the intention, the motivation for this, and dare I say it, the META meaning and the ‘putting into practice’ of all this that matters. Punitive and coercive? Not really such a fabulous idea. Communicating to our young citizens that we care about them, and that we want them and expect them to be a part of the world and contribute to it? A very good idea. It is, as always, in the background thinking and in the foreground doing. I wonder how it is all working out.

When as an Australian, you encounter a sign like the one that (I hope) appears below.

You know not only that you are not in Australia…you are most emphatically in England. Names like Proklington Green, Toddington, Heathers Corner, Rickmansworth, Smelters Meadow, Dunstable, Swithersley Common…tend to reveal something. And of course, it’s possible I am just making up some of these names…but who would ever know?

Apart from the above, some of the differences I have noted include these:
-It’s very green here. New South Wales is not (mostly) so green
England seems to have pastures. Australia seems to have bush.
-The English (and this might just be me, or possibly I am passing a lot of non-English in the streets) tend to not make eye contact. Australians do this more. What does this all mean?
-UK traffic is BUSY and people are assertive in their movements to enter flowing traffic, and yet I hardly hear a horn sounded. Australians, or to be fair and more precise, Sydney drivers, tend to toot if you hesitate a pico second at the lights or anywhere else. I don’t have to ask what this difference means.
-Staying in an old building here means staying in something from the 1600’s. Staying in an old building in Australia may well mean a 30 year old Travelodge.
-There is advertising here in the UK…and maybe we are seeing select parts of the country…
But it really tends to be less obtrusive.

It seems physically smaller…and if attached to a building at all, is often not at right angles to it, or if it is, it is much smaller. Big cheers for the UK I reckon…
And there is other stuff…all revealing about here…and home. And you really could do worse than visit here in the spring.

I am in the land of the Anishinaabek, people of the land of this part of Canada. And I am told by my friend Kelly Brownbill who is a canadian first nations Mi’kmaq woman of mixed lineage that the indigenous teachings here include the gifts of the 7 grandfathers:

Love
Humility
Courage
Respect
Truth
Honesty
Wisdom

Good words. Noble sentiments. And how does one live by therm? A friend long ago said to me that ‘a principle is not a principle until it costs you money.’ I know what he means. Words can inspire, or they can get in the way, somehow replacing the action that needs to take place.

So I muse cautiously here as a whitefella Australian. Cautious because I am standing outside the teachings around me trying to understand them and accept them for what they are. And it is seemingly not hard to do because the words make sense and are inspirational. But I am an urban person of the modern world, a pakeha, white fella, anglo-saxon (well in my case celtic, but let’s not be too fussy)…and when I hear the words I try to make sense of what they might mean to my friend Kelly Brownbill, Canadian first nations woman of mixed lineage. What do these words mean to her? And of course their meanings must be different for each of us.

And so we talk, and the snow continues to fall. And everything might just work out alright.

And here is a question. Kelly tells me that she notices lately that two of the gifts are being talked about more than the others. I made a guess as to which ones they were…what would you guess? Tick tick tick…

I guessed courage and respect.

Kelly tells me that they are humility and love. Perhaps sides of the coins of courage and respect.

We came here for many reasons. Learning being one of them. A few days ago I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the final session of the Indigenous Voices Cafe here in Barrie about an hour North of Toronto. The round table discussion Cafe being an initiative of the Native Community and Social Development Program at Georgian College, Barrie Campus. Someone thought that it may well be a good idea when thinking about developing an indigenous health program to listen to the voices of Indigenous people. Oh where do such crazy ideas come from!! The results were a DVD and a booklet, but as everyone kept saying, the relationships that were built between health professionals, academic staff, business people and Indigenous peoples, was the aspect of real importance. And while I heard many times that further action was indeed necessary, I also heard repeatedly that the conversation and the very developing and nurturing of relationships was in itself part of that action.

And to guide them, the group came up with a Code of Honour which appears in rough form below.

And here held by Austin Mixemong, Pottawatomi man and Traditional Teacher, my host and friend…

…a more elaborate and neater version. Possibly more beautiful. Both noble.

And apart from anything else, one of the things I really like about this code of honour, is that there isn’t a single ‘DON’T’ anywhere to be seen.

This morning I told Austin that he was up on my website. He said: ‘Cool.’ (Old Indian saying).