On reading and discussing Susan’s post about Ending Well last week I was reminded of the various insolvency cases I was involved in while working as part of Arts Council’s Recovery Programme (a lottery funded programme for arts organisations in danger of imminent insolvency). I can absolutely endorse her point about emergency insolvencies being something best avoided.
If you have never experienced it before the process feels quite brutal, once the decision is made it happens fast and there is no turning back. I have walked around empty arts buildings with insolvency practitioners, discussing the assets and if they can be protected for public use in future. It is often a complex and multi-stakeholder discussion; it relies on a lot of goodwill and careful negotiation. What touched me deeply was the sadness and exhaustion in those who had tried hard to keep things going but for various reasons had to accept the most unpalatable of options.
However difficult it is for all concerned the thing I remember most is not the endings so much as the beginnings.
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” Louis L’Amour
The surprising thing, that often doesn’t get mentioned, is what comes next. In most cases I experienced a new organisation being formed, not always immediately but over time and with renewed focus and support. It was sometimes a bumpy path and may have taken a couple of attempts, but it happened. Several of those phoenix organisations are still going strong now, and most built on the strengths of their predecessor. Admittedly, it is not always the same people that continue and that is very tough, but even some of those whose organisations died (and that is most often how it is experienced) talked to me later about the relief of finally stepping away and recovering.
What this put me in mind of in our present situation is the notion of the adjacent possible, which is a concept created by theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman. It concerns complex systems and looks at how the actual (the current situation) develops into the adjacent possible (opportunities to expand).
The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself…[the adjacent possible] captures both the limits and the creative potential of change and innovation.— Steven Johnson (Smith, 2010)
The adjacent possible is not the big long-term aspiration, it is near to what we already know and encourages us to explore and create new ideas. In order to make use of this space for change and development we might consider:
- What do we do now to support and build exploration?
- How do we create and share knowledge of our current situation?
- What are we doing now that opens up new opportunities?
- Where do ideas start in our organisation, and how do they spread?
- How do we build feedback into our organisational systems?
- How might we identify those alternative futures?
A lot is learnt during crisis and recovery, I hope our current collective experience allows us to be more open about sharing knowledge, telling the stories, building wisdom and supporting each other.
I also hope it enables us to see that a dignified ending is an option, as is a new beginning.
Dawn & Susan
References
Smith, Eddie. (2010). The adjacent possible. Practically Efficient blog: https://www.edge.org/conversation/stuart_a_kauffman-the-adjacent-possibl