Stalemate, impasse – or have you thought about Making it Real?

In today’s confrontational environment, Sanchi Murison asks if adopting the principles of Making it Real and co-production might be a better way to work.

I can’t believe it’s a year since we launched the ‘new’ Making it Real. In that time prime ministers have come and gone, but, at the time of writing, we’re still in the same holding pattern, stalemate or impasse – whatever you call it.

Making it Real is about having good conversations with people about the things that matter to them. It’s a tool, or an approach to enable those conversations to happen in a non-threatening way, as Kate Sibthorp eloquently described in our new Making it Real – how to do it podcast. (opens new window)

Recording this podcast with Kate the other day made me think again about the importance of co-production. Co-production isn’t easy, and it can be really hard to give everyone an equal voice, and to share power, rather than just listening to the people who think they know best.

In my mind, I was contrasting what good looks like when we work together for a common purpose, against the current social and political environment.  Rather than working together for change, we seem to be moving towards a society where positions are hardened, the language increasingly hostile and blame is laid at the door of other people. 

How different this could be if the principles of co-production and of having good conversations had been adopted from the get go. I know this seems naïve, but a spirit of compromise, a willingness to listen and to respect other people’s opinions in the tradition of co-production would be a different, and very welcome, approach. Although it can be frustrating at times to work with so many people who have their own perspectives, at TLAP I’m really proud of the ‘big tent’ we operate that means we can bring people together to hear and value different views.

Making it Real is about more than just the commitment to personalisation – that is enabling people to have choice and control over their own lives – it’s a way of approaching co-production and working together. It can be hard for individuals and organisations to grasp what it is and how to use it until they get under its skin and start to dedicate real time to it and use it in an ongoing way.

But Making it Real is a great way to think about approaching challenges from a different perspective. Anything that gets people working together rather than setting them against each other is worth it in my book, so why not give it a try?