04 Feb 20
@fmf saidMy position as a social worker has taught me that I cannot measure success by outcomes. The very nature of my work presupposes that change occurs very slowly and over the course of a great deal of time...even lifetimes. The question has been asked of me, “how then do you measure success?”, and I thought about my answer before I started formally working with families...success, for me, is measured by consistent and continuing participation in practice.
"A Society Grows Great When Old Men and Women Plant Trees Whose Shade They Know They Shall Never Sit In"
~ adapted from a Greek Proverb.
To what extent does your spiritual/philosophical outlook embrace or place emphasis on this notion?
Your quote reminds me of another quote in the Jewish tradition of the Mishnah:
Do not be daunted
by the enormity
of the world’s grief.
Do justly, now.
Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly, now.
You are not obligated
to complete the work,
but neither are you free
to abandon it.
04 Feb 20
@hakima saidI agree totally.
My position as a social worker has taught me that I cannot measure success by outcomes. The very nature of my work presupposes that change occurs very slowly and over the course of a great deal of time...even lifetimes. The question has been asked of me, “how then do you measure success?”, and I thought about my answer before I started formally working with families...success, ...[text shortened]... mbly, now.
You are not obligated
to complete the work,
but neither are you free
to abandon it.
The work becomes the goal.
Success can be measured in how many you have touched, how many are thankful to have known you.
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04 Feb 20
@hakima saidI actually take the opposite approach, and my work is very much governed by outcomes. (Indeed 'outcomes' is the current buzz word in my profession, replacing the previous use of 'targets' ).
My position as a social worker has taught me that I cannot measure success by outcomes. The very nature of my work presupposes that change occurs very slowly and over the course of a great deal of time...even lifetimes. The question has been asked of me, “how then do you measure success?”, and I thought about my answer before I started formally working with families...success, ...[text shortened]... mbly, now.
You are not obligated
to complete the work,
but neither are you free
to abandon it.
Before starting work with a given client, we carry out a planning meeting where anticipated outcomes are discussed/agreed. (The clients themselves of course are central to these discussions). I only know my work is completed with a client when these outcomes are achieved, evidenced and reviewed at the closure meeting. - In this sense, my success as the allocated worker is measured by how well the outcomes have been achieved.
(Worth noting that for very damaged individuals such outcomes may simply be to avoid further hospital admissions or suicide attempts etc).
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04 Feb 20
@fmf saidWe could probably compare this to long term infrastructure planning such as HS2. (In the UK).
"A Society Grows Great When Old Men and Women Plant Trees Whose Shade They Know They Shall Never Sit In"
~ adapted from a Greek Proverb.
To what extent does your spiritual/philosophical outlook embrace or place emphasis on this notion?
Investing in trains some people may never get to ride in.
04 Feb 20
@ghost-of-a-duke saidWe also plan an work our treatment plans with intention. Client/family voice and choice are, however vital and their willingness to engage and work their treatment plan is one factor toward progress, as is environment, as is opportunity, or any other number of internal or external factors. Just as the one who plants the seed of a tree one will never sit under, there is a certain scope of practice and resources one has as a service worker...in the planning, practice, and allowing for the factors that determine outcomes.
I actually take the opposite approach, and my work is very much governed by outcomes. (Indeed 'outcomes' is the current buzz word in my profession, replacing the previous use of 'targets' ).
Before starting work with a given client, we carry out a planning meeting where anticipated outcomes are discussed/agreed. (The clients themselves of course are central to thes ...[text shortened]... dividuals such outcomes may simply be to avoid further hospital admissions or suicide attempts etc).
Sometimes expected outcomes are realized—I celebrate those...not as mine, but as my client’s. Sometimes expected outcomes are slow in coming, with realization of progress seen in the achievement of small goals outline in treatment plans, sometimes clients aren’t ready, sometimes and tragically, a client is hospitalized, sometimes a client completes suicide, opposite to planned treatment and our best efforts.
The point is, outcomes of treatment—realized or countered— for a given client, are theirs, not mine. In the end, my own efforts must be measured by something else. For me, it’s determined by how I participated with that client.
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04 Feb 20
@hakima saidI feel personally invested in the outcome. It's how I extract satisfaction for the work I do.
We also plan an work our treatment plans with intention. Client/family voice and choice are, however vital and their willingness to engage and work their treatment plan is one factor toward progress, as is environment, as is opportunity, or any other number of internal or external factors. Just as the one who plants the seed of a tree one will never sit under, there is a certa ...[text shortened]... must be measured by something else. For me, it’s determined by how I participated with that client.
04 Feb 20
@fmf saidI think that proverb was taken from the Chinese. 😬
"A Society Grows Great When Old Men and Women Plant Trees Whose Shade They Know They Shall Never Sit In"
~ adapted from a Greek Proverb.
To what extent does your spiritual/philosophical outlook embrace or place emphasis on this notion?
I like fixing flat tires for some helpless person who then offers me money for the deed. I refuse of course.
I also like to give money to bums with cardboard signs that say they lost their job and everything else. I'm not joking.
There was this one guy recently that had a sign that said, "lost family now". It struck me that it appears there's a continuing saga now developing amongst the homeless. I'm waiting to find the guy who's sign reads, "screwed my life up on drugs", or, "I don't want to work".
God helps the helpless, no matter how they got that way.
05 Feb 20
@hakima saidSeeing as we are looking at this through the prism of a Greek saying, what about this rather ubiquitous saying...
The point is, outcomes of treatment—realized or countered— for a given client, are theirs, not mine. In the end, my own efforts must be measured by something else. For me, it’s determined by how I participated with that client.
"The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are - but on how happy others can be because of you."
Are the outcomes of treatment ~ or your interactions with the families and friends of those whose treatment you are involved in ~ ever perceptible enough [no matter how small or fleeting] to stray into the illumination emanating from this second saying?
05 Feb 20
@fmf saidThe answer is a resounding “yes!”. I do find a great deal of happiness when I see the work I’ve done go well. It happened profoundly in my life’s work when I was involved along with others in supporting families through healing and rebuilding their lives and homes after a deadly tornado that hit the community where I directed an after school program for about 65 children. We worked so hard and it was thrilling to see the improvements that occurred in rebuilding the physical and social interactions of the community...better than before the tornado and the we did so well together that they were able to do enough on their own that I worked myself out of a job and was able to finish my degree. But mostly, it was individuals working together that made it happen and I continue to find joy knowing that I was there with them for a short while, even as I am now able to work with other families.
Seeing as we are looking at this through the prism of a Greek saying, what about this rather ubiquitous saying...
"The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are - but on how happy others can be because of you."
Are the outcomes of treatment ~ or your interactions with the families and friends of those whose treatment you are involved in ~ ever perceptible e ...[text shortened]... [no matter how small or fleeting] to stray into the illumination emanating from this second saying?
Sometimes the outcomes aren’t so heroic or neat. Even when they aren’t, I feel a sense of happiness in purpose in thinking I might have “planted seeds” for future positive change. I guess that’s hope. I guess that’s faith...working towards something one perceives as meaningful even if the outcome isn’t readily seen.
05 Feb 20
Bright be the place of thy soul!
No lovelier spirit than thine
E’er burst from its mortal control
In the orbs of the blessed to shine.
On earth thou wert all but divine,
As thy soul shall immortally be;
And our sorrow may cease to repine,
When we know that thy God is with thee.
Light be the turf of thy tomb!
May its verdure like emeralds be:
There should not be the shadow of gloom
In aught that reminds us of thee.
Young flowers and an evergreen tree
May spring from the spot of thy rest:
But nor cypress nor yew let us see;
For why should we mourn for the blest?
Lord Byron