I saw a reader of my blog briefly yesterday who commented on what she considered to be my "rant" about Francis's £9 library fine. It was said with tongue slightly in cheek, but the point was made all the same.
I try hard not to rant, but I try harder to be honest. And, to be honest, there's a lot that makes me want to rant. But I believe that most of the time a more considered, thoughtful approach is appropriate, as it tends to get my message across and open up conversations which can move things on. Which I suppose is the point of the blog.
Many bloggers will tell you of the risks they take in being open on their blog. I'm no different, and as I've said once or twice before, I'm aware that where I have a good number of loyal readers, I know there are other people who think I'm a bit of an opinionated pain in the arse. I also have to accept that some of those people are people in positions of power in my field of work - so there are implications for me there.
For the record I don't think my post about the library fine was a rant. I was using a real, raw experience to convey a frustration that I feel about the culture that is behind a lot of public services. Nonetheless, I think I need to be careful not to fall into comfy tribalism, where all public sector workers are self-serving lazybones, all private sector entrepreneurs are self-serving moneygrabbers, whilst all social entrepreneurs are to be greeted as the saviours of the world.
I sent out a
newsletter yesterday, and linked to a few recent posts. It was interesting to read two month's worth of posts. Where there weren't rants, there were certainly some weary, sceptical posts about the worlds of regeneration and social change. And whilst I think I need to tone down some of that scepticism at times (it's easy to write that way - and I need to make sure I'm saying something new), I also stand by just about everything that I've written.
The more I do what I do, the more impatient I become. My world vision is like this - we are in a right state as a society and as an economy. We've pretty much buggered up the environment too. But, amidst all that, I have great hope that human beings can change, and, if we get our act together, we can, in lots of small and big ways, create a world that's worth living in. That's why I believe in this thing we call social entrepreneurship. We need more people with a can-do attitude to changing things for the better.
That vision of the world explains why I am often sceptical, sometimes cynical - and maybe sometimes rant. There's too much mediocrity in the world of regeneration. Too many people working in initiatives which don't make a difference, and where people don't learn when things go wrong. Instead, evaluations are commissioned where some "lessons are learnt" but where most useful stuff is swept under the carpet.
It's not that I think I've got it right. Far from it. But I reflect on what I get wrong, and work hard to get things right. The blog is one important part of that process.
I'm off on holiday now for two weeks. Off to the south of France, excitingly and vaguely sustainably by train. I can't wait. A chance to forget about work - but also think about it in a different kind of way. That cliche about getting your best ideas on the beach says so much about the value of being a slow burner in the thought department,
as an Enterprise Czar may not say.
If there are any burglars reading this, some friends are house-sitting, so don't get any ideas. (You can take the boy out of Liverpool, but you can't take Liverpool out of the boy.)
And of course, if you'd like to continue this discussion in my absence, please do. And if I get a signal on the campsite, I might well join you. On the other hand, I might just open another beer.
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