Episode 3.14: Scenarios
THE PODCAST: April 13, 2021
CHOICES IN TRANSITIONS
Too much control and we kill learning, not enough order and things fall apart. The Outside is changing and maturing. Listen in as Tim & Tuesday explore what The Outside is asking of them as co-founders. What role suits them best? Do they stay small and deepen their niche or do they grow, broaden and expand?
Together, Tim Merry and Tuesday Ryan-Hart are THE OUTSIDE—systems change and equity strategists who bring the fresh air necessary to organize movements, organizations, and collaborators forward for progress, surfacing new mindsets for greater participation and shared impact.
3.14 — SHOW NOTES
Tim: Welcome to Find The Outside: The Podcast! We are in Season 3 and it’s a whole different cup of tea. We’re diving deep and you get to be witness and be in with the transitions that Tuesday and I are in; both as people and as leaders of The Outside. There’s no doubt it’s a pivotal time - you get to be in conversations about the role we will play in the future of The Outside and what that demands of us as we change. Enjoy!
Tim: I would love to do scenario planning with the Outsiders. What are four possible scenarios that if we kept going the way we are going, what would it look like if we pulled Tim and Tuesday out, if we focused on capacity building and built an Academy, what if we completely focused on client work? What if we went for a model that is more of a traditional consultancy model?
Tim: For those of you who are following along, you know that we are in a transition and one of the challenges we are faced with as we grow is how do we transition ourselves away from this being Tim and Tuesday-centric in terms of how we present ourselves and deliver the work?
Tim: We thought we might use this podcast to imagine together what a different future might look like if we [Tim & Tuesday] weren’t embedded in everything that was happening at The Outside? How could we build it in a way that still felt good to us? That still felt right? That created the conditions for people to shine?
Tuesday: For me it’s a question of structure and a question of culture. We can’t keep thinking that we can do the same thing and it’s going to change.
Tim: We know that our [Tim & Tuesday] culture of working is permissive / encourage of overwork in others. It’s totally in our DNA… and you can’t sustain a 100 metre sprint.
Tim: Maybe this is a point in which The Outside is asking something of us rather than us asking something of The Outside. I think The Outside is becoming a home for more people than I ever imagined. What I did know was that I wanted something different in my own life. We’re now being asked to step back and create the conditions for many other people to lead rather than to be the people who are leading. What could The Outside become a container for? What’s the balance between us leading and others being given the conditions to lead?
Tuesday: I think that you’ve identified the pivot point and it feels like the basic question we could ask is “do we want to stay smaller and maintain, sustain, deepen or do we want to grow, broaden, and expand?” If we are going to grow, then why? How would my ambition be served by staying small? It’s a question of role - I’m interested in stepping up as a way to take leadership in a way that I have not done before. It’s not a stepping back. There’s something for me around slowing down and pausing to get my bearings. I keep getting fooled by urgency.
Tim: I love this idea of stepping up - it still makes space for others to step into. I think that’s a key role for us. When you say “up” I think about the scale of picture we can hold - the macro, strategic level. To be able to hold the bigger arcs, I need more space. I can’t see it if I am busy.
Tuesday: I am curious how my lifelong pattern of proving my value reflects the culture of The Outside’s DNA and how does that go with our principle of generosity? Can I allow any ease that is not on the backs of other Outsiders? How is The Outside learning and how is that learning shared across The Outside? I imagine our role going forward will be the articulation of the learning.
Tim: I wonder if there is an interim phase where we’re learning through supporting others to deliver the work. We’re actually coaching folks. There may well be a tie in between the strategic level of leadership on these initiatives and the developmental evaluation team. What’s the cycle there?
Song: “Cedro,” by Rainer Scheurenbrand
Poem: “The Ruins of Empires,” by Akala
Subscribe to the podcast now—in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or anywhere else you find podcasts. New episodes will be available every second Tuesday. If you’d like to get in touch with us about something you heard on the show, reach us at podcast@findtheoutside.com.
Find the song we played in today’s show - and every song we’ve played in previous shows - on the playlist. Just search ‘Find the Outside’ on Spotify.
Duration: 47:04
Produced by: Mark Coffin
Theme music: Gary Blakemore
Episode cover image: source