Tools In Your Empowerment Toolbox: What’s Working, What’s Not Working
In almost any endeavour, evaluation is important. Whether you’re working on a project at your job, working towards a goal, or creating something, evaluation helps keep things moving in the right direction. One of the simplest tools in your empowerment toolbox is simply to ask what’s working and what’s not working.
In my previous employment working for a company that provides group homes and other services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we used several tools when we looked at creating, evaluating, and updating support plans. We would ask what’s working and what’s not working. If something was working, we would generally continue with it. On the other hand, if something wasn’t working, that was something we needed to change.
In the setting of my previous employment, let’s say Nick likes to stay up late and then sleep in. Nick has a job however where he is supposed to be at work at 8 am. Because he prefers to sleep in, it’s hard for Nick to get up and make it to work on time. What’s working? Nick has a job. What’s not working? Nick likes to get up late, but he needs to be at work by 8 am. A simple fix could be for Nick to work a swing shift instead of a day shift. If he doesn’t need to be at work until 2 pm, he can sleep in, make it to work on time, and have better odds of being successful and happy.
What about you in your life?
What’s working well?
What’s not working?
Can you make simple changes to turn something that isn’t working into something that works?
There are a lot of different tools we have in our toolboxes as we try to build our best lives. Examining what’s working and what isn’t working is one of the simplest tools in our empowerment toolbox, but it can also be one of the most powerful and effective. Simple, powerful questions can help us see where we should focus on making changes so we can live more empowered and happy lives.
Garrett Leeds is the founder of the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Project
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