YOUR ORGANISATION"S HISTORY

In OOHC, understanding children and young people’s past is central to what we do. Whether part of formal assessment, relationship-based trusted conversations, life story work, or the preparation of judicial or organisational reports, looking back is a critically important part of looking forward.

The same goes for your organisation, whether it is one year old, ten years old or over a hundred years old. What are the positive events that have most shaped your organisation? A change in the political agenda? A landmark piece of legislation? A new source of funding? The development of an innovative service? Public or professional recognition? Growth? Demonstrably improved outcomes? A key decision?

What about negative events and challenges, and the organisations reactions to these? The abuse or death of a child in care? Loss of a major service? Adverse media or political attention? An unsuccessful change in organisational direction? Did the organisation respond to each of these with an open learning mind-set or was it closed and defensive? Were such events a catalyst for learning and measured meaningful change? Or a storm to be weathered? Has your organisational owned and learnt from its inevitable mistakes over the years? Or maybe you see the same mistakes being repeated again and again.

Who are the people that have most influenced your organisation? As well as positive (and negative) stories about those in senior leadership roles, does your organisation share historical stories about children, young people, foster carers, and workers? Who are the historical heros in your organisation?

And what was your organisation’s purpose or ‘why’ when it was established? Does that still resonate today? Is that reflected in today’s organisational values and culture? Or does your organisation have a new purpose and a renewed reason for existing?