alastairgott
Well-known member
Embracing new ideas is critical to change. I've had situations in roles on committees where new ideas have come along and I've adopted them. but then I've had times where I've been resistant to change.
In the last year my club embraced a "test" of using a card payment machine, as Treasurer I had been resistant to this change for a good number of months. Time and time again SB would come back and eventually he succeeded. I've had similar points where I've been resistant to change, some good some bad. but in the end if a fully working solution comes to me then I will accept the change.
If SB's proposal had been rejected when he offered to get a tablet and arrange for the installation of the card payment machine, then the club wouldn't have one of the first Caving clubs in the country to offer 24/7 onsite card payments. (rapidly followed by the Bradford, so quickly in fact that those Northerners would think they were the first
).
The point being that if someone comes to you with a ready-made solution, then one option is to fight and the other option is to accept the solution and work with people to help make it better.
Similarly, In politics of all types, there can be a change for changes sake.
This is also not helpful, the amount of effort it takes to change things "for the better", sometimes outweighs the benefit of a few small tweaks in perception.
Take the "cave conservation rewards" as a key example of this. everyone on this forum will have been made aware of this scheme and it's ongoing benefits to cavers. (yes the original wave of applications has waned). But the message was delivered and the nation of cavers acted.
Cue: Litter in caves
Action: Caving trip plus hard work
Reward: Shiny expensive things and some lovely pictures and attention for your hard work.
Imagine this particular example playing out with people trying to come up with ideas on how to fix the growing amount of litter in our caves. It's hard to think, but there are people who tirelessly work to clear up all the rubbish with no help.
As it happens I was out near Higgar Tor yesterday on the crags doing something horrible called climbing . On my way back to the car I noted a family of three working their way back to their car picking up litter, out of all the people that were out there, I only saw one group of people doing this (and they were diligently picking up everything they could in the ensuing gale).
Instead of galvanising more people to pick up litter you could do what towns and cities do and fine people for dropping litter. This would show that you take a hard line on people dropping litter, but would it work?!? :thumbsdown:
What am I trying to say?
The BCA does work in its current form, but it needs to work on stamping out two things.
1) Quickly embracing new ideas without viewing them as a threat to your authority or an offence to your ongoing hard work.
2) Changing things for changing sake, if it (actually) works in it's current form, then don't change it.
In the last year my club embraced a "test" of using a card payment machine, as Treasurer I had been resistant to this change for a good number of months. Time and time again SB would come back and eventually he succeeded. I've had similar points where I've been resistant to change, some good some bad. but in the end if a fully working solution comes to me then I will accept the change.
If SB's proposal had been rejected when he offered to get a tablet and arrange for the installation of the card payment machine, then the club wouldn't have one of the first Caving clubs in the country to offer 24/7 onsite card payments. (rapidly followed by the Bradford, so quickly in fact that those Northerners would think they were the first
).The point being that if someone comes to you with a ready-made solution, then one option is to fight and the other option is to accept the solution and work with people to help make it better.
Similarly, In politics of all types, there can be a change for changes sake.
This is also not helpful, the amount of effort it takes to change things "for the better", sometimes outweighs the benefit of a few small tweaks in perception.
Take the "cave conservation rewards" as a key example of this. everyone on this forum will have been made aware of this scheme and it's ongoing benefits to cavers. (yes the original wave of applications has waned). But the message was delivered and the nation of cavers acted.
Cue: Litter in caves
Action: Caving trip plus hard work
Reward: Shiny expensive things and some lovely pictures and attention for your hard work.
Imagine this particular example playing out with people trying to come up with ideas on how to fix the growing amount of litter in our caves. It's hard to think, but there are people who tirelessly work to clear up all the rubbish with no help.
As it happens I was out near Higgar Tor yesterday on the crags doing something horrible called climbing
. On my way back to the car I noted a family of three working their way back to their car picking up litter, out of all the people that were out there, I only saw one group of people doing this (and they were diligently picking up everything they could in the ensuing gale).Instead of galvanising more people to pick up litter you could do what towns and cities do and fine people for dropping litter. This would show that you take a hard line on people dropping litter, but would it work?!? :thumbsdown:
What am I trying to say?
The BCA does work in its current form, but it needs to work on stamping out two things.
1) Quickly embracing new ideas without viewing them as a threat to your authority or an offence to your ongoing hard work.
2) Changing things for changing sake, if it (actually) works in it's current form, then don't change it.
