ROUND THREE: What CP Parents Are For (Part B)

Maybe you've already associated this post's title with Wendell Berry's "What Are People For?" 

I got around to reading his (old?) 1990 essay about a month ago. It'd been on my radar for years and, well, Mr. Berry didn't disappoint. But he also didn't exactly answer his own question like I had hoped and having read the piece hasn't made answering mine -- "What are CP parents for?" -- any easier. 

No biggie, I suppose. I've read enough of his other writings to know that a major part of his answer would revolve around...

WORK. 

More specifically: I know he believes that people are for doing "the inescapably necessary work" of caring for their communities. They're (we're) for doing the kind of work that requires, among other things, a deep appreciation of context and much giving of intelligence, affection, and skill. 

Not coincidentally, I believe that good work -- think TLC, and lots of it -- is just what our CP community needs. 

What kinds of work? 

Brain work. Knowledge work. In 57 varieties.

I'm talking about specialized work that requires the specific expertise of people who probably already think of themselves as knowledge workers, and also about generalized work; work that could be performed by most people, many of whom probably wouldn't consider themselves knowledge workers. I think of regular old parents, for example, whose greatest hidden value may lie in the things we learn in the daily context of raising kids with CP.

Two things we CP parents have going for us are that (1) there are lots and lots of us, and (2) we have what matters most: passion, the desire to help -- in many cases without expectation of extrinsic rewards. 

Surely those aren't being used to their fullest. 

If we CP parents are for doing good work, it follows that leaders of CP-facing organizations have an opportunity -- maybe even an obligation -- to put us to work. According to many leading thinkers, that's management's JOB ONE anyhow. It's no longer, they say, about being the big brain of the organization and cascading your brilliance down and out to less-informed, less-wise others. That no longer flies.

What does fly has a lot more to do with capturing the participation of passionate people. (Here I'm talking broadly about tapping into the expertise, creativity, energy that lies outside of your organization, but the same idea applies to the people within it.) This is part of the new formula for success, the new way to solve new problems as well as find new solutions to old problems. It's a way to make your organization more indispensable and to amplify its impact.

There could be other more subtle benefits to putting CP parents to work, as well.

When you give people opportunities to chip in, you empower them. You give them chances to develop their talents. You increase the likelihood that good ideas will emerge. You build and inspire a sense of community. You bestow dignity. (Wendell Berry: "Our greatest dignity is in employment.") At a time in which many CP parents are financially tapped out and unable to contribute cash to the cause, and where opportunities to make a difference via the political process are limited, those sorts of things may mean even more. 

SO: 

To the leaders of CP-related organizations of all stripes, in all sectors, the opportunity to tap into what CP parents have to offer is yours. If you choose to ignore it, I wish you the best. I would also hope -- and I would bet -- that others will eventually see and seize it. 

As NiloferMerchant, the Jane Bond of Innovation, observed: "Doing work these days no longer requires a badge and permit. Anyone -- without preapproval or vetting or criteria -- will create and contribute." CP parents will take matters in their own hands with or without you. More and more of us are realizing that it's not just the smart people over there who can bring about progress. Reaching for theStars and Children's Neurobiolgical Solutions didn't to my knowledge ask United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) for permission before starting their own organizations. They saw unmet needs and just did it. 

That's the wave of the present. It's what the Mercers, the Deloittes, the McKinseys, the Gartners, and others in the management consultancy world have been preaching for some time. Their messages are readily available for consideration.