Bringing People With You
To create a culture of Advantaged Thinking, you’ll need to bring other people with you on the journey and think about whole-system level change
Creating a safe environment for challenge and reflection can make the difference between being an authentic Advantaged Thinker or simply paying lip service to the concepts.
Nurturing a culture of trust – where relationships are more important than targets and community is more important than individual success – creates a solid foundation to grow Advantaged Thinking. In order to help others invest in an Advantaged Thinking approach, we need to break down barriers such as mistrust, control, ego and over-defensiveness and instead embrace reflection, challenge, openness and creativity. Through this, we can build trust and solidarity.
10 key areas for developing a whole organisation approach
The following 10 areas and connected questions are the top practical ways to embed and sustain a consistent Advantaged Thinking system and culture for staff, based on learnings from the Foyer Federation’s quality development programme.
1. Recruitment
Are your recruitment processes set up to find talented staff with the commitment and passion to work in an Advantaged Thinking way?
2. Training and induction
Do your training and induction processes invest in equipping staff with the skills they need to work in an Advantaged Thinking way?
3. Staff titles
Do your staff roles have titles that promote an Advantaged Thinking approach?
4. Team meetings and staff supervision processes
Do team meetings and supervision processes encourage Advantaged Thinking conversations?
5. Staff and leadership champions
Do you have a team that champions Advantaged Thinking across all areas of the organisation, breaking through silos and power hierarchies?
6. Building refurbishments
Does the physical environment of your service express its Advantaged Thinking ambition?
7. Support approach
Do the tools you use to manage 1-1 support promote Advantaged Thinking conversations and relationships?
8. Service review
Do you have an annual process to learn from your experiences with Advantaged Thinking?
9. Service audit
Are you able to review how far you meet the 7 Tests of Advantaged Thinking?
10. Reflective practice and celebration
Do you have a space for staff to reflect on and celebrate their experiences?
These 10 questions are explored in greater detail in chapter four of Adventures in Advantaged Thinking, pages 7-11.
Up Next
Adventures in Advantaged Thinking
A deep exploration of the origins, theory, practice and impact.