#Goals

So much of the early stages in recruitment can be disempowering for a candidate. You spot an attractive title, in a great organisation, with a description of an inspiring outcome the organisation is trying to achieve. Bingo! In the weeks that follow recruitment, I’ve played back suggestions on what organisations can proactively do to onboard and retain good talent. However, the onus so far has been on the employer. Now, I want to explore what the candidate / employee can do.

As I shared in my previous newsletter article, by the end of the first quarter, we had surmised that innovation did not necessarily lie in developing something new. In so far as our research with several teams had shown, successful pilots had been conducted, evidencing the value that geospatial data could lend to humanitarian responses. In the depths of disillusionment, I was struggling to see where to channel my efforts next. We needed to support teams to generalise their products and explore potential routes to scale, but faced difficulty knowing how. Beyond the technology itself, it was also clear that we would need to work more transparently to break down organisational, departmental, and geographical silos.

As luck would have it, this period fell over the Christmas break. In this time of rest and respite, I read James Clear’s Atomic Habits. Inspired by his framework for habit tracking and forming, I tried to adapt his thinking to map out the next phases in my fellowship.?

Purpose

Dr. Linda Hill said it best on a recent episode of Brene Brown’s ‘Dare to Lead’ podcast: “when you’re trying to do breakthrough innovation, you actually have no vision”. That can be incredibly frustrating for a new starter / innovator. However, Dr. Hill clarifies that what may be more fitting is to work towards a purpose. The distinction being: “Purpose is why we’re going, and what we’re trying to do together. Not where we’re going.”?

In light of that, I read through strategic documents and action plans to draw out the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) ambitions over the next 2-3 years. In light of the Fellowship’s own goals,? I selected three purposeful objectives that I could work towards during my Fellowship.?

In order to achieve those three objectives, I shed light on what ‘purpose’ I was hoping to achieve (a.k.a. how this contributed to a particular aspiration for FCDO). Hyperlinks were incorporated for reference. That way, everyone I engage with would have clarity on how the work I was doing adds value.

Path

This is where things get interesting. Most new starters/innovators stop short at setting out the purpose. The view is that any action taken thereafter will be ‘innovative’ and for an organisational benefit. These now take the form of “OKR”s, which stand for “Objectives and Key Results.” OKRs are an effective?goal-setting?and leadership tool for communicating what you want to accomplish and what milestones you'll need to meet in order to accomplish it. But OKRs never factor in existing systems, processes, and most importantly...people.?

Having engaged with a number of teams and identified great, existing use of geospatial data in the organisation, the next two features in my plan were all the more important.?I identified three distinct paths that I could take to achieve each objective and? purpose. My thinking was that although the Fellowship itself was new, none of my objectives should be stand-alone/'new'. New isn't adoptable within the fellowship term, and stand-alone runs the same risk of existing in a silo.? With sustainability in mind, I identified work that I had seen that could be amplified. Ways of working in industry that could be adopted to improve the discovery or pace of delivery in a project. And how I could bring teams together, to think in new ways.?

First Steps

Lastly, and most importantly for this blog, none of this works if it’s just me working in isolation. So I set out who I would need to engage with to make this possible.?This went beyond identifying teams, but who within those teams would be critical in making these changes possible? What tools had I been made aware of, that could be used in a new way, in a different region, or by a different team? This requires a collation of intelligence on what’s currently underway, what’s available, and who might be willing and able to engage and experiment? These ‘first steps’ are critical, but should be the most flexible. As a new starter/innovator, it is important to recognise your own ignorance, and be willing to pivot in light of new information.?

This framework is one that I hope to keep iterating in subsequent roles. It is a way for new starters/innovators to quickly take ownership of their work and progress. It has also been a useful tool/document to shed light on my goals, how it brings value, and what actions I’m currently taking to get there. By sharing this in advance of meetings, I am working openly and transparently, in the way that I encourage others to also do. What followed the first draft was a series of consultations, corrections, and finally confirmation. More on that to come.