Tuesdays Tumble; Listening as the foundation of practice

Blog 7 | Do people already know what they need, because they know what matters to them?

If individuals hold that knowledge, what happens when communities are invited to shape, or even be part of, the systems that serve them?

Rather than offering solutions based on what we see as fixable, we begin by listening.

Deeply.

Presently.

With honour, reflection, and curiosity.

Dr Mark Spencer did just this.

He didn’t start with clinical interventions; he started with litter picking.

And in Alaska, they turned around the health of their people by making them co-owners of their health systems, working in partnership.

Listening became the intervention.

Relationships became the infrastructure.

So I’m wondering:

How do we create a system that listens?