A few days ago, I had a brief email exchange with Andrew Sutton about Trusteeship. The topic was prompted by Stick 'n Step's detailed description of the Trustee role which they were seeking to fill (not an easy task at the best of times - so good luck). I happened to comment to Andrew that the best summary I'd ever been told of what it was to be a Trustee was also the briefest:
"Trustees are the guardians of the definition of success", observed my friend Ray Kohn once. Everything else flows from that observation or is encompassed within it, I suggested to Andrew. He replied that he liked it but that it was "One way of understanding mission creep!"
At this point I should say that a couple of weeks or so ago, Andrew had introduced me to 'Catastrophe Theory' which I was distantly aware from Malcolm Gladwell's book "Tipping Point". Could it be that conductive education in the UK was approaching its own tipping point and, if so, why?
Anyway, to pick up the Trustees-as-Guardians story again. While partly agreeing with Andrew about the potential for mission creep, I offered the following (which Andrew then urged me to copy here exactly as written):
"Indeed and quite possibly, but also the notion of guardianship implies a respect for the past that should put a brake on that and help the Guardians/Trustees/Charity celebrate where they have come from and what they set out to do in the first place.
Premier League football is not a model for much that is ethical but the recent turn around at Manchester United under the new Manager has had fans saying that the team were now playing ‘like Manchester United’. They had a strong sense of the club, its history, its heroes, what that means for the club and its playing style.
That’s actually a characteristic of many football clubs - a sense of what they stand for, what they are and a respect for those who have 'gone before’.
It may be that the lack of respect for what has ‘gone before’, the very absence of any true sense of Guardianship that leads to the “Mission creep” in conductive education charities.
Recently, I followed up on reading about ‘catastrophe theory’, as you had suggested. An intriguing couple of hours. There is a 'tipping point’ which can happen quite suddenly and to return from that point (as Manchester United may have done) can take a huge effort - and may indeed be impossible."
So there you are. How many Boards of Trustees do you know who have ceased to be true guardians of the definition of success in a conductive education setting?
