I’m in my last weeks at work at TPXimpact and I’ve worked with Heads of Practice (the equivalent of government Heads of Profession) during my tenure. It was my first time working in an environment where practice is not a personal journey but a group activity we specifically make space for as a consultancy which is rare in traditional design agencies. It’s fair to say, it’s not time that is as valued as it should be, so I wanted to talk about why I really like the fact that they exist and why I hope they become more popular in the private sector.
- It forces you to stop As designers we’re always expected to lead a conversation, facilitate a workshop, do things independently. But that creates a ‘lone wolf’ mentality which isolates you from others when so much of life’s answers comes from what happens when many of us meet. How else can you get some new perspective? How else can you reflect on what you’re doing in any meaningful way? How else can you open yourself up to learning something new or form a new opinion? Taking time means believing in accidents, in serendipity and that by taking the time to attend a Community of Practice event, something good might happen. Or not, but then you would still have taken the time away from a difficult problem and should come back to it with a different energy.
- Understand your peers Spending time in a peer group is why people used to go to meetups or plan some CPD. Being frequently confronted with your peers forces you to look at your technical skills, see the gaps or the overlaps and do something about it. Not unlike a university cohort, your peer group don’t have to be your friends nor are they only your competition for promotions, they could also be your mentors and guides. But they’re there and it’s your job to know them as they might help you out of a bind when you need it.
- Treat it like a sandpit I work with six Heads of Practice and they all manage their communities very differently. Having a dedicated space for a community means choosing how people can share, learn, discuss or debate. There’s no one way of doing it, but that means every community feels different and that’s good. Every community is a reflection of who shows up, who talks too much, who doesn’t contribute enough, who disrupts. It’s a small social system and it will get messy. But that’s great practice for bigger activities like organising a wedding, building a business, or running for MP.
So if you’re lucky enough to have a Community of Practice, I envy you and hope you get something out of it.