Launches and more launches

By Christina Ryan DLI CEO

Endlessly starting but never finishing

Most of us enjoy a nice morning tea. The chance to catch up with colleagues, move away from our desks, and celebrate something over tea and cupcakes.

For the disability community many of these morning teas are centred on launching Disability Action Plans in one form or another. Months, even years, of work can go into developing a good action plan and celebrating that with a launch is a great thing to do. Acknowledging all the consultation and codesign work, the contributions of many people, and the beginning of a new era for organisations as they turn towards a more inclusive future.

What we don’t see, though, are morning teas to celebrate the outcomes of those plans. What happens at the end of 3 or 5 years when the plan expires? Where are the morning teas that acknowledge the work that has gone into implementing the plan and making the gains that it aspired to?

Sometimes organisations don’t achieve the aspirational goals they have set. Like all plans and goals, this happens. Rather than admitting that the plan was ambitious and using the lessons learned as a way of doing better in the future, some organisations quietly forget that they made a big fuss and stop talking about their plans. Organisations that once proudly and publicly declared their intentions suddenly go quiet. Some remove their plans from their websites or cease reporting gains in their annual reports. There was a period a few years ago when it was almost impossible to find any mention of Disability Action Plans or their outcomes on government websites. Fortunately, those days seem to be over.

Where are the morning teas to acknowledge the end of a plan? A celebration of the lessons that were learned, and ownership of any mistakes made. Why are organisations embarrassed by not achieving lofty goals, or by not exactly hitting a target?

It’s time to start planning end of plan morning teas! While it’s lovely to have a launch and to get excited by what the future might hold, we should also be unafraid of small gains, of not quite reaching big aspirational goals, and of learning from our mistakes. The outcomes that have been achieved should be celebrated. Every small step represents a gain for the disability community, and often gains are few and far between.

Next time you attend a launch morning tea, ask what the plan is for the outcomes celebration. Whatever those outcomes are they are worth it.

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Christina Ryan is the CEO of the Disability Leadership Institute, which provides professional development and support for disability leaders. She identifies as a disabled person