Humility and Checking the Pumps

John Snow, who lived from 1813 to 1858 was barely known when he died, and his crazy ideas were almost universally rejected.

As a result of his research Snow discovered that Cholera, or the Black Death, as it was known, may have originated as a result of dirty water. He isolated a pump in Broad Street, London, as the source of the disease and agitated to have the handle removed.

However, Snow's theory was not popular and the authorities later had the handle on the pump replaced. It took another 20 years after his death before the idea was proved that germs in dirty water could cause disease.

Listening to each other is a critical aspect of learning how to get on with each other, and clearly is also a way in which we can learn from each other. Listening is a factor in humility which was so ably illustrated to us by Jesus.

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Listening is what Baptistcare's culture survey is all about. It's an opportunity to hear what our 1400 staff are saying about the culture of the organisation and how well we put our values into practice.

If you haven't filled in your survey yet, I would encourage you to do it in the next few days. Wednesday is the closing date. You will be in the draw for some great prizes.

Measuring community

I have finished filling in my Baptistcare Culture Survey and I'm wondering how everyone else is going in this exericse. It took me about 20 minutes online.

The survey is designed to measure the systems, symbols and behaviours that bring Baptistcare's vision, mission and values to life.

There is a major prize being offered as an incentive to participating in the survey. This is a night at the Duxton Hotel, Perth, including breakfast, dinner, valet parking, pool, spa, gym, midday late checkout, and a Captain Cook river cruise. People who participate in the survey may also be eligible for one of fourteen $100 Coles Myer vouchers.

I encourage Baptistcare staff to participate in this survey, because your responses will help us in making Baptistcare a better place to work and help improve delivery of our services.

Being Community in times of celebration

In my last post I talked about how community works in times of crisis. Community also works in times of fun and celebration. Last night I m.c.'d the fourth annual Christmas at the Fair, run by Maida Vale Baptist Church at Range View Park in High Wycombe.

It was great to see nearly 30 community groups working and having fun together, along with members of the public participating in a wide range of activities and events.

For many, Christmas is a time of celebration when families get together to remember the birth of Jesus and to enjoy opportunities of giving and sharing. I trust that in the next few weeks you will take that time to thank those people who have had some input into your life during the year, and to take time to make a contribution to the life of someone else you haven't seen for a while.

What is a community?

Last Thursday, about 80 leaders within Baptistcare spent the day reflecting on the meaning of our organisation's tagline, "Communities for Life". Peter Kenyon of the Bank of IDEAS facilitated the day, helping us to think about the sort of things that make a community.

During the day it became necessary to mobilise a number of buses to go to Margaret River to evacuate residents at our residential aged care facility, Mirrambeena, as a result of the bushfires that were threatening the town. As buses and their drivers were organised, and planning was set in place for the evacuation, it became evident that this was what community is all about.

It is a privilege to be a part of an organisation where people at all levels and all different areas of responsibility, are able to come together to achieve a common purpose.

Well done to all who were involved in this project, especially our staff at Margaret River, who had their own personal worries and fears to deal with in the process, and who worked long hours to ensure that our residents were safe and well. Our Mirrambeena Residents were taken to Baptistcare's facilities at Busselton and Manjimup and to Capecare's facility in Busselton which meant additional support being provided at those sites. Congratulations and thanks to all those who contributed in any way to make this possible.

Connecting with Homelessness

Last week six Baptistcare staff volunteered at Homeless Connect. They were among about 200 volunteers who contributed to this special day providing a "one stop shop" for people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.

During the day I spoke with a man who has been on the streets for 16 years. This is a way of life and Homeless Connect was a nice diversion. When I asked him why he came along, his simple and very telling answer was that this was his backyard.

It was a privilege to be able to offer support in a simple, yet effective way for so many people living on the streets of Perth.

Thankyou to all those at Baptistcare who volunteered for this event and donated toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Taking the Pulse

What does the culture of an organisation look like? Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on it, because it seems to be more like a gut feeling you get when you wake up in the morning…. “I just can’t wait to get to work to do the things I love doing” … or, “oh dear, it’s another day at the salt mines”.

At Baptistcare we want to try and put our finger on the pulse of the organisation so that we have the ability to take whatever steps are required to ensure that our culture continues to be healthy into the future. To achieve that we will be running a culture survey. In the next few days and weeks you will be hearing a lot more about this and I encourage you to find out about it and become involved. It’s a way that every person in Baptistcare can contribute to their workplace.

In my recent blogs I’ve spent time talking about person-centredness which we believe is an important part of our culture. One of our initiatives in Baptistcare has been the person-centred review committee which acts a bit like a watchdog to help us in achieving these goals. Recently we invited Kerry Allan-Zinner on to this committee as a community representative.

I am thrilled to say that last week Kerry’s business, Another Angle Consulting and Training, won the Karl Farrell Inspiration Business Award at the Belmont Small Business Awards. This is a great achievement, and I encourage you to look at Kerry’s website http://www.anotherangle.com.au/ , to get an understanding of how inspirational she is as a business-person and a leader. Congratulations Kerry.

Casanovas at Armadale

Anti-Poverty Week is just about over for 2011. It's been great to have the support of the music industry in Perth to bring some of the issues of poverty to light. Have a look at our YouTube channel. We've also had support from Nova 93.7 who sent their Casanovas out to Joondalup and Armadale Shopping Centres during the week to hand out information about Anti-Poverty Week. I joined them at Armadale yesterday. Have a look at some more pictures at Nova 93.7 website .

But what's the result of a week like this? The purpose of Anti-Poverty Week across Australia was to:

• strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in Australia;
  



• encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems, including action by individuals, communities, organisations and governments.

I hope that in some way, the efforts we have undertaken to promote Anti-Poverty Week has helped us to have a better understanding of the issues and a keener sense of the needs of people around us.

Baptistcare has made a commitment to become more involved in advocacy which is why we have taken such a leading role in promoting Anti-Poverty Week. It has been a privilege to work with other organisations both in WA and across Australia in helping people to become more aware of the issues.

Anti-Poverty Week may be pretty small in the overall scheme of things, but if it helps a few people to think about how we can contribute to a just society, it's worth it.