Playing the long game
Professionally, I am a consultant. This means I have opinions about most everything. I also have a little experience. What drives me is to be of service, which means (to me) that I pursue/contribute to something greater than my own needs, interests, etc. I am internally motivated (like my Daddy - yes that is how I refer to him - so now you know). I have never been particularly interested in visibility or attention in any way. If you have ever tried to take a group photo with me, you know this.
I am drawn to opportunities and relationships where there is reciprocity and joy and where all parties leave stronger, grounded, and affirmed. This is an interesting mindset for an African-American cisgender hetero-normative female working in the philanthropic industrial complex. Over the course of my career, really my life, I have developed a keen sense as to whether a potential new client/partner/friend relationship will meet that test. I don’t participate anymore in the capitalist norm of competition. I also won’t fight for attention - something patriarchy and capitalism both encourage. Nope. Not gonna do it.
A few years ago, I realized that until I can say (and potentially move) some things, I must stay in the work.
Ultimately, I strive for obsolescence. And in general, to be needed/wanted less in all things is ultimately what I desire.
So that is the background.
Earlier this Spring, I shared that I was struggling/searching for my role at this moment as a “privileged non-essential knowledge worker.” As I have sat with my feelings and been present to notice what was revealing itself this year, it is crystal clear to me that I am interested in the long game.
The Urban Dictionary says the long game is having a long term plan, long term goals, or doing things now that set you up for the future. The difference is that the future I aspire to influence is not for me (although I would benefit) but one where all of humanity is valued and thrives.
Given I work within the U.S. philanthropic industrial complex and within that, evaluation and learning practice, how can I best utilize my intellectual, social, and financial capital to contribute to one that advances and reflects equity, justice, and liberation?
Here is what I know, I want to:
Change the rules of the game. A game created by a select few whose rules have determined what we consider evidence and what we believe to be valid.
Challenge and evolve the fields/practice of evaluation and learning to be about something - equity, justice, and liberation (until achieved)
Contribute to improving critical consciousness and civil society
Create spaces and places for those who seek a new way to approach evaluation/research to join others to create one that reflects the complexity of the 21st century and the multiplicity of truths that co-exist
I also know that I am not alone.
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About The Author:
Jara Dean-Coffey (jdc) is Founder and Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative and the Founder of Luminare Group. For the past twenty-five years, she has partnered with clients and colleagues to elevate their collective understanding of the relationship between values, context, strategy and evaluation and shifting our practices so that they are more fully in service of equity. For more about musings + machinations click here.
