There are two books I want to read: Bad Services: How to Fix Services That Don’t Work by Lou Downe and Maintenance of Everything: Part One by Stewart Brand.
Just thinking about reading these books makes me feel less anxious. I realise that my anxiety often comes from wanting things not to fail. I want services to be thoughtful, and I want things to work well and not break. I like maintenance. I like processes. I enjoy working through how to make a service clear and sensible. I really appreciate a well designed service. GOV.UK is still the best example I have seen of a service that works extremely well, even though it deals with things, such as filing for taxes or applying for a driving license, that are supposed to be frustrating.
Now that I am back at the school, I realize I have a rare opportunity to use these two … passions. This opportunity is rare not only because the school needs better systems and some improvement in how things run, but also because of the level of control and freedom I have, since I am the husband of one of the founder. It is also rare because most of the team, including the founders, are people who like to start and build things, rather than maintain them. In a way, I might be the kind of person the school needs at this point in its journey.
I often feel excited about having the chance to explore what I truly enjoy. It is surprising to realise that I like thinking about services, building them, putting them into practice, improving them, and then maintaining them. I also see services in a broad way. To me, services are not just customer support. They include processes, rules, and even how physical spaces are organised. In my mind, services are considered solutions to human problems, and I enjoy trying to get them right. I am a pleaser, and there is something very rewarding about making things pleasing for others.
It is strange how everything seems to be coming together.
Leave a Reply