My Kafka T-Shirt – worn to important meetings (under a shirt – obviously!)“Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy”.
There is a point to the Franz Kafka quote, which will be explained later. In the meanwhile I’ll stop being pseudo intellectual and resume normal service….
Last week I was at this Working With Not To event, learning about Co-Production and Asset Based Community Development. It was great to meet Cormac Russell and even better that he mentioned MEN’S SHEDS! I’ve been desperate to talk about sheds for ages, so here goes.
Men Sheds Australia. Cormac told the story of how the Men Sheds movement in Australia had grown from a small social movement, into something that attracted the attention of large government institutions. The key points were:
- Many Blokes like to mess about in their sheds – fact – no further explanation needed.
- During the 1990’s in Australia a few Blokes started to informally gather together in sheds and do ‘shed based activities’ – you know the kind of thing, fixing lawnmowers, repairing a bookcase, making new things etc etc.
- The activity became popular and spread by ‘word of mouth’ around Australia. Men Sheds started to pop up everywhere.
- Some people (Academics) started to notice that the Blokes who got involved in Men Sheds were healthier and happier than those who didn’t.
- Proper scientific research followed which tried to understand if there was a clear link between better men’s health and Men Sheds. The research wasn’t completely conclusive (is it ever… ha ha), however the general view is that Men Sheds are beneficial. This report by the Lancaster University Centre of Ageing Research summarises the ‘shed loads’ of research into Men Sheds.
- Scientific research led to government bodies taking an interest and now Men Sheds features prominently in the Australian Government Department of Health Policy.
- A small social movement has grown to global success with a 1000 Men Sheds in Australia and expanding networks across the globe in countries like the UK, Ireland, Finland and Greece.
- Have a look at this video of an example from Age UK (Bromley & Greenwich) which has been funded by the National Lottery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTZaw8GW7r8
Where does this fit with the Slime of Bureaucracy?
If you look at any of the Men in Sheds websites and you’ll see a fair few references to ‘Health and Safety’, Insurance and ‘guidance’ for operating a shed.
I suspect that when the first Men Sheds started as a Social Movement in Australia there wasn’t a Health and Safety Policy in sight. Cormac Russell made the point that with the growth of Men Sheds they attracted government attention, and MONEY.
The money is quite necessary, sometimes essential. It helps to keep the sheds viable, particularly those where opportunities to raise funds by selling products and services don’t exist. However, money, particularly if it’s been provided by the taxpayer, usually comes with a bunch of rules and regulations attached. There might even be a Manager, a Coordinator, a Liaison Worker and even an Evaluation and Reporting Officer attached.
I’m not sure if any of these things actually harm the Men Sheds movement, but they do add a layer of something that didn’t exist when the first ‘social movement’ started. Maybe this is the ‘Slime of Bureaucracy’ that Kafka spoke about?
Whatever it is, I hope the revolution of Men Sheds doesn’t evaporate before I get a chance to get a saw in my hand and put some overalls on.
So What’s the PONT?
- Men Sheds are an activity that helps many men to socialise and make a positive contribution to society.
- Whilst the research doesn’t seem to have absolutely proved the link with better physical health, they are undoubtedly a very good thing (in my view).
- With any revolution (or social movement) I think a bit of ‘the slime of bureaucracy’ is probably inevitable if the movement becomes highly successful and grows significantly beyond it’s original community.
Here are some useful Shed based links:
Mens Sheds UK: http://www.menssheds.org.uk
Age UK Men in Sheds: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/professional-resources-home/services-and-practice/health-and-wellbeing/men-in-sheds/
Age UK Cheshire – Men in Sheds: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/cheshire/our-services/every-man-needs-a-shed/ (where I first heard of Men in Sheds)
And a Shed Locator Map – to find your nearest shed: http://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=598561
What's the PONT 
I’ve never heard that Kafka quote before but I’ve got to get myself one of those t-shirts.
I was talking to my Dad last night. He’d read about The Harbour in his nearest town in Essex. It’s supposed to be an informal coming together of those who may be a bit lonely or isolated with people with some time to spare. He’s rather quiet my Dad but he has time, likes playing board games and thought he’d pop along to get involved. After a morning of interviews, form filling and questioning he left without having played one game of Monopoly.
Two weeks on and he still hasn’t heard whether his 70+ years of board game playing experience will be enough…….
Thanks John, oh blimey.
That’s not supposed to happen.
Cormac suggested that ‘institutionalisation’ was damaging some of the spirit of Men Sheds…. the Slime of Bureaucracy in other words.
Perhaps not surprisingly there is nothing I could find on line that suggests this was happening….. and all the videos were very positive. The proof is in the lived experience though.
I suspect some of this form filling is inevitable as part of the ‘professionalisation’ of what is going on. It’s such a pity that it happens. There has to be a better way?
Bizarrely I was involved in an unrelated conversation this week when I was (gently) accused of of being ‘one of those people who doesn’t like control, and likes people to take charge for themselves’.
I’ll take that as a positive comment, even if it wasn’t intended as one.
Btw – the Kafka T-Shirts are available online – wait till they have a 50% off sake and then stock up!
Thanks
Chris
Apart from a frivolous temptation to speculate on the notion of fifty shades of grey (as an expression about tone and colour, literally, of course) as a metaphor for the slime of beauraucracy (or fifty sheds, come to that), I do note a rise in the installation of sheds in the gardens of friends and family. In most cases these appear to be places to find some colour in life, through plants, painting, writing etc. the phenomenon is also increasingly unisex.
BTW do you know Kafka’s story about the mouse? The one who come out of his hole into a world where the walls were squeezing him ever more narrowly and all he could see was a trap at the end. Then a cat spoke to him about choice being in his own hands and that the trap could be avoided: the desperate mouse ended up as dinner for the cat.
What was that about Trojan Mice I hear you mutter, Chris?
Mary
Hello Mary,
Good to hear from you.
I’m not going down the 50 Sheds path….. As much as I would like to. ( there’s some hilarious stuff on Twitter, only saw it by chance ;-))
Kafka was an interesting chap, and that Max Weber (only just introduced to).
Plenty for us to catch up on.
Have a you seem the Cobra Effect?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect
Heard you were looking at this sort of thing at the moment.
Catch up soon?
Chris
Kafka & Max Weber in unity it seems – at least on sheds. There appear to be are only three certainties in life. Death, Taxes & Bureaucracy.
Thanks Peter,
I’ve just had a look at some Max Weber writing.
There is an interesting graphic of Weber and Kafka together at the end of this article. https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/social-groups-and-organization-6/bureaucracy-56/weber-s-model-for-bureaucracy-352-10202/
The depressing inevitability of the rise of bureaucracy….. unless you can keep the slime under control.
Reading Weber got me thinking about Parkinson of Parkinson’s Law. Lots in what he wrote about how bureaucracy flourished in the British Civil Service. I need to dig the book out again.
Thanks, Chris.
Its a fascinating subject Chris and something I’ve been pondering for a while. Kafka and Weber give some great context to much of the blue sky leadership thinking in the social mediaverse. Thanks for highlighting it with sheds!
When public money is involved at least a thin smear of the slime of bureaucracy is inevitable. We auditors have the job of measuring the thickness and quality of the slime, but we need to avoid adding unnecessary layers of the green stuff. If we are serious about supporting well-managed risk taking, we must help the bodies that we audit to wash away unnecessary and costly layers of bureaucratic slime. But we must be careful that the combination of slime and cleaning products do not also wash away the revolution.
Thanks Alan,
I’m looking forward to the ‘slime’ metaphor popping up in a few interesting places. Funny how a metaphor can work so well.
I’m with you on the need to have an independent layer of control and assurance when it comes to spending hard earned tax-payers money. They have been plenty of examples of misuse of public money, that’s for sure. On a entirely personal level, I want someone checking my taxes haven’t been wasted.
The challenge, as you say is around striking the right balance. Making sure there is adequate control and assurance around a limited and scarce resource (the cash), without smothering the activity it is looking at. Easy to say, quite hard to do on occasions.
One of the joys of writing this blog is getting thought provoking comments, thank you, plenty to think about here.
One of the other comments (from Peter Hall) spoke about Max Weber and his studies of bureaucracy over 100 years ago.
I’ve been reading some of this and think we would recognised much of what he talks about as ‘governance’.
Weber talks about the necessary increase in bureaucracy as industrial society grows and becomes far more complicated. The need to have some control around the use of money is mentioned.
A lot of interesting material, which when you put Kafka alongside, it spells out the challenge.
Link to some Max Weber material: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/social-groups-and-organization-6/bureaucracy-56/weber-s-model-for-bureaucracy-352-10202/
Thanks again
Chris
Hi Chris. Coincidentally I listened to this last night. It’s only 15 mins. I think you will like it http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08pfq5j
Thanks Annie,
I’ve just listened to the talk.
I couldn’t agree more, just behave normally!
The world of rules and regulations is stifling so much.
I heard someone speak about the 208 policies in their organisation recently.
140 of them were out of date, including the one on how to leave an answer phone message and the policy on what to do if you aren’t going to comply with policy.
I kid you not!
Apart from the negative impact, we must be spending a fortune on this sort of thing.
Thanks
Chris