Last week, someone asked me what “tough projects” meant.
It varies.
It might be engaging on a policy change to address climate change, working on COVID, or working with communities experiencing really difficult community challenges like racism or domestic violence.
There are times where we’ve sat with community members and clients as they’ve cried. Times where communities – like during COVID – have feared for their lives or their livelihoods. Times where people have yelled, or been yelled at. Times where every second counts, and where we’ve gone without sleep the work was so critical.
So why work on tough projects?
It’s because we know that there are also times where:
- Stakeholders have sat together, perhaps for the first time, and found a commonality that they never knew existed
- People can truly understand what’s important to different parts of the community
- Sectors have developed true innovations that have saved lives, time or money
- Improved outcomes have made a difference to people’s lives
So what really is a tough project? It’s a project that requires more than just sharing information. It’s a project where there’s no pre-determined outcome. And where seemingly impossible problems can be overcome.
