Mind the gap
Last week the BBC published an opinion poll of attitudes to families. The headline grabbing finding was that 94% of us feel positive about our own families, up by 4% from a similar poll in 1964.
But the BBC poll also found that 70% are pessimistic about the
future of families as a whole. Whether or not this tells us anything
significant about families it does confirm a more general, and
worrying, characteristic of public attitudes.
This contrast between private optimism and societal pessimism about
families reminded me of a phenomenon we used in Government to call the
‘perception gap’.
This is the marked difference between what people said about their
own experience of using public services like hospitals and schools,
which was generally positive, and their view of these services in
general – which was generally negative.
From a political perspective the unwillingness of voters to
generalise from their own experience was deeply frustrating. It meant
that real gains in service performance were not reflected in
satisfaction with Government.
The ‘perception gap’ doesn’t end there. My friend Ben Page at MORI will know the details,
but I’m pretty sure that people also report that their neighbourhood is
improving while simultaneously believing that communities as a whole
are falling apart.
And while people generally report positive experiences in their own
contact with people from other races and religious backgrounds they are
again less sanguine when asked to generalise about other types of
people.
What might explain this phenomenon? The first culprits are, of
course, our friends in the media. Bad news sells. Politicians are
lazily portrayed as untrustworthy, venal and second-rate. The
criticisms of an independent report on Government policy make headline
billing while other more numerous positive conclusions don’t merit a
mention (or are described as a whitewash).
Films, TV dramas, documentaries and reality shows all tend to focus
on society’s ills and miscreants. As I have said too many times on
public platforms, the modern mass media is a disorganised conspiracy to
maintain the population in a perpetual state of self righteous rage.
But it’s not just the media: we too are implicated in the perception
gap. If we receive a good service – either in the private or public
sector – we might tell a couple of people. But if we suffer from a
bad service we tell all and sundry.
I’m no evolutionary determinist, but in this one might see a sign
that human beings have a hard-wired predisposition to see warning as
more important than celebration.
Politicians too must take some blame. Opposition parties believe it
is in their interests to prove the country to going to the dogs, while
Governments need to justify the latest crammed Queen’s Speech. With so
many people wanting to tell us things are going wrong is it any wonder
we think our own experiences are the exception to the rule?
Ministers may despair at the ‘perception gap’ – but does it matter
to the rest of us? I think so. It contributes to a tendency to
exaggerate our own agency and underestimate the impact and potential of
collective action.
In a complex world it is hard enough to find solutions to tough
social problems without doing so against a backdrop of pessimism. If
‘out there’ is damaged, declining and dangerous, it makes sense to
retreat into our own atomised privatised lives, and cower inside our
gated communities. And of course the more we do that the more our
pessimism about collective action becomes self-fulfilling.
One week and counting
It is just a week until the RSA Networks big day here on November
22nd. A huge amount of work has gone in here at John Adam Street and we
have been guided throughout by committed Fellows like those involved in
Open RSA (you’ll need to log in to Facebook to see this link). I won’t say more as you can find a longer blog from me on the RSA networks blog.
On Saturday I am in Scotland at a major RSA Conference
to discuss the Society’s development North of the Border. It is an
exciting time all round in the Fellowship and I will make sure to
report back on both events.
Back from America
Sorry about a longer gap between blogs than usual. I spent most of last week as the guest of RSA USA and am currently writing this on a train.
We have had some really interesting comments on our RSA Networks blog, and the team and I will be responding to those later in the week.
But in the meantime, back to the US!
It was a fascinating visit combining discussions with Fellows and potential partners about our ambitions for the USA chapter with the Stateside launch of our work on personal carbon trading.
Thanks to all the American Trustees who took such good care of us on our visit.
In Frank Spring we have an ambitious new National Director and I have no doubt that over the next months we will see a strong programme emerging in the USA, including, I hope, some joint lecture and debate series in which we look at key issues from opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Apart from Iraq, the key policy issues in the race for the Presidential nominations are health, immigration and the environment.
In the health debate Michael Moore has made his filmic contribution to exposing the weaknesses of the US system while Rudy Giuliani has made a scathing (and inaccurate) attack on the outcomes of the NHS.
On these issues and also education, where criticism of Bush’s ‘no child left behind‘ initiative matches growing unease at the test-driven English approach, there is scope for the RSA to host a rich US/UK dialogue.
I am also keen to explore a lecture series focussing on my own new obsession: understanding and developing human intelligence.
And moving closer to home…
A couple of weeks ago we partnered up with the Society Guardian to launch Meet The Dragons, a unique investment fund to encourage and celebrate innovation in social care.
In a format familiar to many from a certain TV programme of a similar name, a shortlist of the most interesting ways of addressing the needs of older people, children and others will face a panel of experts (including myself as Dragon-in-Residence) with a pot of money, consultancy and practical support to help the best ones grow.
A group of social care leaders is helping us have this conversation in what has been, for too long, a neglected area of provision.
I’ve written before in this blog about how the RSA’s Fellowship can be a unique and very powerful network for fostering and sharing civic innovation in the real world.
This is exactly the sort of event which can combine experiences of making change happen with our Fellows’ expertise in a way that will enrich both our work, at 8 John Adam Street, and inspire and support a wide network of social innovators.
If you think you’re already working on a winning project, get applying.
Meet The Dragons is also a chance to get to grips with the realities of developing citizen-centred approaches to the challenges of modern life.
Social care is a classic example of what was traditionally seen as a “delivery” service. But changing demographics and a recognition that the way social care is commissioned and delivered needs to be different has thrust transformation to the top of the agenda.
Now Carers UK estimates that every day another six thousand of us take on caring responsibilities. This is a challenge that affects all of us – visit our website for more information.
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