Among other things, I’m wondering if the burnout, frustration, and overwhelm that RSEs (including myself) are experiencing are pandemic-related or something else – and if we could begin to address it by taking any next steps in Wildflower organizational design. Here are some of the things I’m thinking about, along with the reasoning in the linked google doc (in almost stream-of-consciousness, so please excuse the rambling).

1. Could every school in the network join a Pod in the next few months, regardless of geography? When schools are in Pods, we could narrow the RSE role because there would be fewer school “management” situations that require attention and support as, instead, schools are learning from and advising other schools.

2. And could we shift the majority of direct SSJ supports for emerging schools to Ops Guides? We could shift SSJ supports to national or local (w/ national training) Ops Guides for cohorts and one-on-one support of ETL teams (recruitment-oriented & self-managed in Discovery, large cohorts led by Ops Guides in Visioning, small cohorts led by Ops Guides in Planning, one-on-one coaching by Ops Guides paired with Pod membership in Startup).

3. Could RSEs use the time saved to focus on fundraising and growth strategy?
a. Once we’ve centered the RSE role on growth and reduced time spent on some of the other accountabilities, we could step back to consider if RSEs continue to make sense in each region or not and do this on a recurring basis (look at conditions in a region, RSE skills & interest, other developments).
b. Who is well-positioned to support something like this? Maybe a stakeholder advice team? It could include the RSE, TL/Pod reps, FG & Dev LL, etc. - folks who know and care about the region, the roles, etc. The ongoing feedback would be helpful regardless of the decisions made and would allow us to be more responsive, listening to evolutionary purpose, while continuing to be accountable for decisions made in the past (schools opened, support needed – with schools in Pods and ETLs getting SSJ support regardless). We’ve started something like this in the regional fundraising advice sessions this spring.

4. With the focusing of the RSE role, we could reimagine what types of ongoing supports are necessary for RSEs. What’s the best structure for them?

Link to google with more here.