Truth

- 2 mins read

I just finished Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It’s a narrative of the history and legacy of residential schools in Canada which interleaves a multitude of stories, perspectives, and calls to action throughout. And while this approximately 300 page narrative is a summary of reality, it was eye opening for me.

I learned about colonialism, assimilation, racism, perseverance, and partnership.

I learned about people, pain, trauma, government, management, policy, context, and nuance.

Unattended trauma is passed down through generations.

Learning about the past gives us a chance at creating a better future. Take time to learn your history - personal, cultural, organizational, etc. Explore how you got here, how you became, so you can attend to past influences on your current becoming.

I very much wish to see similar research and calls to action in the US on similar topics. 

I see parallels with this report’s approach, and what is recommended from https://www.learningfromincidents.io/ and https://www.adaptivecapacitylabs.com/incident-analysis-training-and-coaching/ where experts become adept at:

  • Building a coherent, detailed description of the event as it unfolded;

  • Identifying the systemic factors that produced the event and shaped the response;

  • Recognizing novel aspects of the incident and response that reveal systems behavior and the expertise of incident responders;

  • Preparing presentation materials that show these in a context that encourages both exploration and productive discussion by others;

  • Facilitating the exploration and discussion in a group setting; and

  • Producing a succinct record that synthesizes the data, analyses, and insights produced.

And, I very much wish to see incident analysis in software engineering organizations which listens to the varied incident responders and stakeholders, and identifies and discusses deeper historical conditions, like power dynamics as Lorin describes in https://surfingcomplexity.blog/2021/07/18/whats-allowed-to-count-as-a-cause/.

Thank you Jaime Woo for the open invitation to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report: