Working Out Loud Week is from 5-11 June 2017.  Working Out Loud Week is a chance for a global community of practitioners to find new freedom to work together to practice sharing work in progress with relevant communities for learning and collaboration. The theme of this WOLWeek is ‘Contribute and Create Value’

Day 5: Ask For Help

We all need help in our work.  The scale, pace, and complexity of our work are greater than ever.  We need help to keep being effective – to know what we need to know, to learn the skills we need and to get the job done.

So why don’t we ask for help more often? We worry that others would judge us. We worry that we should know more or be able to do more. We think we should be able to cope with more.

Mostly, our work is not that interesting to others. Most people aren’t continuously evaluating our performance. They view a request for help as a request for help, not an admission of criminal incompetence. We can all ask for more help safely and without the consequences that we expect.

When we have built relationships with others, when we have helped them and shared our context, asking for help is the most natural request in the world.  People with a shared purpose, help each other.

Ask for help with one small aspect of your work. Role model these behaviours so that others don’t feel trapped by fear. Show others that help is readily available when you ask.

Here’s my one ask of you:  WOLWeek is ending soon.  This global conversation is coming to a close. How can you help me to sustain this conversation and activity beyond this week into every day of the working week. What should we be doing to grow WOLWeek and the practice of working out loud further?