Monday
Nov072011
Martin Murphy : An Enterprising Vision for Communities of Untapped Potential
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11:28PM
vi·sion
[vizh-uhn]
noun
1.
The act or power of sensing with the eyes; sight.
2.
The act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.
3.
An experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind.
When someone says that they "have had a vision", in the past tense, in my mind it refers to some form of perceived clairvoyance on the part of a person in receipt of a revelation that is unique only to that individual; that being, in essence, something I can not share in, something I do not understand or necessarily believe in myself and therefore something that is far removed from my own concept of reality. However, when someone is heard to say that they "have a vision", in the present tense, the word suddenly takes on a far more palpable, arresting and therefore believable meaning. When looked at in this context, it really is quite amazing how much difference a single word can make when your mind perceives the potentially hidden meaning behind a simple statement.
The vision quoted above, which serves as an introduction to an article written by Martin Murphy entitled 'Encouraging Social Enterprise In Deprived Areas' and consequently published on The Guardian website at the end of September, sits firmly with the latter belief; that belief being a tangible conviction that can be viewed subjectively without any hint of being unrealistic or limited to the view of a single person. It is a compelling vision that can be shared amongst many people, considered scientifically and therefore existing as an idea that is potentially achievable through a collective investment in a common cause. It is this belief in a common cause that is a driving factor behind the work of London Creative Labs in striving toward creating a self-sufficient and sustainable economic base for 'deprived' communities all over the country, starting from the ground and working up together, as a community.
Now 51 years old, Martin has most certainly experienced life on both sides of the tracks, punctuated by a period of homelessness beginning in 1999. Living day to day and, in his own words, 'doing what I had to do to get by - which included some things that were not so positive', Martin spent three years living in a hostel for homeless people before reaching a point where he decided that enough was enough. "I got to a point in my life where I was sick of this feeling (of social abandonment) and decided that I needed to make a contribution myself; instead of being an outsider and complaining about it, I decided to get in there and work and also to make a concerted effort to find people who felt the same way."
During this three year period Martin attended a number of programs targeted at homeless people and began a process of re-educating himself before beginning work as a volunteer for Training For Life, a homeless charity, in the year 2000. This volunteer work led on to full time employment with Training For Life as part of the personal development program in which he had initially enrolled, seeing him then rise up the ranks to begin managing the very course for which he had originally been a volunteer. This positive experience, after encountering so many negatives over an extended period of his life, led Martin into his current role as a Personal Coach and mentor, working mainly within the homeless sector. His continued work with individuals then led to him also considering the wider issues and the causes behind unemployment in what he regards as 'communities of untapped potential' (CUPs).
"The job centre doesn't look at communities; it focuses on individuals. This comes as a massive surprise to me. These communities, the communities that many of us live in, have been in place for long enough. They've always been present, and it still surprises me that a greater effort is not put into encouraging enterprise (by the government). The talent has always been there, as has the entrepreneurial spirit, which is evident in the amount of young people engaging in illegal activities to make money… They're making their own opportunities because, as far as they are concerned, there is seemingly no legal avenue for them to create or contribute toward a viable business structure that they can be a part of.
People always want to 'think big' so, due to lack of alternatives, they gravitate toward illegal options. For many people there is no legitimate outlet for expression, particularly on the estates, when they're surrounded by what they're surrounded by on a daily basis. If you've been living in what is very much a helpless situation for a long time, with no creative avenues to explore, your outlook is bound to become negative and that negativity will then turn inward. This begs the question - If they're doing 'that' (illegal activity), why are they not able to do 'this'?"
'This', of course, is Social Enterprise, which is a field that Martin has now been involved in for around four years, alongside the nine years he has spent in personal development and coaching homeless people. It is the Social Enterprise business model that is the driving force behind the work of London Creative Labs, and the conversation takes an interesting turn as Martin outlines the thoughts, feelings and obvious passion that he holds for the process; something that is wholly reciprocated by LCL.
"I feel a personal responsibility to help raise the feeling that we, as individuals and as part of a wider community, can do something to change these situations for the better. What we're working with is disengagement on a massive level; people have to be willing to participate, but it has to be recognised that a lot of people require support and encouragement in order to participate. There's a frustration that comes from the feeling that there is there is no way out - believe me, I've been there. The main outlet for frustration for many people, of all ages, is ambition; if there is no obvious pathway to the expression of ambition, people do not see an outlet, and this in turn can lead to frustration and apathy."
One example of this frustration is the recent riots and consequent looting in London that then spread across the entire country. Although opinion is still divided as to whether the 'looters' were politically driven or just opportunistic thieves, there surely can be no doubt that a number of those involved were motivated by the frustration born out of feeling that they, as communities, have been let down and ignored by each and every government that has come into power; governments that promise so much change but deliver so little. It is a topic that Martin obviously feels a particular affinity with.
"That's one of the main things that annoys me about the government… For the most part they assume that people who are in receipt of benefits do not want to contribute (to society as a whole). In my experience, everybody wants to feel that they have a purpose in life and that what they are doing everyday with their lives is worthwhile and of some value to other people. The government have not made the effort to create an inclusive system that allows people an avenue to make those contributions and therefore feel worthwhile (in themselves).
My weakness is also my strength in many respects - you have to keep your radical thoughts in check, but it is also important to allow them room to breathe when you are trying to make a positive impact on the social landscape. Social enterprise is neither left wing nor right wing; it is its own opinion… I'm tired of the old left wing versus right wing arguments where you must make a choice between one or the other - it causes polarisation, which leaves no room for common sense."
It is these 'radical' thoughts that saw the original article that Martin submitted to the Guardian cut in half, which in his own words, was 'a wise choice.' The publication of the article did, however, prompt a question and answer debate that served to put more emphasis on the role of the government in the stifling of the creation of a strong social enterprise model for communities of untapped potential.
"One interesting question that arose from The Guardian Q&A was 'How do you insulate communities against the government?' The government changes the 'rules' every five years with a whole new set of parameters and boundaries and new finance, which means there is very little sustainability or consistency in government policies. When money is poured into community regeneration schemes, it often gets frittered away. Money is thrown at the problem and the people on the ground do not have a say in how the finance is distributed within the community. It is all directed from above. The people that the money is intended for have no control over how and where it is spent and no money is then reinvested, which in the end results in less well off communities being hindered rather than helped by government politics."
Martin is no stranger to this situation himself, having previously been part of a successful program aimed at offering personal development to homeless and hard to reach people. The program was a success, but the funding ran out and it was forced to close. If the opportunity was there for the community itself to generate its own income, it would have given that very same community the ability to sustain programs that actually worked, ensuring these services were available to future generations. As is the case here at London Creative Labs, Martin is clearly very passionate about the potential implementations of social enterprise networks for positive change; not just within communities of untapped potential either, but also with a much wider scope.
"There needs to be a balance between social enterprise and campaigning for change. Look at the Occupy Wall Street movement, for example. People are campaigning because they don't like the way things are and have been going. We recognise that something different is needed. Some of it is about getting in there and creating the businesses we want to see, the rest of it is raising awareness as to the reasons why we are doing this. We're not creating social enterprises to become rich and wealthy, we are doing it because we don't like the way things are being run and we want to see a positive change for the people.
I view social enterprise as a movement; not just a business movement, there's more to it than that. We have to build a case for social values and creating a positive network of motivated people is key. That's my main focus when it comes down to coaching. Coaching people who want to make a real, positive change into social entrepreneurs. As an individual I look where I can to create the maximum impact through social enterprise - and that's what I'm aiming for, maximum impact.
I have created a space where I am able to work in and for the things that I believe in. The bottom line for what I believe in is raising the bar for people - believing in them and giving them something to aspire to - because at the end of the day that's what we all want. It's about having faith in people. I am particularly interested in how people can make a difference in how they perceive themselves and what they believe in. At the end of the day we're all made of the same stuff and we can all contribute. We all need support at some point in our lives, every one of us."
Martin Murphy is a personal coach 'with a particular focus on helping those wishing to bring about social change through business'. Follow Martin on Twitter here : www.twtter.com/network2012 You can read Martin's article, published on The Guardian website 27/09/2011 entitled 'Encouraging social enterprise in deprived areas' here You can also read the subsequent Q&A hosted by The Guardian on the article (here) Interview conducted by Mamading Ceesay and David Perera Written by David Perera for London Creative Labs
noun
1.
The act or power of sensing with the eyes; sight.
2.
The act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.
3.
An experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind.
"By 2030 the majority of businesses in and around 'deprived communities' are run on a cooperative or social enterprise model, are incentivised to recruit locally, and allocate a proportion of their profits to the regeneration of the local community – in consultation and collaboration with that community."
When someone says that they "have had a vision", in the past tense, in my mind it refers to some form of perceived clairvoyance on the part of a person in receipt of a revelation that is unique only to that individual; that being, in essence, something I can not share in, something I do not understand or necessarily believe in myself and therefore something that is far removed from my own concept of reality. However, when someone is heard to say that they "have a vision", in the present tense, the word suddenly takes on a far more palpable, arresting and therefore believable meaning. When looked at in this context, it really is quite amazing how much difference a single word can make when your mind perceives the potentially hidden meaning behind a simple statement.
The vision quoted above, which serves as an introduction to an article written by Martin Murphy entitled 'Encouraging Social Enterprise In Deprived Areas' and consequently published on The Guardian website at the end of September, sits firmly with the latter belief; that belief being a tangible conviction that can be viewed subjectively without any hint of being unrealistic or limited to the view of a single person. It is a compelling vision that can be shared amongst many people, considered scientifically and therefore existing as an idea that is potentially achievable through a collective investment in a common cause. It is this belief in a common cause that is a driving factor behind the work of London Creative Labs in striving toward creating a self-sufficient and sustainable economic base for 'deprived' communities all over the country, starting from the ground and working up together, as a community.
Now 51 years old, Martin has most certainly experienced life on both sides of the tracks, punctuated by a period of homelessness beginning in 1999. Living day to day and, in his own words, 'doing what I had to do to get by - which included some things that were not so positive', Martin spent three years living in a hostel for homeless people before reaching a point where he decided that enough was enough. "I got to a point in my life where I was sick of this feeling (of social abandonment) and decided that I needed to make a contribution myself; instead of being an outsider and complaining about it, I decided to get in there and work and also to make a concerted effort to find people who felt the same way."
During this three year period Martin attended a number of programs targeted at homeless people and began a process of re-educating himself before beginning work as a volunteer for Training For Life, a homeless charity, in the year 2000. This volunteer work led on to full time employment with Training For Life as part of the personal development program in which he had initially enrolled, seeing him then rise up the ranks to begin managing the very course for which he had originally been a volunteer. This positive experience, after encountering so many negatives over an extended period of his life, led Martin into his current role as a Personal Coach and mentor, working mainly within the homeless sector. His continued work with individuals then led to him also considering the wider issues and the causes behind unemployment in what he regards as 'communities of untapped potential' (CUPs).
"The job centre doesn't look at communities; it focuses on individuals. This comes as a massive surprise to me. These communities, the communities that many of us live in, have been in place for long enough. They've always been present, and it still surprises me that a greater effort is not put into encouraging enterprise (by the government). The talent has always been there, as has the entrepreneurial spirit, which is evident in the amount of young people engaging in illegal activities to make money… They're making their own opportunities because, as far as they are concerned, there is seemingly no legal avenue for them to create or contribute toward a viable business structure that they can be a part of.
People always want to 'think big' so, due to lack of alternatives, they gravitate toward illegal options. For many people there is no legitimate outlet for expression, particularly on the estates, when they're surrounded by what they're surrounded by on a daily basis. If you've been living in what is very much a helpless situation for a long time, with no creative avenues to explore, your outlook is bound to become negative and that negativity will then turn inward. This begs the question - If they're doing 'that' (illegal activity), why are they not able to do 'this'?"
'This', of course, is Social Enterprise, which is a field that Martin has now been involved in for around four years, alongside the nine years he has spent in personal development and coaching homeless people. It is the Social Enterprise business model that is the driving force behind the work of London Creative Labs, and the conversation takes an interesting turn as Martin outlines the thoughts, feelings and obvious passion that he holds for the process; something that is wholly reciprocated by LCL.
"I feel a personal responsibility to help raise the feeling that we, as individuals and as part of a wider community, can do something to change these situations for the better. What we're working with is disengagement on a massive level; people have to be willing to participate, but it has to be recognised that a lot of people require support and encouragement in order to participate. There's a frustration that comes from the feeling that there is there is no way out - believe me, I've been there. The main outlet for frustration for many people, of all ages, is ambition; if there is no obvious pathway to the expression of ambition, people do not see an outlet, and this in turn can lead to frustration and apathy."
One example of this frustration is the recent riots and consequent looting in London that then spread across the entire country. Although opinion is still divided as to whether the 'looters' were politically driven or just opportunistic thieves, there surely can be no doubt that a number of those involved were motivated by the frustration born out of feeling that they, as communities, have been let down and ignored by each and every government that has come into power; governments that promise so much change but deliver so little. It is a topic that Martin obviously feels a particular affinity with.
"That's one of the main things that annoys me about the government… For the most part they assume that people who are in receipt of benefits do not want to contribute (to society as a whole). In my experience, everybody wants to feel that they have a purpose in life and that what they are doing everyday with their lives is worthwhile and of some value to other people. The government have not made the effort to create an inclusive system that allows people an avenue to make those contributions and therefore feel worthwhile (in themselves).
My weakness is also my strength in many respects - you have to keep your radical thoughts in check, but it is also important to allow them room to breathe when you are trying to make a positive impact on the social landscape. Social enterprise is neither left wing nor right wing; it is its own opinion… I'm tired of the old left wing versus right wing arguments where you must make a choice between one or the other - it causes polarisation, which leaves no room for common sense."
It is these 'radical' thoughts that saw the original article that Martin submitted to the Guardian cut in half, which in his own words, was 'a wise choice.' The publication of the article did, however, prompt a question and answer debate that served to put more emphasis on the role of the government in the stifling of the creation of a strong social enterprise model for communities of untapped potential.
"One interesting question that arose from The Guardian Q&A was 'How do you insulate communities against the government?' The government changes the 'rules' every five years with a whole new set of parameters and boundaries and new finance, which means there is very little sustainability or consistency in government policies. When money is poured into community regeneration schemes, it often gets frittered away. Money is thrown at the problem and the people on the ground do not have a say in how the finance is distributed within the community. It is all directed from above. The people that the money is intended for have no control over how and where it is spent and no money is then reinvested, which in the end results in less well off communities being hindered rather than helped by government politics."
Martin is no stranger to this situation himself, having previously been part of a successful program aimed at offering personal development to homeless and hard to reach people. The program was a success, but the funding ran out and it was forced to close. If the opportunity was there for the community itself to generate its own income, it would have given that very same community the ability to sustain programs that actually worked, ensuring these services were available to future generations. As is the case here at London Creative Labs, Martin is clearly very passionate about the potential implementations of social enterprise networks for positive change; not just within communities of untapped potential either, but also with a much wider scope.
"There needs to be a balance between social enterprise and campaigning for change. Look at the Occupy Wall Street movement, for example. People are campaigning because they don't like the way things are and have been going. We recognise that something different is needed. Some of it is about getting in there and creating the businesses we want to see, the rest of it is raising awareness as to the reasons why we are doing this. We're not creating social enterprises to become rich and wealthy, we are doing it because we don't like the way things are being run and we want to see a positive change for the people.
I view social enterprise as a movement; not just a business movement, there's more to it than that. We have to build a case for social values and creating a positive network of motivated people is key. That's my main focus when it comes down to coaching. Coaching people who want to make a real, positive change into social entrepreneurs. As an individual I look where I can to create the maximum impact through social enterprise - and that's what I'm aiming for, maximum impact.
I have created a space where I am able to work in and for the things that I believe in. The bottom line for what I believe in is raising the bar for people - believing in them and giving them something to aspire to - because at the end of the day that's what we all want. It's about having faith in people. I am particularly interested in how people can make a difference in how they perceive themselves and what they believe in. At the end of the day we're all made of the same stuff and we can all contribute. We all need support at some point in our lives, every one of us."
Martin Murphy is a personal coach 'with a particular focus on helping those wishing to bring about social change through business'. Follow Martin on Twitter here : www.twtter.com/network2012 You can read Martin's article, published on The Guardian website 27/09/2011 entitled 'Encouraging social enterprise in deprived areas' here You can also read the subsequent Q&A hosted by The Guardian on the article (here) Interview conducted by Mamading Ceesay and David Perera Written by David Perera for London Creative Labs
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