Why YOU own the Experience Movement: 4 Considerations for Global Action

by Jason A. Wolf, Ph.D., CPXP

No matter where I’ve had the honor to stand on our planet as we have grown The Beryl Institute, when I have asked the question “how many people here are human beings”, the response (after a slight laugh) results in a room full of raised hands.

This simple truth underlines a significant opportunity. For as our world reflects a rich tapestry of race and religion, ethnicity and economic status, our common denominator is our humanness and all that brings with it. It reflects the desire to not just survive but thrive, to care for our families and take care of ourselves, to honor our neighbors and strangers, and seek respect in return, and yes to love and be loved.

At our core, while we see the things that we can claim make us different, we have an unseen and often unspoken commonness. The state of our world today and the actions some are taking, I’ll dare say with ill intention, is making the common connection of our humanness harder to find. It requires us to work with even greater power and intention to elevate and sustain it.

The state of our world today and the actions some are taking is making the common connection of our humanness harder to find. It requires us to work with even greater power and intention to elevate and sustain it.

In my January newsletter I shared a restatement of the Declaration for Human Experience and the four commitments I believe we must all make to elevate the human experience in healthcare. In reflecting on our world today I believe we as individuals have a greater opportunity than just establishing these commitments as the foundation of our experience movement. Each of us has an opportunity to own the experience movement.

What I mean by that stems from a clear commitment we stand for at The Beryl Institute as a global community. We lead forward with an unwavering global-centric focus. What that means for each of us is a call to action to stand for our experience movement. Yes, we have individual responsibilities in our organizations (and the challenges that go with it) to lead our own experience efforts in the face of headwinds, diluted focus, resource and financial constraints, and more, but we too can and must be champions of expanding the movement around us. In doing so we bolster our movement with a growing chorus of voices, with expanding evidence, and we drive toward sustainable action as human beings caring for human beings.

We lead forward with an unwavering global-centric focus.

With that at The Beryl Institute we stand for a global commitment. One we are addressing with focused intention. One that I ask each of you to consider in your own personal ownership in our movement. These are ideas, ideals, and actions I believe we must take together in expanding and sustaining our movement. Here are four considerations global action

• We remain clear that the best in experience ideas, practices, and evidence originate from a diverse range of places and organizations around the world.
• We strive every moment to actively identify, elevate, and learn from those people and places that may often be overlooked but have lessons to offer that can and will expand the boundaries of the experience conversation.
• We stand for the power of local voices and work relentlessly to foster the development of regional conversations and communities that honor cultures, processes, and systems in the interest of elevating and growing an integrated and global experience movement led by those that live it every day.
• We commit to accessibility for all, in all we do, by ensuring easy, meaningful, and impactful paths to engagement that ensure a rich and broad range of voices can connect with and learn from one another and can contribute to pushing the global commitment to experience forward, for everyone.

The actions of acknowledging evidence emanates from a diverse range of places, many often overlooked, and standing for the power of local voices and ensuring accessibility, is a not a tall task, but it does require us to look beyond ourselves. Our global commitment as a community is grounded on the idea that while we each come together to better ourselves as leaders or champions, to strengthen our practices and learn from others, we too MUST work to foster and nurture new voices, to invite people in, and ensure the path is both easy and welcoming. That is not just the work of an organization. That is a commitment each of us takes as members of a community. That is the responsibility we each hold as owners of our movement.

While we each come together to better ourselves as leaders or champions, to strengthen our practices and learn from others, we too MUST work to foster and nurture new voices, to invite people in, and ensure the path is both easy and welcoming.

I have often written about the power of community. I believe it is the foundation of all we do at The Beryl Institute. I too believe it is the cornerstone on which the success of our experience movement has been built. But community isn’t an intangible concept, community is a collection of each of you. There is quote that grounds my work every day and I have shared with you before. Corretta Scott King once said,

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.

That is needed now more than ever. Not only for our global community at the Institute, but it is also needed for a world we as experience champions can help heal. The compassionate actions we can all take frame the path for how we each own this movement. We come together for something bigger than ourselves, but it is the steps each of us take that will lead us forward with success. So, I ask you (and encourage you to share in the comments below), how will you lead forward in this global commitment?

Just shy of 82 years ago today, Anne Frank, penned these words in her famous diary:

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

We cannot, we must not wait. Now is your time to own the experience movement. And we will all be the better for it!