Business Psychology flashmobs
30/03/2010
Alan Redman, Director of Criterion Partnership writes in this month's Psychologist Magazine:
I was delighted to see in last month’s psychologist that I’d been chosen as poster-boy for the flashmob extremist-fringe within our profession (Shout less, listen more). I do however need to counter a number of the themes in Peter Rhodes comments accompanying the photo.
Far from being representative of the ‘failure of our profession’ as Peter describes it, I believe the flashmob is emblematic of the way occupational psychology needs to move with the times.
I found Peter’s arguments depressingly reactionary when harking back to some golden era of occupational psychology practice 35 years ago. The disparaging comments about the general knowledge of current MSc graduates also seemed characteristic of an elder member of our profession holding patronising and condensing attitudes towards “young people”.
I confess that I am a mere stripling of only 15 years experience but I do not recognise the picture Peter paints of where we are now. He complains that occupational psychology has “given it all away”. Right now we find ourselves in the time of “free”; anything that is currently being charged for can one day appear on the Internet for free – this is certainly true of testing. This is not a new phenomenon, just one that has been accelerated by technology. The elements of our offering now provided by other professions were never given away, they were taken. Any practice that works and has value will be taken, whether by consent, stealth or deception. The ‘psychometric credentialing’ Peter criticises (Level A & B to you and me) offered by the BPS at least enabled many providers to generate revenue from this inevitable process of dissemination while setting standards of practice.
What Peter seems to be arguing for is a ‘closed-shop’ model of practice. Not only is it undesirable to retreat into an elite it is also too late; the genie is out of the bottle. Rather than the flashmob underlining the failure of our profession it signals a way for us to build on our strengths. A key failure is the obsession with becoming a profession – this has led us to the farcical position of HPC registration, with the BPS having essentially painted itself into a corner.
We need to let go of the self-deluding view that we can be a profession and recognise ourselves for what we are – an industry; a cottage industry at that. This is not a depressing picture, but an empowering one. We should be focusing our energies on becoming an excellent provider of the niche practice and services that our clients value.
And this is where I agree with Peter’s arguments – we do need to listen more to understand our client’s needs. But we do need to shout as well to get ourselves heard above the cries of those who would steal our clothes. Nobody is seriously suggesting that flashmobs are the sole means of getting the attention of the wider world, but we do need to adopt modes of communication that are more congruent with contemporary media. This means social networking, interest groups, viral campaigns. It also means grinding on with the more traditional means of interacting that many in our industry are most at home with.
As Peter concludes, we must connect with modern society but this means taking part in the conversation that is going on using the methods that may get us heard. We need to stop looking backwards and inwards and start shouting about what we are.
P.S feel free to use the photo again. Who knows, it might go viral.
If you are a member of the BPS you can log in to their website and join the ongoing forum discussion on the subject.
