Why I’m glad my idea was rejected. It was co-production in action

By Michael Turner, SCIE Co-production Support Manager

Co-production can be testing. You come up with a bright idea and think you’ve nailed that for something that you’ve been trying to work out for over a year and then wham – you take it to the meeting and it gets hammered and pulled apart.

The Co-production Commitment is a key part of this year’s Co-production Week, 3 – 7 July. It’s a really simple idea – we are just asking organisations and people to commit to doing one or more things to develop co-production in their work.

Pledge / oath / commitment?

But like most things that look simple, they take a lot of work. The idea for the commitment started for last year’s Co-production Week. We all looked the idea of getting people to sign up to say they would do something. But would it be a pledge, a promise or even oath. We went backwards and forwards, at one meeting it be a pledge, then it was a promise, then back to being a pledge.

See other people’s commitments >>>

In the end we decided to make it the subject for the discussion groups at last year’s Co-production Festival. Then we started again: pledge, promise or what?

I thought I had cracked it when I came up with the Co-production Challenge and a great line about not even having to throw a bucket of water over your head to do it.

Shot down in flames

The next steering group meeting came round and no this wasn’t right. But the members kicked things around, wanting to come up with something a bit firmer and stronger, and here we are with the Co-production Commitment.

I’ve had time to now to get over my great idea being rejected. And I know it’s all part of the co-production process, with different ideas being considered, put together and leading to bigger and better things. And the Co-production Commitment is really taking of now and you still don't need a bucket of water to make one, so let us have your commitment >>>.