Do you notice when doing laps in the swimming pool, how it seems so much easier at the deep end compared to the shallow?

It’s like a metaphor that brings to mind an observation shared by one of our connections who holds the post of Head of Academic Practice and Education Excellence:

“The problem that is becoming so pervasive is that everyone is doing so much “doing” and not enough reflection, considering alternatives and generally thinking. It has always been that way to some extent but in UK Universities, and I suspect a lot of business, it is getting worse with the false assumption that doing more means higher “productivity” and “efficiency” but is that equating to corresponding effectiveness and/or quality and is it at the cost of “integrity” – and what do any of those things of those actually mean?

“What I enjoy of my ‘specialism’ is being able to ask those questions and encourage others to, but all to often it isn’t a conversation the institution or leadership seem to want to have, at least not outside their own boundaries.

What the metaphor tells us is that even although we can feel more secure and safe by staying in shallow water where our feet can still touch the bottom, we ultimately make it harder for ourselves just by “doing”.

This is what engagement with Caring on Campus cultivates by providing space for conversations and encouragement, and perhaps also some tools, that can create new pathways that are still beyond AI capability.