What's For You'll Not Go By You

 

 

These days, I do try not to spend too much time sobbing in a heap over work I didn’t manage to get. It’s hard not to take it personally. It’s hard not to feel like you’ve been rejected after a first date when you’ve put in a bid for a piece of work and not managed to win the contract. 

 

But there’s a great phrase in Yorkshire of what’s for you’ll not go by you. 

 

If it’s the right job for you and you’re the right person for the job then that job will be yours. 

 

I do believe that there’s enough work out there and I also believe that, although there are more and more skilled graphic facilitators doing amazing work, we’re all doing slightly different things in slightly different ways. 

 

I’m also trying to stay focused on what I have learned about the kind of work that really makes my heart sing. I really enjoy being involved in bigger / longer term jobs where I can build relationships over time and feel like I’m part of a team. I like being involved in the design of a process or project. That’s where I feel like i can be most impactful. 

 

I do still also enjoy assignments where I go and spend just one day with a team or a group or a conference but the more i know about the job beforehand, the more useful i can be in the room and therefore the more job satisfaction I’m likely to get. 

 

So, now, when I’m approached about a piece of work, I start off with three very simple questions: 

 

 

Essentially, I’m trying to work out if this is the right job for me and if I’m the right person for this job. I’m reminding myself, what’s for me’ll not go by me. 

 

Initially, i’m looking to find out what they already know about me and how I work. If they’ve seen me at work or if I’ve been recommended, they’ll know something about my approach and my style of graphic facilitation. If not, I need to be clear about that from the outset: I’m a facilitator who uses visuals. I’m a facilitator first and an artist second. 

 

The thing I hate most is the feeling of being in competition with others, especially knowing that most people will likely get at least three quotes for a facilitation job. I have too much respect for other graphic facilitators and their work to want to feel like it’s just another competitive marketplace. These three simple questions help take my focus away from thinking about the ‘competition’ and channel it more to thinking about what I can offer and whether this job is a good fit for me, my skills, my experience and my preferred ways of working.