As humans, we prefer things clear and simple over confusing and complex.  We try to make the confusing and complex clear and simple. But what if there was another way to view complexity, to work within it, because the context of safe sleep work is complex.

Babies are complex. Families are complex. Relationships are complex. Cultures are complex. Factors such as poverty, health, trauma, experience, gender, education and more, all play their part, too. In the next few posts, we'll discuss complexity and what it means for our work to protect our pēpi.

In a nutshell, complex means there is no straight pathway to results and many factors work together and against each other for influence. We cannot control things, order things, predict things, but we can observe things, try things, learn things. At its heart, complexity is held together by the interconnectedness of a myriad of individual components or factors. There is a constant to and fro of influence from these interactions.

Think of a jigsaw puzzle where individual pieces need each other, learn from each other, in order to make the whole.  The 'whole' is more than the sum of its parts, as Aristotle so famously observed more than 2000 years ago. For example, conversation is more than a collection of words, family more than a collection of people, traffic more than a collection of vehicles.

Before we race in to make things better, first we must take note of what is already there. Because strengthening existing perspectives and values are the levers for change in complex circumstances. Look and listen for patterns hidden from easy view such as signs of emerging confidence, or clues as to a dominant influence, or personal value. These patterns may hide in feelings and beliefs more than words and actions, so use your ears!

From patterns you get insights that reveal the levers for strengthening influence.  Perhaps start more sentences with "I've noticed that ..." , " What you've shown me is ...",  "How you feel about ... suggests ... is important to you".

From a complexity viewpoint, your safe sleep work is a process, not a package of actions. Remember to look for those patterns.

Mā te wā, Stephanie