CYP Now - Welfare of children must be a shared responsibility

Back in 2005, I became responsible for children's services in Dudley. With my new responsibility for social care, I followed the usual learning journey - the "unconsciously incompetent" phase, when I didn't even know what I was ignorant about, to the "consciously incompetent" phase, when I realised how much I didn't know, to the "consciously competent", when I had a better understanding but still did not have any sort of autopilot.

Truth be told, I'm not sure I ever reached the "unconsciously competent" phase, where right action is so ingrained that it does not need much in the way of cogitation. Working on autopilot has major advantages – it's efficient, and more often than not it gets you to the right place, and that's why an autopilot is useful, whether it is a physical machine or a mental construct.

The downside is that working on autopilot can lead to slower reactions in emergencies, while brand new situations can lead to disaster.

Along my personal learning journey, I read everything I could about the subject and listened to practitioners and managers.

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