Learning to let go... again!

Learning to let go and get out of my own way seems to be a lesson I am learning over and over again. Anyone else notice this about yourself? Maybe it is just me!

I’ve recently made a tough decision. It is time for me to let go of My Kids Village. 

I founded My Kids Village almost six years ago. It’s a social enterprise designed to help working parents find local childcare.

There is a structural misfit between work life and school life. Work life has a typical eight-hour day with four weeks leave per year. School has a typical six-hour day with 12-13 weeks holiday per year. You can’t be a ‘model’ employee AND be a ‘model’ parent. The maths for working parents just doesn’t add up.

So, while I was pondering this structural problem back in 2016, with two pre-school children to consider, I realised that better information at the local level would at least make it easier to navigate. If I knew about all the holiday programmes, the before- and after-school clubs, then at least I would be able to fit the puzzle together more easily.

That’s what drove me to start My Kids Village. It was to get better information out to parents. There are so many fantastic, local programmes for our tamariki, but they don’t always show up on a google search. Some of our childcare providers don’t have the resources to have a strong digital presence. My Kids Village was designed to level the digital playing field by giving every provider a high-quality profile page full of the kind of information parents want to know.

Then, about three years ago I decided to go even deeper on solving the problem. I became a flexible work specialist. If work life can be more flexible, then working parents will have even more options about how they solve this perpetual problem. 

I strongly believe that flex is for everyone, not the reserve of working parents only. I also know that historically it has been working parents who have trail-blazed the path of flex for everyone else to follow. It was only in 2015 that our legislation changed here in New Zealand to enable anyone at any time to request a flexible work arrangement. Before then it was only available to people with the care of a dependent with at least six months continuous employment. 

My skills and experience position me to be a much better flexible work specialist than I could ever hope to be as a tech entrepreneur. I’m not the right person to be leading the charge when it comes to solving the problem that My Kids Village seeks to put right.

That’s why I’ve decided to stop. I can have much more impact by focusing my time and attention on making work more flexible for everyone, including working parents. I need to get out of the way and let someone else lead the charge to get better childcare information to working parents.

Making this decision isn’t easy. I care deeply about solving the problem. I’m not solving it though, because I don’t have the time, skills or other resources it needs. It’s time to get out of the way.

What does this get you thinking about in your world?

What are you holding on to that could be better served by someone else?

What could you let go of that will free you up to have a bigger impact elsewhere?

I’d love to know, at least so I can say I’m not the only one learning this lesson (again)!