Blindness, Wilful & Collective, Conflicts of Interest & Omertà
In Part 3 of our series looking at what's retarding swimming's growth, we consider the wise words of Prof. Margaret Heffernan in her powerful book Wilful Blindness: lessons aplenty for Aquatics 'reformists' who have broken their pledge to honour the late Francois Carrard's integrity code for change
THEMA: Integrity & Trust ... continued
Trust is always and only about what you DO; nothing else counts. – Margaret Heffernan
That quote from Professor Heffernan, the author of “Wilful Blindness - A Polemic against the dangers of docility and 'groupthink' in every walk of life'), sums up the current contradiction in the words vs deeds of sports governors.
By contradiction, I mean this particular definition: "a situation in which inconsistent elements are present".
Each example of such inconsistency in aquatics is a weak spot for aquatics leaders in their fight to fend off a doping-friendly threat all the easier to dismiss for what it is if you can make the case for this critical difference between codes:
Party 1: fully committed to truly independent oversight of anti-doping and its clean-sport code, integrity, scrutiny, transparency and a system of penalties in the face of integrity / constitutional / rule breaches, not just for athletes but every member from the president of World Aquatics to the local swim club junior fresh from the tadpole pond and growing up believing and knowing that fair play and integrity pledges apply to all, blazers included.
Party 2: an organisation that encourages substances banned by Party 1 and operates a culture so wholly at odds with the rules and terms of engagement of Party 1 that rules designed to keep lambs and wolves apart are entirely necessary and appropriate, their absence highly likely to invite harm to the constituency and purpose of Party 1.
A professor of Practice at the University of Bath School of Management in the UK, and, in 2021, inaugurated into the Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame for her lasting contribution to Management Thinking, Heffernan is a leader among those signposting a better, brighter way for those who manage concerns and the people within them.
Her TEDtalk "Dare to Disagree", based on her book "Wilful Blindness", illustrated some of the driving forces behind personal and institutional failure. You can listen to the talk by Prof. Heffernan, born in Texas and raised in The Netherlands before a long life in England, here:
Dare to disagree - Margaret Heffernan
A few of the lessons Aquatics might learn follow...
