Economics & Reason: Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, and Radiohead - Songs that Kept Me Working - Worst Practice Edition
Earlier this week, Jake Segal and I released a write up of the Worst Practices Survey we fielded last year. The goal was to start to uncover practices and programs that hold back the social sector — and given the sample, especially workforce development organizations. You can see that write up in the link below.
The Best Practices Survey is a familiar fixture of our sector. With so many nooks and crannies across our thousands of state and local governments and millions of nonprofits that, yes, there are plenty of good ideas hidden in place.
What you may need to go with that is some music that will help you keep making sure you don’t return to your worst habits. I received two reader submissions for suggestions.
The Worst, The Rolling Stones
Lots of songs focus on the worst impulses that people have in relationships. “The Worst” is about a bad match — the singer realizing that they aren’t a great fit for their partner, ending with “I, I am the worst kind of guy for you to be around.”
Same type of issue in the next submission (full disclosure, my original choice).
Oops, I Did It Again, Brittany Spears
Yes, you have heard this song before. Again a singer that keeps repeating mistakes in the pursuit of acceptance. Even though they know they are being misleading or unfair to the other parties involved — they know they aren’t that innocent. This feels like it tracks right with many of the worst practices we identified in the survey.
Everything In Its Right Place, Radiohead
Finally, maybe my least expected suggestion, but very fitting. More etherial than the ballads above, the song is sung by someone who almost seems obsessive about keeping things “just as they are to be” with everything in its right place, while also realizing that includes sucking on lemons. Its a great reminder that there are things that we can do as individuals to do better (as the Stones and Spears tell us). But we also have to improve systems — good behavior within them can lead to sucking lemons, so let’s keep all of that in mind - fix behavior and fix the rules of the game.
Thanks for reading. I am not actually naming a song of the week. More soon.