Pitfalls of Performative

Hello, Doctor e here. Hope you are doing well. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the dangers of performative. What do I mean by performative? Well, performative are actions or behaviors that are done for the sake of social acceptance. Not for structure, not for change, not for actual meaning behind the action or the behavior, but simply with the primary goal of appearing and desiring to be accepted for the right reasons. Why would I say avoid the performative? Well, there are three reasons.

The first reason is when you are doing something that's performative, it comes across as superficial. There's nothing behind it. There's no grounding or connection to institutional culture or mission or vision. And more importantly, there is no connection to the people you serve and the people who are actually serving you. And so performative can come across. And one of the dangers of performative is that it's superficial. The second danger, and the second reason why to avoid the performative is because it lacks substance.

There is no connection to what the actual meaning and and drive behind the organizational value. And it comes across as having no integrity. Very important word, integrity. If you want to be intentional around integrity, if you want to make sure any and everything that you're doing comes across as significance and has substance, then you have to avoid the performative. And I just alluded to the third piece, which is very important. Performative is not significant to institutional change. When you are thinking about and you are approaching institutional change, what you want to do is tie it to significant meaning, significant values, and the actual mission of the organization.

If it is not significant to true institutional change, then chances are it actually is performative and you should avoid it. So, three reasons why to avoid the performative superficial, lacks substance and is not significant to true institutional change. You remember those three things, and I think you will be able to figure out what constitutes performative for you and your organization, and what doesn't constitute performative for you and your organization. Doctor E. And I will see you next time.