Future proofing Zest's 12 Maxims
/At Zest, our Maxims underpin everything we do. These short statements share our key values and shape the work of our trustees, staff, creatives and performers.
Future Proof is Zest’s new youth advisory board. In December 2020, we asked them what they thought our maxims might be. As participants, they had never seen our maxims document. The thoughts they shared were based solely on their experience of working with us. As the Zoom chat filled with ideas, we were delighted to see that they had indeed experienced all 9 of the maxims listed on our internal documents. However, we realised that there were 4 reoccurring themes that we hadn’t previously recognised as being key components of the Zest experience for young people.
Together with Future Proof, we set about re-writing our values, as 9 maxims became 12. Hit the button below to read all 12, or keep reading to find out more about the process.
Build community
‘Build community’ has been a Zest Maxim for a number of years, but our conversations with Future Proof highlighted the impact this value had had on the young people and communities we serve. This maxim therefore needed a complete re-write:
“Zest embraces the individual and connects them to the collective. You want everyone to be themselves - drawing out our uniqueness and embracing everyone’s own person. Doing this allows more people to be more connected to Zest’s work.”
Jess, Lincoln
“It was nice to shed light on classism in Youthquake – embracing those stories from my community in London informed more people, and those stories resonated with other people across the country. One person’s story, while unique to the individual, can also be so many other people’s stories. This sharing creates community - making sure that no one feels alone in their experiences. It helps find a common ground that can unify everyone, to some extent. Intersectionality means we need that common ground to create unity.
Eden, London
This maxim was re-written using many of the phrases you will have read above:
Build community
Zest builds communities by finding the common ground to create unity. We embrace the individual and connect them to the collective. Our leadership structure motivates collaboration where all feel a sense of ownership. We know that we are stronger together.
Listen more, speak less
Listening to young people has always been a key part of Zest’s work. However, the practice of listening really came to the forefront in 2016 when researching What Once Was Ours - it has been central to our process ever since. Despite being a cornerstone of our work, listening hadn’t been included as one of our maxims (no, we don’t understand how either). Fortunately, Future Proof were quick to spot this. As you’ll read, they had a lot to say on this one:
“Zest is one of the few companies, from experience, that is actually listening. I remember the first time I took part in a Zest workshop at college and we were chatting to the Zest Team. We were all just speaking so honestly. I have never opened up like I did then. I shared things I’d never shared before. Zest somehow made it so an entire room of acquaintances could safely open up about themselves.”
Dillon, Frome
“Other adults may not want to look vulnerable in front of us, or they might be insecure because they don’t understand, so they don’t ask follow up questions. Zest asks for more clarification when you need it. Reflecting and clarifying – making sure you really understand what it is we mean. It’s genuine asking.”
Aman, London
“Most adults do what I call ‘Parent Listening’ – they acknowledge that we’re speaking, but they’re not actually listening. You respect us and give us your full attention and really listen. Then you tell our story in your shows. Zest fine tunes the rabble, tunes into our frequency to give focus to our voices. The audience are captive listeners ready to learn from us - and even if they don’t listen, at least the Zest team has listened and you’ve been heard.”
Lachlan, Lincoln
“I’ve never been heard like Zest have heard me.”
Adam, Margate
“I feel like with Zest, you give us space by listening, so it becomes easier to say whatever you want. There was a moment backstage that me and Elly had with Toby where we both felt like he genuinely listened when others had pushed our opinion and feelings aside. We always reflect on that moment.”
Beth, Darlington
“When you listen you really listen. With Zest it’s active listening, you engage with our stories. You don’t keep chiming in with your own experience and advice thinking you know it all. That’s what is different with Zest.”
Rob, Lincoln
So we listened and together created a brand new maxim…
Listen more, speak less
Everything we do emerges from the words of young people. Zest fine tunes the rabble of the world to seek young people’s frequency. Through active listening, we give participants our full attention, asking follow up questions, respecting their experiences and valuing their opinions. Listening is learning and enriches every inch of our work.
Share the Truth
This is another new maxim that highlights the importance of authentically sharing the voices of young people:
“You use young voices from across the UK to uncover the truth. You understand that the story is often different in different areas of the country - you actually come to our town to seek the truth. The most important thing with Zest is you look at all of it in research – the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s all included – even the not nice parts of our story. You put it in the shows anyway - all of what needs to be said and heard. ”
Liu, Hartlepool
“Zest uses young people’s real and personal voices – allowing them to speak about their own experiences. It’s raw, authentic truth. The truth isn’t always convenient, but it’s always valuable in the end.”
Henry, Brighton
This new maxim is the application of that listening process - filling our work with the authentic truths of young people:
Share the truth
Young people share their raw, authentic truth through our process of active listening. Through art we amplify this truth; the good, the bad, the ugly, and the inconvenient – all of what needs to be seen and heard. Representation not adaptation.
Cultivate empowerment to ignite pride
“Zest just has this power, I can’t describe it. I don’t know what it is. You gave me a chance to feel powerful and find the power inside of myself. There is a lot of power in what you do because you care.”
Millie, Hartlepool
“My parents always made me feel pride in being a wheelchair user. I have never felt it should hold me back. I’d like Zest to instil that same belief in everybody.”
Rakeem, London
“Doing the Tees Valley tour of Youthquake made me feel proud of being part of the North East. We were able to tell the story of our part of the world and reinterpret the characters to make them feel real to here. We don’t get to tell our story much.”
Josh, Redcar
“Before I did Youthquake I wasn’t proud of myself or my community or society. But all that’s changed now. I feel proud of Youthquake and proud of Zest for giving us space to share. The most powerful thing is that Zest created a memory for my family – things trigger that memory all the time, then we sit and talk about the issues covered in Youthquake as a family.”
Liu, Hartlepool
“I’ve found pride through the Zest process. I found a side family locally through Youthquake, then nationally through *untitled. Zest is a safe haven for people regardless of experience or background.”
Katie, Sittingbourne
The result of all that community, active listening and authentic sharing is a tangible sense of empowerment and pride. The ‘power’ that Millie couldn’t describe is summed up in this new maxim…
Cultivate empowerment to ignite pride
There is a tangible power in our process. Empowering people, building platforms, amplifying voices; being seen and heard ignites pride in our participants and audiences. Pride in self, pride in community, and pride in what can be achieved together.
Nice words. So now what?
Zest’s 12 Maxims have been signed off by Future Proof with the expectation that every trustee, staff member, creative or performer embodies these words whilst working for Zest. The maxims now also form part of the induction process for all new staff and will be evaluated regularly. All 12 maxims are now available on our website, making us publicly accountable in applying these values to our work. Click the button below to read them for yourself!
