In February 2023, my BMO corporate team spent a night outside.
It was the 10th annual 360°Experience, a fundraiser for 360°kids, which supports homeless and at-risk youth in York Region. For one night, we lived with a few of the constraints those young people face every day.
No sleeping bags. No food. No proper clothing for the cold. We walked miles in the dark to reach a shelter. At one point we took cover in an abandoned house.
Constraints teach faster than briefings
I had read about youth homelessness. None of it landed the way one night did.
A briefing tells you what the problem is. Living inside the constraints, even for a few hours, shows you how narrow the choices really are.
One night is not the real thing. We all knew we would go home in the morning. But it closed some of the distance.
Two voices from that night
Bonnie Harkness, who leads 360°kids, spoke about her approach to the work. She called it “whatever it takes”. The way I carry it: do what is needed, not what was done before.
Another speaker shared a personal experience of living on the streets, and of working with at-risk 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Hearing it from someone who had lived it turned the night from an exercise into something real.
What it means at work
Most teams do not fail for lack of effort. They get stuck in habit. A process exists because it existed last year. A report runs because someone once asked for it.
“Do what is needed, not what was done before” is a simple test. Before repeating something, ask whether the need is still there. Ask whether the old way still serves the person at the other end.
Bonnie’s team cannot afford habit. The young people they serve do not fit a template, so the response cannot either.
Four nights and counting
That first night became an annual commitment. I have now spent the coldest night of the year outside, six hours each time, at four of these events.
If your team runs a corporate fundraiser, consider one that puts you inside the problem for a night. It teaches what a briefing cannot.