WHEN THE IMPOSSIBLE BECOMES PART OF THE TASK – AND A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
On the expectations crisis, loss and moral stress.
We often talk about the expectations crisis as a question of resources and organisation — and that is absolutely central. But there is also another layer to what we are facing. A layer that concerns how we, as human beings, understand limitations, loss and imperfection.
The expectations crisis does not arise only because there are too few hands or too little time. It also arises because our expectations of what should be possible have changed. Increasingly, we have become accustomed to understanding waiting time, inadequacy and discomfort as errors that should be corrected. But what happens when they are not errors? When limitations cannot be removed, but are a condition of the work? Here, the expectations crisis becomes more than a structural problem. It becomes existential.
An important part of what we struggle to see is loss. In welfare services — and in life more generally — prioritisation always involves loss. Something must be deprioritised, postponed or given less attention. Time, opportunities, relationships and quality cannot all be maximised at once. But if loss is not understood as a basic condition, another movement begins: we start looking for someone who can compensate for it. Waiting time becomes neglect. Limitations become errors. Priorities become injustice. And expectations grow. We come to demand more — while lacking a shared language for what cannot, and never has been able to, be done.
When expectations and possibilities do not align, a field of tension arises. The question is where that tension is handled. If it is not handled collectively — politically, by leadership or organisationally — it moves into practice and ends up with the individual employee or leader. Here, it is no longer an abstract imbalance, but concrete situations: Who should receive help first? What can I manage? What must I leave undone?
For many, this is experienced as pressure that also carries a growing sense of powerlessness. This is where moral stress arises. It appears as the experience of knowing what is professionally and ethically right, while lacking real opportunities to act on it.
When this becomes an ongoing condition, it challenges both the individual and the very foundation of professionalism, responsibility and work satisfaction.
If part of the problem is that we have lost a language for loss and limitations, this also points to another way of understanding the task. Perhaps part of the task is being able to stand in what is difficult. And being able to do so together. This involves a shift from understanding strain as something that must be eliminated, to working with how it can be carried. At the same time, it becomes necessary to move responsibility away from the individual and back into the collective, and to make prioritisation a shared concern. It is also about moving from an ambition to do everything to a clarity about what matters most — and what must be let go. This does not require less professionalism. On the contrary, it requires a stronger shared language for quality, value and prioritisation.
The expectations crisis cannot be solved in one place. It is connected to political promises, organisational conditions, professional ambitions and human expectations. That is why it must also be addressed in several places — and collectively. Part of the work consists of making visible what otherwise remains invisible: putting into words what can no longer be done — or has never been possible — sharing doubts and dilemmas, and acknowledging loss as part of the task. When this succeeds, something important happens. It does not remove the strain, but it makes clearer what is actually at stake.
The strain and powerlessness do not disappear. A more sustainable practice requires that we stop trying to make the impossible add up — and instead take shared responsibility for what cannot be done.
Read our newsletter about the expectations crisis here.
TALKS, FOUNDATION COURSES AND BOOKS FOR PROFESSIONALS IN PSYCHOLOGICALLY DEMANDING JOBS
Would you and your colleagues like more inspiration, knowledge and concrete tools for standing together in a working reality where what cannot be done still has to be handled every day? You can find our foundation books on load psychology, psychological safety and psychological first aid here, get free demo access to our digital foundation courses here and read more about talks on the expectations crisis here.
Danish