Rome was not built in one day nor by one person...
Our Village Centennial Celebration came and went spectacularly, absent of my grandiose aspirations:
* Use Tamarack’s 1000 Conversations template to investigate the notion of community with our local senior population.
* Have internationally exhibited photographer John Beebe capture portraits of these invaluable historians.
Creative visions of print and online Centennial keepsakes, showcasing exquisite photos paired with their heartfelt insights about community lingered on my crowded design boards. Thank goodness, along with intense inquisitiveness, I am stubborn. Business sense told me it was wise to connect with a national project… so I persevered.
An unwise community development strategy would be for me to spearhead the project in isolation and facilitate the conversations individually. When connections between people are created and strengthened, community capacity is built. When one person holds the lion’s share of connections, an instable and unsustainable situation results.
Votes were cast and Municipal elections had shifted the local climate. A sincere interest in rebuilding and deepening relationships between government and the citizenship was emerging. Could Village Council utilize the 1000 Conversations initiative as a tool to foster these relationships and independently contribute the local findings to the national project? The answer in short: NO!
Rachel Brnjas (Tamarack Community Animator) tactfully pointed out that participants may not feel comfortable expressing true feelings about community challenges in the presence of government. Impartial facilitation and a neutral environment where everyone is equal, included and accepted is essential for open, honest input. Back to the design board in search of the Golden Ticket.
The Golden Ticket…
Perseverance, progressive group action and enthusiasm paid off in November 2013. Tamarack, through their 1000 Conversations to Shape our Future initiative, offered the Village of Delburne an elite partnership opportunity!
Sunday, 4 May 2014
Saturday, 3 May 2014
all arrows SAME DIRECTION
Imagine if all sectors, within all silos, of all stakeholder groups harmonized to travel in the same direction at the same time. An impossible utopia? Frankly, our community lacked the leadership excellence (formal and informal leaders) required to achieve this bliss.
A solution arrived fall 2013 on account of outstanding foresight and advocacy by our Economic Development Committee. BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER awarded the Village of Delburne as a lighthouse community. This initiative has been launched to grow Community Leadership Capacity in Rural Alberta.
"BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is a 15 WEEK, competency based, community and professional leadership development program. If you would like to see an increase in volunteerism, greater community ownership and pride, increased business profitability, improved performance for yourself and those around you and the strengthening of your community’s resiliency, then BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is for you and your community." -- Ian Hill (Humanitarian, Business Leader, Award Winning Social Innovator)
From here to forever, this innovative training is available FREE to an UNLIMITED NUMBER of our community members! I highly recommend signing up.
A solution arrived fall 2013 on account of outstanding foresight and advocacy by our Economic Development Committee. BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER awarded the Village of Delburne as a lighthouse community. This initiative has been launched to grow Community Leadership Capacity in Rural Alberta.
"BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is a 15 WEEK, competency based, community and professional leadership development program. If you would like to see an increase in volunteerism, greater community ownership and pride, increased business profitability, improved performance for yourself and those around you and the strengthening of your community’s resiliency, then BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is for you and your community." -- Ian Hill (Humanitarian, Business Leader, Award Winning Social Innovator)
From here to forever, this innovative training is available FREE to an UNLIMITED NUMBER of our community members! I highly recommend signing up.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Recreating Us
"We are unable to talk productively about complex issues because we are unable to listen... Opening our minds ultimately means opening our hearts... When a true opening of the heart develops collectively, miracles are possible." -- Solving Tough Problems by Adam Kahane
Listening to this world-class thinker at Tamaracks 2013 CCI, I found his foundational premise of POWER and LOVE coexisting in balance between stakeholders to be game changing. The secret sauce needed for authentic discovery from which new realities can be co-created. His methodology for moving forward in challenging situations was tangible and simple, albeit not easy or straightforward as the process is emergent. Beautifully, it hinges upon an open-hearted reflection of self in relation to others.
What are the stories I tell myself? If I look at the world from a different angle, did it change or did I? Mr. Kahane's Transformative Scenario Planning methodology is based upon co-generating stories about what could happen and through this process, discovering together the path forward towards our desired reality.
PAST versus FUTURE
* I've seen stories used to lobby policy change. Stories that are grounded in the past, focused on what has happened, often side-effects of the deeper issue, aimed to push for resolution but short on whole-system solutions. Effective? Absolutely yes.
* Mr. Kahane was using story to advance ideology. Stories that are future based, focused on what is possible, the desired reality void of the issue, aimed to collectively nurture the personal internal shifts needed to create this new way of being. TRANSFORMATIONAL !!
The question...
Are we portraying the appropriate stories in media if we honestly desire transformational social change?
Listening to this world-class thinker at Tamaracks 2013 CCI, I found his foundational premise of POWER and LOVE coexisting in balance between stakeholders to be game changing. The secret sauce needed for authentic discovery from which new realities can be co-created. His methodology for moving forward in challenging situations was tangible and simple, albeit not easy or straightforward as the process is emergent. Beautifully, it hinges upon an open-hearted reflection of self in relation to others.
What are the stories I tell myself? If I look at the world from a different angle, did it change or did I? Mr. Kahane's Transformative Scenario Planning methodology is based upon co-generating stories about what could happen and through this process, discovering together the path forward towards our desired reality.
PAST versus FUTURE
* I've seen stories used to lobby policy change. Stories that are grounded in the past, focused on what has happened, often side-effects of the deeper issue, aimed to push for resolution but short on whole-system solutions. Effective? Absolutely yes.
* Mr. Kahane was using story to advance ideology. Stories that are future based, focused on what is possible, the desired reality void of the issue, aimed to collectively nurture the personal internal shifts needed to create this new way of being. TRANSFORMATIONAL !!
The question...
Are we portraying the appropriate stories in media if we honestly desire transformational social change?
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Shifting Biases
"One of the central challenges for groups trying to change a pattern or trend is to find a way to better understand the "causes", "factors" or "structures" underlying that challenge." -- Getting at Root Causes by Mark Cabaj
At Tamaracks 2013 CCI, what I knew intuitively came together logically via Mark's pyramid. The layers defined top to bottom:
EVENTS... What happened.
PATTERNS & TRENDS... What's been happening?
SYSTEMS & STRUCTURES... What are the forces at play contributing to these patterns?
MENTAL MODELS... What about our thinking allows this situation to persist?
BIASES... What are the emotional, experiential, cognitive biases and self-interests that shape our thinking and preferences?
The way we think (mental models) creates the systems and structures that we exist within. A collective of individual mental models form our societal norms, with events being the end product. Obvious, but quietly powerful when one considers the extreme cultural diversity that exists worldwide. As you think, so we are.
The key is that our thinking is driven by our biases. In my opinion, it is very difficult to change biases working from an intellectual position. Biases live in one's heart, not head. In community development, we often work from intellect; logic based processes with participation and solutions founded on reasoning, published in academic formats.
I DESIRE TO... explore social change intentionally from the bottom up, employing ART to generate compassion. It is understood emotionally.
At Tamaracks 2013 CCI, what I knew intuitively came together logically via Mark's pyramid. The layers defined top to bottom:
PATTERNS & TRENDS... What's been happening?
SYSTEMS & STRUCTURES... What are the forces at play contributing to these patterns?
MENTAL MODELS... What about our thinking allows this situation to persist?
BIASES... What are the emotional, experiential, cognitive biases and self-interests that shape our thinking and preferences?
The way we think (mental models) creates the systems and structures that we exist within. A collective of individual mental models form our societal norms, with events being the end product. Obvious, but quietly powerful when one considers the extreme cultural diversity that exists worldwide. As you think, so we are.
The key is that our thinking is driven by our biases. In my opinion, it is very difficult to change biases working from an intellectual position. Biases live in one's heart, not head. In community development, we often work from intellect; logic based processes with participation and solutions founded on reasoning, published in academic formats.
I DESIRE TO... explore social change intentionally from the bottom up, employing ART to generate compassion. It is understood emotionally.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Polemics are Not Persuasive
Wade Davis, National Geographic Explorer
"So what we are trying to do at the National Geographic, finally -- is we believe that politicians will never accomplish anything. We think that polemics are not persuasive but we think that storytelling can change with world. And so we are probably the best storytelling institution in the world. We get 35 million hits on our website every month, 156 nations carry our television channel, our magazines are read by millions.
And what we’re doing is a series of journeys to the ethnosphere where we’re going to take our audience to places of such cultural wonder that they cannot help but come away dazzled by what they have seen. And hopefully therefore embrace gradually, one by one, the central revelation of anthropology -- that this world deserves to exist in a diverse way. That we can find a way to live in a truly multicultural pluralistic world, where all of the wisdom of all peoples can contribute to our collective wellbeing."
Wades' TED Talk filled with stunning photos and stories helped me frame not only the importance of being welcoming and inclusive, and respectful of indigenous ways –- but MOREOVER, the essential need to intentionally meld art and social change as we tackle local issues.
Wade Davis: Cultures at the far edge of the world
"So what we are trying to do at the National Geographic, finally -- is we believe that politicians will never accomplish anything. We think that polemics are not persuasive but we think that storytelling can change with world. And so we are probably the best storytelling institution in the world. We get 35 million hits on our website every month, 156 nations carry our television channel, our magazines are read by millions.
And what we’re doing is a series of journeys to the ethnosphere where we’re going to take our audience to places of such cultural wonder that they cannot help but come away dazzled by what they have seen. And hopefully therefore embrace gradually, one by one, the central revelation of anthropology -- that this world deserves to exist in a diverse way. That we can find a way to live in a truly multicultural pluralistic world, where all of the wisdom of all peoples can contribute to our collective wellbeing."
Wades' TED Talk filled with stunning photos and stories helped me frame not only the importance of being welcoming and inclusive, and respectful of indigenous ways –- but MOREOVER, the essential need to intentionally meld art and social change as we tackle local issues.
Wade Davis: Cultures at the far edge of the world
Saturday, 7 December 2013
My Trip to Emergency...
My jaw screamingly throbbed. Perhaps a horrid inner ear infection? The diagnosis was TMJ from clenching. Ridiculous but true, the source was passionately thinking about melding art and social change! Yes, I was on fire for togetherness.
But it wasn't enough... I was keenly aware that I needed more "me's" to substantially effect community change through collaboration. Heeding Paul Born's advice to strategically seek multi-sector representation, I secured funding to send 8 key “door openers” to Tamaracks 2013 gathering aptly called Accelerating Impact. We needed a foundation of understanding, a common language, and shared enthusiasm to forge forward TOGETHER.
Relationships deepened and daily dialogue around integrating the wisdom on the home front was fast and furious. Post-event, when queried as to their favorite learning, one attendee responded "It changed my way of thinking." I must admit, a broad TMJ provoking grin burst forth across my face!
Everybody was hungry for more -- together.
Born, P. (2012). Community conversations: Mobilizing the ideas, skills and passion of community organizations, governments, businesses and people. Toronto: BPS Books.
Red Deer & District FCSS - Agency Capacity Building Grant
But it wasn't enough... I was keenly aware that I needed more "me's" to substantially effect community change through collaboration. Heeding Paul Born's advice to strategically seek multi-sector representation, I secured funding to send 8 key “door openers” to Tamaracks 2013 gathering aptly called Accelerating Impact. We needed a foundation of understanding, a common language, and shared enthusiasm to forge forward TOGETHER.
Relationships deepened and daily dialogue around integrating the wisdom on the home front was fast and furious. Post-event, when queried as to their favorite learning, one attendee responded "It changed my way of thinking." I must admit, a broad TMJ provoking grin burst forth across my face!
Everybody was hungry for more -- together.
Born, P. (2012). Community conversations: Mobilizing the ideas, skills and passion of community organizations, governments, businesses and people. Toronto: BPS Books.
Red Deer & District FCSS - Agency Capacity Building Grant
The Breakfast Connect
Over a cup of coffee? Yes, the classic beginning. Two gentlemen, one lady and a passion for social change. Derek was overflowing with enthusiasm about his new paycheck hinged on 1000 more cups of coffee. John exposed his exquisite photos of people's souls. I thought they would make nice pairing, particularly for the next 100 years. While our time together was merely 5 days, the 2012 Tamarack gathering fundamentally shifted my approach to community development. Collective Impact... Can we TOGETHER truly create a better tomorrow?
Derek Alton - 1000 Conversations to Shape Our Future
John Beebe Photography - www.johnbeebe.ca
Derek Alton - 1000 Conversations to Shape Our Future
John Beebe Photography - www.johnbeebe.ca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)