Ep 39 - The Waikato Wellbeing Project with Harvey Brookes

 

Introducing Harvey Brookes

Harvey is the lead agitator and coordinator working behind the scenes on the Waikato Wellbeing Project - a collective effort to improve wellbeing in one region of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Setting up a project of this type is a learning exercise in and of itself. Harvey and his team have been generous in sharing their lessons learned along the way - openly and honestly.

One of the many things I enjoyed about this conversation is how Harvey epitomises the journey that a lot of facilitators seem to go on.

Often we begin this work believing we need to have all the answers figured out. We go searching for the “right solution” or the “evidence-based approach” or the “clear plan”.

But over time we learn to instead approach this work with curiosity and a desire to connect with people, to experiment and to learn.

You can read all the articles, you can listen to all the podcasts, you can use all the right language… but sometimes the conditions aren't right in your own life to be able to apply the theory or you haven't yet had the kind of experience that allows you to put your insight into practice.

If you're in a situation where you are wanting to work more collaboratively, more systemically, more relationally, then you're going to love hearing from Harvey as we go behind the scenes of setting up the Waikato Wellbeing Project.

In today’s episode you’ll learn:

  • How structure, relationships, permission and skills are all needed for people to work together effectively.

  • Why listening to the voices and expertise of people with lived experience is crucial.

  • That failure is okay and that it’s part of the process to solutions emerging.

  • That facilitation is a supportive role and we don’t need to know all the answers.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Sign up for the Movement Makers newsletter

Sign up to our fortnightly newsletter and get the insights, tools and powerful whakaaro from people transforming how they collaborate with their community.

Send us a question or recommend a guest

Do you have a question about how to move beyond consultation? You can leave us a voice message here for us to share and discuss with a future guest. You can also send us a guest recommendation to us at info@businesslab.co.nz.

Subscribe to the show

The Beyond Consultation Podcast will help you to do more than just tick the box of consultation. It’s the podcast for purpose-driven professionals who want to increase their collective impact.

You'll hear stories of people working together on challenges that no single person or organisation can address on its own. You'll hear about the mindsets, the methods, the failures, and the lessons learned - all with the goal of increasing the collective impact you're making in your work.

Subscribe below on your favourite platform or to receive email notifications when a new episode is uploads to the cloud: