This episode is not one of our usual interviews with one or two people, but a collection of conversations from the first ever Talk It Up Unconference that I attended recently Hamilton. You’ll hear stories like:
How inspiration struck one council after an employee accidentally shared a phallic-shaped weather report on Facebook...
The power of reframing 'no' into 'not yet'
How we can harness the uniqueness of government where nobody is competing against each other.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
How the ide of singular purpose can be unhelpful and how honest reflection can often unlock the natural next steps.
The idea of power and thinking about how we can deploy our energies for good.
That being influential is not about having a certain style of doing things, but rather being intentional about the difference we want to make.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
Impact measurement is not really about getting more or better data
Where to start with impact measurement - and that there’s no such thing as perfect
That impact measurement is not a one-off thing - it’s a learning process to help decisions ‘today’ that will improve what you do ‘tomorrow’
How to shift from a cost mindset to a value mindset in your approach to impact measurement.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
How the potential for systems change already sits within the community itself.
The importance of creating a shared language so that everyone can understand the importance of thinking in systems rather than individual choices.
How it’s not so much about relearning, but exercising systems that already exist but have been buried.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
Addressing the myth that local government isn’t fun.
If less people engage in local politics, there will be fewer channels for people to be able to create the city that they want
The ineffectiveness of consulting communities in higher level, intangible language.
How we can bring in more creative ways to work with our communities.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
That building the muscles to sit with constant discomfort, will enable our systems to be uncomfortable enough to change.
How we need to be optimistic about the future, but also ruthlessly real about what it will take to get there.
The benefit of preparing for the point of resistance rather than viewing it as a failure when you reach it.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
The value of having a strong operational leader to free up other people to explore the bigger systemic picture.
How to grow your partnership aspirations through small everyday actions that add up over time
The reality of the new Public Service Commissioner role (which Craig calls a “pub with no beer”)
How government can play an enabling role for iwi Māori to serve their whānau needs.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
Why the ‘hub-and-spoke’ model of consultation causes disconnect and why you should move away from it
That the public is tired of consultation and hungry for more authentic ways of talking and working with institutions
Why we should stop trying to make it easy and fast for the public to engage with institutions
How digital tools can help us to have open dialogues with more people to uncover new ideas and ways of thinking.
How to step up your digital engagement to allow people to build on each other’s ideas instead of having a two-way conversation with only your organisation.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
That leaders need to be space makers, and not take up space instead - an attitude we should be fostering more.
The differences between the planning approach and the living systems approach.
How social entrepreneurial skills can help to move a project forward and why it’s important to seek those skills out.
That using what you already have and leveraging it in a new way can be more effective than starting new.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
How structure, relationship, permission and skills are all needed for people to work together.
Why listening to the voice of lived experience is so important to understanding your community.
That failure is okay and that it’s part of the process to finding solutions.
That facilitation is a supportive role and that we don’t need to know all the answers.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
What it looks like to set up an engagement project for success.
That ‘engagement’ means different things to different people and why it’s important to clearly define what you plan to do.
A look at the Engagement Triangle Tool and how to use it.
What marrying social impact and engagement looks like in practice.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
How to encourage the change you’re looking for by tapping into what we know about human instincts.
How to create an organisational culture based on human instincts and how to engage externally based on them
Examples of human instincts and how they play out in the workplace.
Tackling the myth that people resist change and diving into what instincts are really at play.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
Where to even begin when you want to collaborate on a complex problem
How to pay attention to your context and who is not around the table right now
The value of starting with a question, rather than a problem, when inviting people to collaborate
The importance of telling our stories in order to grow a movement.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
What you might need to give up to become more effective with your community engagement
How to navigate conflict with community members (and the importance of letting go of your need to ‘have the answers’)
How to identify your own subconscious biases when engaging people from different cultures
How to identify your organisation’s values and stress test them to see how committed you really are to them.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
The difference between horizontal and vertical facilitation and how to cycle between them with some intentionality.
How the core of facilitation is in removing obstacles to greater contribution; to love, power and justice.
That the world needs more and better collaboration and therefore more and better facilitation.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
Facing the truth about New Zealand classes in society and exploring what it means for the individual within the community.
The challenge of facilitating new ideas in government in the face of historical distrust from communities.
How the long-term benefits of deliberative democracy far outweighs the (sense of) short-term loss of control for governments.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
How do Māori and European based ways of designing, engaging and innovating differ?
If you're working in a non-Māori organization, what is your personal role?
How important it is to role model relationship-building at all times
What partnership between Māori and non-Māori organisations can look like
How do we come to work being fully ourselves and whose responsibility is it to make this happen?
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
What commonly holds back partnerships from achieving their potential
The benefits of thinking of your partnership like an organisation
Why your partnership probably needs an “engine room”
How you can turn around a partnership that is just muddling through - with a combination of qualitative and quantitative feedback sought anonymously before a meeting
The value of continually referring back to your vision and ground rules at the top of every meeting.
