[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug0trXRgsfQ]
Of Sheds and Shedmen…
- Large well organised bodies of professionals make a lot of money from it – architects, planners, developers – they spend fortunes on organised lobbying – just look at the sponsorship of most of the big regeneration conferences – nearly all ‘sheds and shedmen’. Look at MIPIM. They will not easily give up their market share.
- Politicians like ‘sheds and shedmen’ because they give them something to open and point at. ‘Look at the lovely building we have delivered, see how it shines, my lovely….’
- Politicians also like ‘sheds and shedmen’ because they provide interventions that can fit within an electoral cycle…“when you elected me this was a wasteland…now it has a ‘shed'”. More person centred approaches to tackling, often generational, problems in the local economy and community are likely to take longer and may not provide the short term ‘electoral’ benefits that our democratic leaders require
- Much of the electorate fall for the seductive line of ‘attracting employers who will bring us jobs and a bright and shiny future’. We have failed to provide them with a different, more compelling and honest narrative. We have also failed to expose the nature of the ‘deals’ that are often required to attract such investment.
What if Leeds carried on as it is..?
This is an interesting question asked on the What If Leeds.…website (registration required before you can contribute)
The underlying sense is that perhaps Leeds is fine. We can just keep on keeping on. Now I am sure that the sustainability crew would have a thing or two to say about that. Interestingly they haven’t, yet. As might those who don’t get to share in the benefits of living in the city, the poor and marginalised.
- Are we giving a steer to the city fathers so that they can benevolently chart our progress to a better place?
- Or are the city fathers really trying to engage us in creating our own future?
- Or is this just a necessary/statutory piece of ‘consultation’?
The Web Changes (nearly) Everything….
The web has changed (nearly) everything.
Bloggers, Tweeters, Patient Opinion, Fill That Hole and so on…the web is full of people’s opinions, experiences, ideas and beliefs about you, your organisation and your products and services.
It is far more likely that we will read about what you do in a piece written on the web by our peers than a piece written by your Press Office or PR agent on your website.
We have learned to recognise and respond to authentic voices that want to converse. We are increasingly immune to your sales pitches….
In this one day workshop we will explore exactly what has changed because of the web and how.
This will not be a day for technologists and web geeks, but for communications professionals, service managers, business developers, strategists and others who are wondering how to manage perceptions on the web and use them to build a better business.
We will not be looking in any detail at the specifics of particular social media platforms or web sites but we will be examining how the new information that it surfaces can either kill or cure an organisation.
We will then look at practical actions and strategies that will help to re-position you effectively in the web enabled world.
Remember: your customers and service users know more about your products and services right now than you do.
And whether their experience is good or bad, increasingly they will use the web to tell people about it. The only question is, once you accept and understand this, how do you respond?
Who Should Attend?
This workshop will be useful to anyone who is coming to terms with how the web is shaping their business and how they need to re-think strategy and communications as a consequence.
Whether you work on the delivery and management of a public service or in the private or ‘third sector’ our promise is that this workshop will provide yo with practical ideas about how to make the most of the new web2 world.
What we will cover:
- Why people listen to the web, and how you can too…
- When a story breaks – how should we respond?
- Why SHOUTING on the web won’t work – how to engage in polite yet powerful conversation
- Finding your voice and speaking your truth
- Moving from online to offline – what to do when you actually meet the online community
- Dozens of ways in which the web changes everything and how you might respond as a result
Workshop Leaders
The sessions will by led by some of Leeds most influential and experienced bloggers, tweeters and social marketers. By people who care passionately about the web, good business and civic society.
If you fancy lending a hand in the design and delivery of the workshop rather than coming along as participant, or if you have any questions then please do get in touch.
Sticks, Carrots, Coercion and Coaching
“What we did establish is that the carrots offered were far less effective than the sticks employed.”
Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts – talking about the ‘limited effect’ of Pathways to Work pilots
Sticks and carrots have a long and noble tradition in the management of donkeys. However even with donkeys there are times when the ‘bribe and punish’ approach to change management fails:
- When the donkey is not hungry enough
- When the effort of reaching the carrot is too great (the burden is too heavy)
In these circumstances we may choose to resort to the stick. But this too will not work if:
- the pain of the stick is thought to be less than the pain of moving forward
- the donkey learns to like the stick and the attention that it brings
But I think the real issue here is not about the limitations of sticks and carrots in the management of donkeys and people.
It is about the complete and utter failure to understand the nature of human motivation. Motivation is that which energises, directs and sustains a person’s efforts. Sustains efforts. Sticks and carrots applied to move a donkey from one (expensive) field to another (less expensive) field do NOTHING to sustain efforts. In fact it is likely to achieve the opposite. The donkey returns to its passive state until more carrots and sticks appear on the scene. And the state wants more enterprising communities?
But the major problem is not treating people like donkeys, and further dulling their enterprising souls. It is that the state believes that this is the most effective, fair and just way of changing behaviour. That this is such a common default setting when trying to manipulate the behaviours and choices of its citizens.
And we wonder why ‘community engagement’ is so difficult. When you have beaten and bribed your donkeys into submission don’t expect them to engage with you, without the use of ever more sticks and carrots.
Perhaps instead of resorting to a coercive approach to change, we might try instead a coaching approach?
Helping people to recognise their long term self interest and how it may be pursued. Helping them to develop the power they need to make progress in their lives. Helping them to recognise that it is possible and that they don’t need to be pushed around by a bureaucratic system of sticks and carrots. That THEY have choices and agency in their own lives. Vegetable wielding bureaucrats do not have to be the architects of their future.
And what if someone decides that their long-term self interest is served by staying exactly where they are?
Well, we could just leave them alone and put our time, energy and investment into those that want to explore pastures new. Why should the squeaky wheel get all the grease?
Because perhaps people are more like sheep than donkeys. When they see some of the flock moving forward others are sure to follow.
Aren’t they?
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