…has been a theme that has taken up a lot of my thought and practice for the last few years. \u00a0Seeding conversations on ‘things\u00a0that matter’ seems to be quite a straightforward and affordable task. But helping to get from words to actions proves to be a much more challenging. \u00a0And, when all is said and done, perhaps it is what is done that really counts.<\/p>\n
More conversations leading to more actions…<\/strong> In part it is just a numbers game. \u00a0If 1 in a 100 conversations spawns some planned action than perhaps we just need to have more conversations. \u00a0But so often when we try to have more conversations we just repeat the same old conversations. \u00a0Groundhog day. Different conversations leading to more actions…<\/strong> So it is not just more conversations that we need. But different conversations too. \u00a0Conversations that will help us to play with new ideas and new possibilities. \u00a0And we can learn how to have such conversations and get better at them. \u00a0But we can also encourage them just by talking with different people with different perspectives. \u00a0And the challenge of finding different people welcoming them into a convivial\u00a0conversation, helping them to find their voice and really hearing them should not be under-estimated! But still\u00a0this\u00a0is not enough. Building teams to get from words to actions…<\/strong> You perhaps have had the most inspirational conversations exploring the art of the possible in whatever field matters most to you. How things could be different. \u00a0Better. \u00a0Changed. \u00a0Before you go back to your current\u00a0reality and the coping\u00a0mechanisms\u00a0that you use to pretend that really things are not so bad. Because as well as seeing the possibilities for\u00a0ourselves, many of us need the support of others who have also glimpsed the possibility and are prepared to act in its pursuit. \u00a0Finding ‘common cause’ matters not just for the reassurance of not being alone but for very practical reasons of sharing workloads, accessing skills and other resources,\u00a0maintaining\u00a0conversations and so on. But the chemistry and physics of the team is vital. \u00a0Too\u00a0often\u00a0we find a bunch of\u00a0idealistic\u00a0dreamers with not real change management\u00a0disciplines\u00a0struggling to turn words into actions. \u00a0And building a team that constructively manages the\u00a0tensions\u00a0between idealists and pragmatists, artists and project managers is not easy. Feeling the force….<\/strong> But what we are really talking about here is building power. \u00a0The power to act. Individually and\u00a0collectively. \u00a0The power to develop ideas, choose from options, plan, resource, implement, observe, evaluate and adjust. \u00a0Building enough power to overcome those who would really rather things stay as they are. \u00a0And I suspect that very few of us do power well. Helping…<\/strong> And then there is the question of making sure that the powerful team of activists with dreams, visions, plans and resources has a community around them that knows how it can help. \u00a0That can smooth the way,\u00a0make\u00a0introductions, encourage, advocate and assist. \u00a0I think as a community that we sometimes struggle to find the good people, the great projects, and when we find them we are not that clear on\u00a0how\u00a0we can help, what difference we can make. \u00a0And this is in part their problem (most of us are not very good at being helpable) and part ours (we don’t really understand the\u00a0practicalities\u00a0and dynamics of helping). \u00a0There\u00a0is\u00a0much that we can do to become a much more helpable and helpful community. Because trying hard is not enough…<\/strong> This one is a toughy. Lets face it, many of us have been trying hard for decades in some cases to ‘make a difference’. \u00a0And to say the least the results<\/em><\/strong> are often disappointing. \u00a0Few of the indicators that we really care about move very far in the direction that we might like. \u00a0And in order to carry on we shirk our accountability for results<\/strong><\/em>and instead just point to the fact that we are trying our hardest. But perhaps if we held ourselves and others to account more for results than for effort we might just find ourselves some more effective ways of working.<\/p>\n I will be running a workshop on ideas for helping to get From Words to Actions as part of Leeds Summat<\/a> on November 26th from 12-1pm in The Shop Space in the Lower Foyer of Leeds University Union. \u00a0It would be great to see you!<\/em><\/p>\n