Building the Learning Environment

For the last few weeks, I have been giving a lot of thought to this concept I use in trainings called “Building the Learning Environment”.

In the VISTA work I do, we spend a great deal of time on this – getting to know one another, listening for real understanding, setting expectations, and providing an understanding of what we are going to do in the time we have. It is in the first two parts that I find are the most powerful. This particular training is 1 week long. And even though the content of the remaining training is rich, it is the getting to know one another and listening for real understanding that most often makes the greatest impact. Each time I do this training, I reflect on that part in particular because each group is made up of the most diverse group of people of which you have ever been a part and yet the same thing happens over and over again – people who would have never interacted with one another before, whom come from all economic, racial, and regional backgrounds leave that morning time with a new and better understanding of one another, what motivates them, and what that means for this work. And it is from that point forward that the real understanding and change happens for them.

So tonight I just left the Community Studio at the United Way where we talked about creativity and innovation. And much of the discussion was on how we rarely stop – listen – and learn. We are all so driven to getting straight to the solutions that we forget there are others who not only have a stake in what we are doing but also have an investment in the end outcome.

I started to think about the struggles programs I work with have – they are often uncomfortable with the “stepping back”…with the learning process….with the “unknown”. And then I thought about one of Rich Harwood’s recent Blog entries where he states he would love to get someone to fund a large amount of money to a project they know will fail. What if we knew at the end that failure was the only option, so we could be as creative as we wanted to be and make as many mistakes in the process? What if that allowed us to take our time, to learn from others, and to just go crazy with the possibilities? What if that was the norm instead of expecting instant gratification, or working towards some arbitrary standards, or thinking we have to always aim for perfection?

In this way…building the learning environment has a whole new meaning.

Press On...

...because there's a lot of work to be done in relation to community engagement. Very few people appear to be doing it. Putting ideas into action is hard, especially when it involves collaboration and partnerships, which are essential. Those that are doing this work are often learning as they go and using whatever resources are available or that they've gained from someone else. It's hard for those learning things "hands on" to train others, although nothing is impossible--to do the work of bringing people together for the common good, to bring about change in the community, especially since it takes endurance, a lot of passion, a humble heart, flexibility, tolerance, a thick skin, and training wherever you can get it. If you get a buddy, partner organization, or adviser to journey with you and champion the effort, this often helps and you learn from each other and the experience.

In terms of the work that needs to be done, there's going to be people who are grateful one day and ungrateful the next--sometimes they are the same person(s). They don't necessarily understand what is being done and why. The traditional models may be all they know and words like conversation, negotiation, and consensus are foreign or seem inefficient and they worry it will make things take longer. It is true that listening to people and developing relationships can take time. But sometimes doing things quickly though can end up taking twice as long or more when not getting people's opinion or hearing their stories only makes people angry or suprised that something appears to have been pushed through. Then a process may have to start all over.

Be prepared when when your group offers to bring the voice of the community to bear on issues, based on your group's experience in working with various groups in the community and receiving input from them on issues/concerns. Public officials tell your organization to convince the people to come to them instead and tell them what they think, as opposed to them doing outreach to those who may not ever step foot in a government meeting. Public officials may ask what authority your group has and may express doubt or dismiss what you do get to share with them. Then it hurts when your organization's leaders often have to stand alone, beause no one stands behind them during critical moments, when they are trying to make a case or take a stand for something. People recover from that, especially when people see that the community engagement work being done is making an impact--when community leaders/officials start using the same language/terms that have filtered from the grassroots to the top--when they make positive statements of how the work being done is good for the community. You have to give people time to accept change and to see the big picture or the reasons for doing things a different way, or the reason for doing things in conjunction with other people and organizations that people aren't used to working with.

Along the way, organizations that work in the area of community engagement may become successful in becoming an information clearinghouse to the community and a convener when it comes to pulling together the community for dialogue and deliberation on issues and concerns important to the citizenry. Over time, your organization's leaders may find that many groups are trying to do what your organization is trying to do, although each group may be at a different stage or dealing with different issues, but are following a similar, yet self-learned template. Join forces with these groups. Partner with bigger ones (like the United Way), to utilize their strengths, their network, and their people and material resources. Your group can't do what they're doing forever. Some leaders can't always make it to the "promiseland." There always needs to be a plan for who is going to replace those in leadership--takeover what they are doing. The word sustainability applies here.

In relation to your passionate group you work with, and this probably applies to just about any group, some people may want to be a leader and not a follower. Some may not want to wait to lead and some may never step forward at all, even if a position will have to remain open or leadership will have to be recycled (officers trade positions). Things can often get dysfunctional or simple things that people do annoy one another or people take things out of context. You're confused yourself because when teams form and people take a crack at leading, you take the liberty of stepping in to lead when you feel it is necessary as opposed to letting someone make a mistake and learn a lesson from it. You find that mob mentality (organized chaos, leadership by committee) sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't.

Whether it's the mob leadership or other fellow leaders or citizens stepping forward to lead, there's a saying (and I'm paraphrasing), "if you're upsetting both sides, you're doing something right." If you're only upsetting one side, then you may have to recalibrate. Whatever the case, if you compare where your community started compared to where it is today, there probably is a difference because a group of individuals decided that community engagement was the way to go--to bring together all the isolated community groups, neighborhoods, and officials to move forward together--to do community problem solving and find solutions together--to develop a common language, shared goals, and sense of community. You may not be able to see the results today, but in hindsight you will be able to inventory what has been accomplished or attempted and then build on that, building on capacity and social capital, building on hope, even it is one baby step after another. Even if there are times that it feels like the community or a portion of it is taking two steps back and then one step forward, press on...

-Rod Reyna

Equipping Citizen Leaders

Tomorrow, we're kicking off the Community Innovation Workshops. Tommy Darwin, the brainchild and my partner in "community engagement" crime is leading the session. We're starting with INNOVATION & CREATIVITY and it seems like we've got a lot of citizen leaders (40 of 'em) out there wanting to make change in our community! There's still room if you your bold and innovative enough! Here are the details...

Innovation & Creativity
Coming up with a good idea is difficult—putting that idea to work is even harder.
Learn how to discover the needs and aspirations of the community, generate ideas to engage those needs and aspirations, and develop a plan for putting your ideas into action.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
6:00-7:30pm
United Way offices: 2000 E. MLK Jr. Blvd.

To register, go to the Hands On Central Texas website!

See ya there!

Mando
Director, Hands On Central Texas

A Latino Perspective

Today was a pretty big day for me and a lot of Latinos in the greater Austin area. The Austin City Council approved a Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative and we've been making a lot of progress on our Hispanic Community Engagement efforts. I also had lunch with Rod; we discussed the opportunities these initatives are going to bring to our communities. As a Latino, I feel very good about the progress we made today and still think we have a long way to go. We as Latinos have to, no, we must step up and make our voices heard. Rod mentioned in our conversation that too many times, Latinos, among other ethnic groups are left out of the discussion when dealing with race - it's always a black and white thing. So we as Latinos must find ways to bring our voices to the table and do it in a way that brings people together and moves us forward. And as we move forward, we need to bring our people with us by creating more leadership opportunities and opening doors for them. When we do this, not only will the Latino community prosper but the community as a whole.

Enough of my ramblings...now I'm going to put Rod on the spot. I'm still waiting for him to give us a write-up. Mibbe this will give him some good old fashioned Latino guilt. Si Se Puede Rod!

Mando

Advocate for a City of Austin Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative!

Friends of United Way Capital Area & Hands On Central Texas,

As many of you know, we started working on the Hispanic/Latino Community Engagement Initiative last year. We've taken some great first steps in learning from the Hispanic/Latino community and are in the process of gathering information from this community to publish our study and engagement tool, Making the Connection: An Examination of Volunteering & Community Engagement in the Greater Austin Hispanic/Latino Community.

With that said, we have been working with Council Member Mike Martinez's office to support a Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative. On Thursday, May 8th, Council Member Mike Martinez is leading the efforts by sponsoring an Austin City Council Resolution (Item#50) to initiate a Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative and directing the City Manager to incorporate into the Fiscal Year 08-09 Budget specific line items to support this effort.

We ask that you help us advocate in the following ways...

Attend the Press Conference, tomorrow Thursday, May 8th - At approximately 9:30am, Council Member Martinez will be hosting a press conference at City Hall to formally announce this new community initiative. We need your attendance and participation at the press event.

1. Attend the Austin City Council meeting at 10am (following the press conference) - At approximately 10am on Thursday, May 8th (also at City Hall), the Austin City Council will address Item#50 during their consent agenda deliberations. We need your action and attendance to encourage the Austin City Council to vote in favor of Item#50.
   
2. Spread the word to help fill the Chambers - Forward this email to your networks!
   
3. Email Austin City Council members asking asking for their vote on this important item. Included is the link and directions to successfully send one email to the entire Council.
   
4. Go to http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm
   Once on the website, please include your email address. The subject line should read: Subject: “Support Item#50 to initiate a Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative"
   Incorporate your own comments or simply ask the Council to: Please vote in favor of Item#50 to initiate a Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative.

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!

Si Se Puede!
Mando

Armando Rayo
Director, Hands On Central Texas
UNITED WAY CAPITAL AREA
www.handsoncentraltexas.org

tel 512.225.0360 : fax 512.482.8309 : cell 512.785-0447
Be the Change. Volunteer.

One Day of Caring is all it takes

I just posted the highlights from our Spring Day of Caring on our other blog. Check out the civic action happening before your eyes....

Another Great Day of Caring

Enjoy!

Mando

The Paradox of Time

I've been an organizer all of my life, from organizing my friends as a young person through all of my professional life. But what I know and keep learning is that the real strength of community is built over time and through putting your time in. Doing the good and important work of public innovation will take time. In my current position with the City of Austin as a neighborhood planner we spend a lot of time talking about stakeholders. Who are the stakeholders? Which stakeholders do we need to invite? Which stakeholders are not represented? How do we get more stakeholders involved? One of the stakeholders that we frequently forget, but is ALWAYS at the table, is the stakeholder of time. A frequent criticism of the the neighborhood planning program is that we move too fast and don't give the stakeholders enough time to educate themselves and reflect upon or comment on a neighborhood plan. This is interesting because staff frequently hear from management that we are taking too much time and we need to speed things up, or at the least we can't slow down. We live in an accelerated society, where the concept of time is stretched and condensed. Technological innovations have changed our expectations and relationships to time and yet we still feel like there is not enough time. What a paradox!

As I do my work as a neighborhood planner, it is my intention to respect the notion of time as a stakeholder while recognizing the "time paradox" that exists. I suppose that is the best I can do and I can live with that.