If anyone knows his way around solving wicked, persistent problems through collaboration it’s Adam Kahane. The Canadian change-agent has facilitated collaborations that have catalyzed peace in South Africa, Guatemala, Colombia and beyond. And I thought my work to support a workforce collaboration was tough…
Read More
Building an effective Collective Impact effort is understanding how to apply the framework to both the unique context of the community and the issue being addressed. The five conditions of Collective Impact provide a minimum specifications approach: developing a common agenda; building shared measurement; aligning efforts through mutually reinforcing activities; focusing on continuous communications and engagement and supporting the work through backbone infrastructure.
Read More
My just-released paper, Shared Measurement: The Why is Clear, the How Continues to Develop acknowledges the importance of shared measurement as one of the five conditions of Collective Impact. As noted by Kania and Kramer, “Collecting data and measuring results consistently on a short list of indicators at the community level and across all participating organisations not only ensures that all efforts remain aligned, it also enables the participants to hold each other accountable and learn from each other’s successes and failures.”
Read More
In my experience mobilizing communities to embrace large-scale change, I have learned that authentic communityengagement moves at the speed of trust. And, while most of us deeply appreciate the importance of trust-building, too often in our eagerness to launch into “the work” little time is actually invested and focused on intentionally building trust amongst partners.
Read More
On June 26, the Ontario Trillium Foundation hosted a collective impact webinar with Tamarack to learn from initiatives that are supporting the positive development of children and youth. We heard from two initiatives that openly shared stories of their journey - both the successes and challenges they faced in supporting and facilitating collective impact. Many thanks to Graduation Matters Montana and The Child and Youth Health Network in Vancouver Island.
Read More
In our last V-News update, I explained that vulnerability-based trust on your team is what allows your team members to feel comfortable engaging in passionate debate. Your volunteers will feel as though their voices matter, because everyone’s diverse opinions are considered. When everyone has a chance to weigh in, that is when you achieve collective buy in which creates committed volunteers. It all starts with trust.
Read More