As the 2009 Independent Sector/Council of Michigan Foundations annual conference wound down today, I marveled at the thematic unity that emerged about the future of the nonprofit sector: leadership, innovation, and respectful dialogue are critical competencies in supporting what is increasingly understood to be a necessary re-conceptualization of how we approach our work – especially in relation to other organizations and sectors.
All of these were on display at a civic engagement workshop I attended that utilized a very creative format called “FutureLab.” The tone was set when the group of 60 + attendees, gathered in concentric circles in the middle of a huge room, were urged by the facilitator (in a delightfully thick Italian accent) to participate fully. The only two rules were: 1) ignore your cell phones/blackberries, and 2) stay for the entirety of the 90 minute workshop (it ended up lasting 110 and not a single person left).
After listening to three minute, rapid-fire issue overviews by three thought leaders in the field, participants were randomly placed in groups of five and given a white cardboard box, markers, and instructions to design an experiment that would significantly increase civic participation by 2020. New age electronic music and an artist painting on the walls around us helped stimulate an atmosphere of creativity.
While our group was not able – in the time allotted – to fully develop the details of our social experiment, we engaged in deep, passionate conversation about the core principles needed to bring civic participation to life: the creation of physical spaces at the local level to enable people to gather, build trust and relationships, and engage in dialogue about the issues that matter – and bind us together – as a community.
During the entertaining and inspiring report-out at the end, I learned that other groups had been more successful in bringing their experiments to life, including a concept for engaging local theater groups from a small town in central Michigan to write and perform stories of the community successfully addressing the town’s three most pressing community problems.
Formats such as this – that engage the intellect, creativity, and passions of members of our sector in innovative problem solving – are needed now more than ever to help stimulate and circulate the big ideas that will allow us to rescue ourselves from irrelevancy. Innovation often is not supported in our organizations unless there is a sense of urgency, and despite the magnitude of the problems we collectively face, many of us still lack that sense of urgency. What are you prepared to do to stimulate these types of forward-looking interactions inside and outside of your organization?
