Engagement – what is it?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by seeandconnect

Engagement is one of those words that can potentially be off-putting because it is used so often, yet with so little clarity on what it means. When I use the word ‘engagement’ – in the context of See & Connect – I am referring to involvement and commitment. Thus, stronger ‘engagement’ means involvement and commitment with deeper roots and greater effectiveness in delivering desired outcomes. Take culture change. Engagement is an essential part of driving culture change. Culture change without engagement tends to be a process of compliance rather than commitment.  

I could write a lot on this, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll focus on one point: developing strong and effective engagement is a journey. Engagement begins with assessing where people are with the issue/matter at hand.  What’s currently alive for them? What ethical values, social values, beliefs and roles are guiding their responses and behaviors to the issue/matter?  My ideal starting point in an engagement process is to get to know people and what’s important to them. Where we go from there will unfold depending on what’s alive in people and how they need to travel to get to a point where it feels right for them and/or they are inspired to become actively and positively engaged with the issue/matter at hand.  

Yet, when driving culture change, changemakers often try to engage people by telling them the following:

•   We have a problem.

•   We need to do something about this problem because…

•   This means you have to start doing X, Y, Z.

How does this feel to you? To me, it feels like I’m telling someone something and assuming the ‘facts’ alone will result in them doing what they are told to do – I’m instructing someone rather than asking them to join me in working through what’s going on and how we can together create change. I’m also ignoring their experiences and perspectives, including their fears and concerns. Here are some reasons why the above method seldom delivers transformative change:

•   People do not accept there is a problem.

•   People accept there is a problem, but do not think they have a role in creating/perpetuating it nor in addressing it.

•   People are not persuaded that anything can be done about the problem – ‘it’s the way things are…’

•   People agree there is a problem, but believe it does not impact on them and see no point in getting involved – they want to know ‘What’s in it for me?’

•   People feel angry because they have a sense they are being accused and blamed for wrong-doing.

•   People agree there is a problem, but do not the like the solutions being given to them.

This is not to say that setting out the problem, its significance and possible solutions is a wasted effort – not at all. Only today, someone who read my Runnymede Trust report Snowy Peaks told me it was a relief to read because it affirmed her experience of her organisation – she feels less alone and more empowered to take action.

What will be important for this woman, and is important in any engagement effort, is to be ready to embark on a journey rather than focus solely on identifying a problem and preparing a list of demands.  In a journey with this woman and her not-very-convinced-there-is-an-issue colleagues, the aim is to generate mutual understanding and find common ground – for the people involved to see and connect with themselves, each other and the issue in new ways. If we want to create more equitable, responsible, nourishing workplaces, schools, public institutions and communities at home and across the world, we need more cultures where people are engaged with a progressive vision – rather than ticking boxes to be compliant with seemingly necessary rules. Compliance cultures usually exist to deliver minimum standards.  Minimum standards will rarely bring about human flourishing. I don’t know about you, but I want to aim for flourishing – not basic survival. And if we are going to aim high, we need more connective forms of engagement.

 

 

 

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Why ‘See & Connect’?

Posted on May 7, 2011 by seeandconnect

When I was a senior policy advisor in the British Government, I saw first-hand how poor communication was a key barrier to development and implementation of transformative social policy (as opposed to policies that just kept resulting in the same old outcomes). People would be in meetings with their own agendas – or at least an agenda; a lot of frustration – sometimes to do with the subject at or hand and/or with all the happenings from their office; a defensive posture, and more often than not, a sense of exasperation – ‘Why are people always asking me to do things that I can’t do and getting mad at me for something that isn’t in my control?’  Perhaps, needless to say, meetings with such participants can easily become exercises in futility. This experience played a significant role in my deciding to turn my professional focus on engagement and leadership, asking questions such as ‘How can we engage with each other more collaboratively and creatively?’ and  ‘How do leaders nourish more positive connections between people and encourage us all to see situations differently in order to create a different future?’

It would be false to suggest that my time in government began this shift. I started out my career as a projects director in a think tank, then I moved to a national advocacy organization where I set up a Human Rights Programme.  As someone who tended to play the role of ‘Bridge’, I was struck early on by how entrenched people could be in their positions. And how ‘us’ and ‘them’ didn’t always mean ‘Government’ and ‘Campaigner.’  Some of my biggest challenges in delivering success were with other social justice activists. Over time, I would see how in all spaces people were adopting roles, postures, and reflexive – rather than reflective – approaches to their work. From early on, I began developing a sense that some critical fundamentals in our working relationships were askew.

A key lesson, which grew and grew for me over the years, is that people have reasons for the roles they play and the stances they adopt. If you want them to alter their role or stance, understand their reasons for it. This being the case, when we are in situations where the task at hand is to work together – amidst differences – to find solutions to social challenges, we will all benefit by pausing, reflecting and taking time to consider the issues at hand from multiple-perspectives. That is to say, it is worth taking the effort to understand the ‘why’ underneath the ‘what’ of people’s roles and postures.

However, asking ‘why’ is not something we are often encouraged to do, or know how to do – particularly in sensitive situations. We are also often discouraged from stepping out of our ‘understood’ roles – we might be told we would be ‘traitors to the cause’ or even just ‘foolish.’  Or we fear a loss of status and credibility. Well, my journey to date has led me to believe firmly that we need to create more spaces for asking ‘why’ – asking that both of ourselves and each other. We need to be prepared to let go of the familiar beliefs and roles holding us back.

The aim is to see and connect with each other and the challenges at hand differently. This is essential if we are to collaborate and create in new ways – leading to substantive and sustainable change.  Albert Einstein once said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Entrenched beliefs and roles are locking our thinking into narrow parameters. They are often unwittingly generating behaviours which undermine our shared values and our shared potential. If we avoid questioning ourselves and each other, then our thinking and behaviours are unlikely to change and we’ll continue to make the same mistakes.  

 

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