Creative Edge Focusing E-Newsletter

 

Instant "Ahah!"s #6:  

EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION 
 
"One Small Thing" Examples:
Corporate "Buy-In," PTO, Global Warming, Self-Help Groups                                                            

Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director                                Week Two 

Empowerment Organization = Motivating From The Bottom Up
 
You want to use Intuitive Focusing  to find the "One Small Thing" that every person in the community or organization can become involved in with minimal effort but maximum sense of satisfaction in contributing something to the larger mission. 
 
If the first step of involvement is too big, too difficult, then most people won't be willing to do it.
 
So, you have to keep looking until you find something so small that everyone can do it, easily, willingly, yet so important that it will feel like a real contribution, a first step of commitment to the larger cause. Then, you can invite these involved, engaged people into further Collaborative Decision Making about the project.
 
If your "One Small Thing" project is not having the desired effect, then the step is too big, requires too much motivation or commitment. If that is the case, then you need to look for a smaller step until you find the one that works.
(see Week One Empowerment Organization for Introduction)
 
Kathy's Experience with "One Small Thing" Focusing Exercise
 
    I did the "One Small Thing" Focusing Exercise included below on my own problem/goal: Getting Listening/Focusing Partnership skills incorporated into existing support groups, such as 12-Step, divorce/bereavement, cancer/other medical conditions, etc.
 
     Here's what came up! Certainly a novel idea I had never thought of before. I'm not sure I will implement, need to talk with others, but here it is:  "Offer a free copy of the Focusing In Community manual to audiences filled with support group facilitators (magazines, e-discussion groups, websites) as a PDF file to support group facilitators signing up for the e-newsletter and/or Creative Edge Practice e-group --- or something like that --- assume, once they have seen the manual, they will buy the supporting audio/visual materials --- or, at least, the word will get out and some will try the skill-training out.
 
"Spaghetti Binds Community"
 
Here's another recent example from my own experience:
 
For two years, my rural fire department (I am on the Board) has been trying to find a volunteer, a "strong leader," to head up a federal program called Citizen's Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Candidates appeared but chose not to proceed.
 
I wanted to do a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, start at the grass roots, with the community I knew that we did or would or could have easily: people who were willing to bring spaghetti sauce or desserts and help out at a the dinner.
 
I put out sign-up sheets at community events, built up an email network of willing volunteers, and got it all going. Two weeks before the event, a massive ice storm hit, wiping out the town's electricity. I continued contacting my volunteers by phone, hearing their ice storm stories, meeting new people.
 
Along the way, I discovered that the husband of one of the spaghetti volunteers was a retired Fire Captain. I put out feelers: "Would he be interested in helping with the CERT Program?" 
 
By the evening of the dinner, 40 volunteers were involved, 100 people came, we had located two possible co-chairs for the CERT program, and neighbors who had been through the ice storm together were ready to mobilize into CERT Teams.
 
So, starting from the bottom, with the "One Small Thing" of bringing food to the fundraiser, we started the motions to accomplish a larger community goal. 
 
I hope you try out the Exercise on a project important to you. Here are examples for a variety of corporate, non-profit, and grass-roots endeavors, all where "empowerment organization = motivating from the bottom up" was being sought (taken from Instant "Ahah!" #6 in Mini-Manual):
 

Example One: Achieving Corporate Buy-In

 

   At Old Navy (Business Week, June,19, 2006), Innovation Champion Ivy Ross, catching the MySpace-type lifestyle of today, used a Facebook-style CD in an effort to bind old and new employees into one new group. Every employee filmed three minutes of "something so personal it would take years to discover it." Ross had new and old employees hungrily viewing the CD. They quickly became bonded into one, new group, "infused --- with a close tightness essential for innovation." Ross had found the "One Small Thing."

 

Example Two: Revitalizing the PTO at a public school

 

     The PTO of a public school was languishing. A handful of parents were doing all the work. A new property tax bill dramatically cut funding to the public schools, wiping out PE teachers, art, music, librarians, nurses --- The parents suddenly had to raise a whole lot of money from a population of middle to low income parents.

 

     The small group of committed parents started selling Grocery Store Gift Certificates. The PTO could purchase the "scrip" at a 5% discount, resell it to parents to use to buy groceries, and make a 5% profit on something parents had to buy anyway. Everyone had to buy groceries!  They sold "scrip" in the front hallway before school and at school events and PTO meetings.

 

     Suddenly, everyone was buying "scrip" - grandparents, neighbors, as well as parents and teachers. People were coming into the school to purchase "scrip" and staying to paint walls or help with reading. The only people who were unhappy were parents who were on food stamps - they were furious that they couldn't contribute!!!! The PTO had found the One Small Thing that allowed everyone to become involved.

 

     Now, parents had a "stake" in how the money would be spent. Attendance at PTO meetings grew to thirty, making decisions about how to distribute the funds, how to enlarge the "scrip" program. Teachers came to present proposals for funding.

 

     In the first year, the PTO raised $11,000 (at the 5% net profit, gross sales of $220,000!) to hire a part-time PE teacher who would teach the other teachers how to run PE classes. The "scrip" program spread to other public schools and, ten years later, a large banner in front of the town high school reads "Buy Grocery Scrip".

 

     But, more importantly, the entire school was revitalized.  The parents had to establish a "volunteer lounge" at the school to accommodate all the volunteers!

 

Hypothetical Example: Global Warming

 

     You are Al Gore.  You want to get every day citizens involved in the issue of Global Warming. But most people feel apathetic: "Oh, there is nothing that one person can do --- it is up to governments."

 

     Well, maybe it is up to governments --- but non-apathetic, engaged citizens are the ones to put pressure on governments.  So, you are looking for that "one small thing." "What is one small thing that masses of people would be willing to do and which would act as a first step toward full engagement?"

 

     Here's a possibility:  Purportedly, "idling" your car greatly increases the output of pollutants. Yet, everyone, without giving it a thought, "idles" at drive-up banks, fast food take-outs, school pick ups. What about a "Stop Idling! Stop Greenhouse Gases" campaign? With bumper stickers, flyers on car windows or handed out at drive-up locations --- the double-entendre "Don't idle and don't be idle!" ---

 

   If you can get people, all over the world, to "Stop Idling!", you will have them engaged in thinking about global warming every day --- and primed to engage in other actions which you initiate.

 
INTUITIVE FOCUSING ON "WHAT IS THE ONE SMALL THING---?"

Your Turn

So, let's use the Intuitive Focusing skill to find the "one small thing" to engage and motivate your target audience, be it consumers, citizens, volunteers, or employees. This could be the most important decision you make, so, one small session may not be enough, but it will start you thinking about Creative Edge engagement> It will put the pot on the burner so that creative insights can arise now or later.

You can do this first step alone, by yourself, but even more productively with the appropriate group of problem solvers, benefiting from the Creative Edge Collaborative Thinking of many people.

However, the best way to generate ideas for the "one small thing" is to initiate a Listening/Focusing Brainstorming process with the people at the bottom! We are not going to do that here, but it is essential to the process of motivating from the bottom up.

As a group or individually, sit down and get comfortable, preparing to spend up to  twenty minutes letting right- and left- brain problem solving interact. Add another twenty minutes for group sharing. Keep a blank pad of paper in front of each person for gathering ideas.

In a group, have one person read the following instructions aloud to everyone else. Everyone except the reader, close your eyes, focusing inward, on The Creative EdgE --- or, at least, look off "into space". You want to access right-brain, intuitive thinking before you turn to more traditional "brainstorming" methods.

Upon hearing the instructions, pay attention, inside, looking for the "intuitive feel" of answers --- not what is immediately, intellectually known, but the right-brain, intuitive, murky, vague feel of what you know that is "more than words" --- leave at least a minute of silence between each instruction:

Focusing Instructions

Close your eyes and get comfortable --- let your "focus" turn inward, your attention toward the "intuitive feel" that is more than words ---
(one minute or more)

Just notice your breathing going in --- and out --- don't try to change it. Just notice your breathing as a way of coming inside, more in tune with your intuitive-knowing ---
(one minute or more)

Take a moment to choose an area of interest, or, if the problem to be explored is already known, name it:
"I (or we) are going to spend some Intuitive Focusing time on the problem of (name it) ---
(one moment or more)

Now ask yourself, "Where is the apathy that I am concerned about? Who is it that I want to engage in this project?" and just sit quietly, bringing the whole concern into the center of your attention, setting aside the already known, and letting an "intuitive feel" for "the whole thing" to arise ---
(one minute)

Find some words or an image or make a drawing --- try to capture the "intuitive feel" ---
Don't worry if you don't get a clear answer --- you are drawing closer to an "intuitive feel" for the whole situation --- If you want to write anything down, using Mind Mapping or any other method, take a few moments to do so ---
(one minute or more)

Now, ask yourself, "What could be 'one small thing' people could do, 'one small thing' this audience would be happy to do, which could be a first step toward full engagement?" ---
(one minute)

Don't get into thinking the "already-known" --- set aside what you already know and just pay attention to The Creative Edge --- the "intuitive feel" of the whole thing that is more than you are already thinking --- don't try to do anything --- just notice the "unclear feel" that comes up ---
(one minute or more)

And find some words or an image that can capture that "intuitive feel" ---if you want to write anything down, feel free ---
(one minute or more)

If you are working alone, you can go back-and-forth, internally, trying out an idea in your mind, sensing into how people might react, imagining how it might work --- going back and forth between trying out possibilities and checking with the "intuitive feel": "Would that work? --- How would that be?--- " Take notes as needed or desired --- continue as long as you want.

Round-Robin Sharing For Group Brainstorming

In a group, after the initial Focusing Instructions, let people quietly take notes or Mind Map to capture their fresh "intuition," then use a Creative Edge Round Robin sharing structure for an initial go-round. Someone keep time, limit turns to 3 -5 minutes per person. Each person gets an uninterrupted turn to say what came up during the Intuitive Focusing, paying attention to the "intuitive feel" while speaking, creating fresh, innovative words and images --- Everyone else just listens, taking notes as desired, noticing what new ideas or Creative Edges arise as the others speak ---

After this initial sharing from the Creative Edge, the group can turn to a more traditional "brain storming" method, bouncing ideas off of each other, interrupting if that stimulates creativity --- but returning to the Creative Edge Round Robin sharing structure, time-limited turns with no interruptions allowed,  if more access to The Creative Edge of intuitive, right-brain problem solving is desired.

Then, of course, try out any ideas that have come up --- test them on co-workers or focus groups --- ask the people at the bottom what would work for them --- follow your usual product development and marketing strategies, the measure of success being whether people willingly become engaged --- or, if they are not stepping up,  consider if the step too big, in which case, it's back to the drawing board, The Creative Edge, to come up with a smaller step, until the "One Small Thing" is found.

Being At The Creative Edge Also = Innovative Thinking
 
For a complete explanation of the theory behind access to The Creative Edge and innovative decision making, you can download Dr. McGuire's comprehensive article,
"Collaborative Edge Decision Making Method, " . As a bonus, the Appendix of this article includes Handouts you can use at actual meetings, one for each role in Shared Leadership.
 

Please email Dr. McGuire with your questions or answers about the groups you belong to, the meetings you attend
  • Think about whether there are any small groups, sub-groups or teams, committees where you would feel safe enough, and empowered enough, to explain to coworkers about empowerment from the Creative Edge, the "felt sensing" of each individual. Or try out the "One Small Thing" exercise on your own with organizational or social issues that matter to you. Besides in the Mini-Manual, Empowerment Organization: Finding The "One Small Thing" on the Creative Edge Focusing (TM) website.

QUICK LINKS TO E-SUPPORT, CLASSES, BLOG, ARTICLES, ETC.
 
Two Yahoo E-Groups, Creative Edge Practice and Creative Edge Collaboration, for Ongoing Support and Learning
 
 
Self-Help Package, CDs, DVD, manual English and espanol
 
Experiential Focusing Therapy manual
 
Certification Programs: Consultant/Helping Professional : Now with option of Structured Level 1-4 Listening/Focusing Training With Ruth Hirsch followed by 10 supervision sessions with Dr. McGuire. Contact Dr. McGuire for information on this NEW option
 
About Creative Edge Focusing (TM) 
 
Mission: bring Core Skills of Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, and The Creative Edge Pyramid of applications from individual to interpersonal to organizational, to all audiences throughout the world.
 
Dr. Kathy McGuire, Director
Location: Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR
These materials are offered purely as self-help skills. In providing them, Dr. McGuire is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Creative Edge Focusing (TM)
Dr. Kathy McGuire
Director