Sense in the
City Issue
4.2, December, 2009
Page
1
Sense in the
City Issue
4.2, December, 2009
Page
1
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How to Design Effective Town Hall Meetings © Marilyn Hamilton, PhD CGA - All rights reserved December 18, 2009 Abstract This article is an excerpt from Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive, adapted from pages 121 – 123 by Marilyn Hamilton (2008). It describes the key steps required to design effective Town Hall Meetings for issues ranging from Food Security to Climate Change. It is followed by Appendix A: A Template for Designing Townhall Meetings and Appendix B: Characteristics of Mutual Trust & Respect. Steps for Designing Effective Town Hall Meetings If we want to design effective Town Hall meetings, we need to mobilize the flow of intellectual and social capital for learning about the city. The key steps that must be taken by Leaders designing Town Hall meeting are these. 1. Find out what is important to key stakeholders in the city. City Leaders need to know where do the value systems of city stakeholders fit on the eight levels of development? Values reveal the “centre of gravity” of the thinking systems in the city and help identify what decision processes leaders can use. When we know the relative strength of Traditional, Modern, Post-Modern, Integral value systems [leadership to the powers of 4, 5, 6, 7] then we know how to engage the players. 2. Identify the change state of the city. City Leaders need to be able to lead regardless of whether the city and/or its neighborhoods are stable, disturbed, blocked, chaotic, or inspired. We discuss this in more detail in Chapter 8. However, what leaders need to know here is that they need emotional intelligence so that they can connect to people and situations. Mayor Rudy Giuliani was an excellent example of a mayor who was appropriately matched to the evolving change states of New York after September 11, 2001. 3. Identity and align the key structures of the city. City Leaders … must be effective in coordinating structural combinations of dynamic centres and dynamic edges (like council meetings and citizen delegations), as well as strong or weak centres (such as public works) and strong or weak edges (such as social services). This means appreciating that structures need to be aligned with values and priorities in the city, for effective service delivery. 4. Map the knowledge systems the city uses. City Leaders need to know how each city department utilizes its specialized experts and accesses knowledge from relevant domains; e.g. planning, fire, police, public works. The intellectual capital applied by city departments and leaders enables them to be effective (or not) in a variety of situations from the predictable to the complex and chaotic. Without mature continuously updated knowledge systems, the leaders and the city will lack the information to match resources to city needs. Such leaders will also likely lack the capacity to interconnect one system’s interaction with those of other systems to see the ripple effects of change. 5. Correlate values, change states, structures and knowledge. City Leaders who can assess these factors together will identify the capacities and deficiencies of the city’s operating systems. Figure 1 shows how all these elements are correlated in a design space for creating an appropriate learning/change strategy [for leadership to the powers of 4, 5, 6, 7]. 6. Design an appropriate learning / change strategy that shifts the system towards integral sustainability. City Leaders who want to enable integral cities, need to consider the key realities which contribute to bio-psycho-cultural-social change in human systems. Effective learning design will be determined by the fitness of the learning process to the players’ values, their operational context (change state and structures) and access to relevant knowledge resources. 
Figure 1: Creating the Design Space of Knowledge, Structures, Values and Life Conditions Legend: K=Knowledge; S=Structures; V=Values; LC=Life Conditions Summary Thus in the end, preparing leaders [for leading action on any key issue], involves creating the conditions for learning through capacity development through education and experience that aligns knowledge, values, structures and life conditions. It is ultimately about learning experiences in the classroom, online (and/or with other media) and on the public stage that gives leaders the opportunities to build dynamic, resilient and adaptive bridges between silos, stovepipes and solitudes that can operate with an integral capacity. ... With the plurality of cultures as city reality, we should anticipate and encourage that mulitple learning models will co-exist in the city: private, public, cooperative, for profit, not-for-profit. No longer is a one-size fits all approach to learning sufficient to the complexity of the city. However, what is needed most of all, is a city vision for city resilience and success that coalesces the core capacities of the city to serve the world, supported by the relevant resources to emerge, maintain and evolve the prosperity (and purpose) of the city. References: Hamilton, M. (2008). Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive. Gabriola Island BC: New Society Publishers.
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Step |
Question |
How |
Why |
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1 |
What is our superordinate goal? |
Bring together diverse thought leaders of the community to share stories, insights and questions re key issue(s). Enable thought leaders to communicate shared stories to public. Enable policy makers to learn from thought leaders and public. |
Identify and appreciate diverse strengths in community. Fan the flames of energy and connections. Create conditions for learning and action. Learning by doing |
|
2 |
What does mutual trust and respect (MTR) look like around here? (see Table 2 below) |
Triangulate observations and data from answers to: What is working? What is not working? What do people hope for (vision)? |
Find the centre of gravity of the local values, knowledge, structures and life conditions and the language used to describe MTR |
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3 |
Who will be our most effective spokesperson? |
Choose spokesperson (trainers, speakers, communicators) to match MTR |
The credibility of the spokesperson will vary by audience |
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4 |
What is the state of change in the city? |
Use weather system to convey: · Stable · Unsettled (breaking down) · Turbulent (blocked & chaotic) · Clear Day
Note: these states of change, cycle through a 4 stage resilience system. |
Determine the state of change in the people – are they open, arrested or closed to change? This helps select the method of acting on Key Issue. Expect likely states of change will be Unsettled and Turbulent |
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5 |
What is the purpose of the meeting? |
1. Discovery a. Deliver Content/Info b. Connect People 2. Dream/Vision a. Imagine Future 3. Design Change a. Find solutions b. Give/obtain feedback 4. Deliver Solutions a. Take action 5. Debrief Outcomes a. Review/Discern/Adjust b. Connect feedback loops |
Get clear on the expectations for the agenda and meeting format. This is Action Design. Each of these key purposes marks a different stage in the change process. They could happen annually or at key stages of the Project Implementation Plan. |
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6 |
How long is the meeting? |
Determine in conjunction with purpose and change state. It is better to have a series of shorter meetings than to try to do too much in one long meeting. |
Frame the scope to fit the time and vice versa. Note: One size does not fit all – it might be necessary to change meeting format to suit different audiences in the same city. |
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7 |
What format will the meeting be? |
Design the meeting for purpose outcomes to match the capacities and culture of the audience. Technologies include: Appreciative Inquiry Directed Dialogue e-dialogue Syntegrity Holacracy Meshwork Open Space World Café Interview Matrix +++ Other Large Group Processes |
Align the process, engagement/audience, outcomes, agenda |
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8 |
What is the location of the meeting? |
What options are available? |
Be aware of cultural nuances related to locations |
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9 |
What is critical to capture about the meeting outcomes? |
How will the meeting outcomes be captured? recording, video, transcription, flipchart, e-records, YouTube, Twitter, Blog |
Who will the outcomes make accountable? How often? Where? |
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10 |
Who should be invited to the meeting? |
Thought Leaders Policy Makers Elected Officials Public Media |
Who attends meeting and how they are informed will impact the effectiveness of the meeting. |
Appendix B: Characteristics of Mutual Trust and Respect
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MTR Values |
Characteristics |
Communications |
Structure |
Most Effective Spokesperson |
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Traditional |
· Systematic rules & regulations · Linear thinking · Respect authority · Ask permission · Expect obedience |
1 way top down |
· Strong Rigid Centre · Weak Edges |
· Respected, Authority figure · Professional |
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Modern |
· Strategic approaches · Demand freedom · Encourage independence · Aims for success · Show results |
2 way up and down hierarchy |
· Moderate Centre · Strong Edges |
· Business Leader · Scientist |
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Post-Modern |
· Socially networked · Visible diversity · Demonstrate care · Equalize participation · Level playing field · Demand social justice/equity |
multi-directional |
· Weak Centre · Strong Edges |
· Social Justice Leader · NFP ED · Eco-Activist |
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Integral |
· Systemic thinking · Appreciative inquiry · Flexible methods · Flowing designs · Natural connections |
interdependent interconnections that flex and flow |
· Dynamic Centre · Dynamic Edges |
· Level 5 (Kegan) leader · Low Ego/High Integrity Author, researcher, activist |
. . .