Collective Strategic Thinking

I cannot overemphasize how predominant the strategic planning model is and how overused it is in community change work. Nearly every group I have worked with in developing a common agenda has a challenge breaking out of the planning model mindset. As a result, they limit the role of creativity and intuition. They develop a strategic plan and limit collective strategic thinking.

To develop a common agenda, we first need to engage with one another. We need to discover, debate, and deliberate about the issue we are trying to improve. David Bohm, a theoretical physicist with a passion for understanding dialogue, states, “The goal is really to create a conversation that helps people to think together.” We need to create the space for thinking together in such a way that we can collectively discover the change that needs to occur.

I am fond of asking groups who are working on a common agenda the following questions: How many of you think that if we all just work a lot harder things are going to get better in our community? How about if we wrote just one more paper? Would it change things if we just got a little bit smarter? What if we spent a whole lot more money on the issue? Would this change things in the long term? The answer to all these questions is most often an emphatic no. So, I ask: If working harder, smarter, and spending more money are not going to make things better in the long term, then what will?

In 2017 Des Moines was one of the wealthiest and fastest growing cities in America and yet, as in most American cities, poverty was constant. Opportunities Central Iowa asked, how can we share opportunities in our community? They spent nearly eighteen months engaging their community and “holding” them to this question, which resulted in an amazing community plan. They allowed time for exploration and questioning to improve their thinking and break out of entrenched models of service delivery. They needed to take the time to build a common understanding and commitment to change. They needed to unite the community toward and build a common commitment to change. They created a common agenda and a community plan and then launched their campaign.