I really do try to steer clear of the pure politics of public policy issues but it’s impossible to ignore the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the gutsy response of the #NeverAgain surviving students and now the blowback of people demonizing those courageous,articulate kids online and ...
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Digital communication has truly transformed public participation but it’s not an automatic or comprehensive solution to working with the public. It does not solve everything. Thus, it is important to choose your digital tools wisely in order to promote the collaborative process.
When I look at ...
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OK, let’s just say really good facilitation. If you’re looking for some tried, true and methodical suggestions for handling groups, we think you’ll find this useful.
Being called an expert in anything always sounds a little blustery, but developing real expertise is always an honorable goal. Expert vs. expertise...
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Public policy and politics have vastly different objectives, but are now obviously mixed in the minds and perceptions of voters and citizens. Authentic public participation is the path to recovery....
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| Engaging people starts with communicating and connecting and that’s just not easy or intuitive for a lot of people. You might think that it’d be easier to do with people that you know and work with everyday, but even that isn’t necessarily true, so imagine how tough it is for |
What people think they’ve heard or read can be very different from what you think you’ve said or written and that’s where the trouble starts. Here’s a 10-step solution....
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The title above is one of those cute, arrogant bumper sticker quips that people sometimes wish they could say to a difficult person they’re dealing with. Dumbing it down is a term that you hear from a lot of professionals describing the same basic process of reluctantly simplifying something complex ...
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Research and neuroscience is revealing more about the elements of trust, including the idea that we often make decisions about trusting others in as little as 100 milliseconds, and also what we can learn about trust from children. Trust is at the core of engagement and conflict.
Research shows ...
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OK, so this may not be the most politically correct headline for a blog today, but I will stand by it. For over 20 years, before cell phones made the effort moot, Ma Bell and later AT&T used this slogan to get people to call long distance. It turns out ...
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We’ve talked a lot in past newsletters about the nuances of facilitating groups toward conclusions, but we haven’t yet said much about the first order of business – getting people to actually show up. If they’re already mad at you, it’s pretty easy. But, otherwise, just because your little gathering ...
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