Resistance to Change a Powerful Force

Often, I find myself thinking about change and how hard it is to make change happen personally and in the greater community. And, as I was doing some of that type of thinking today I happened on a blog by Jim Moulton from the Knowledge Works Foundation that was discussing the new technology for books and how change does not come easily. That led to another blog post in Fast Company that was written in 2007 called "Change or Die," that has some great thinking and writing on this subject of how to make change happen. Both of those blogs came immediately after reading an article in the STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW that was a Question and Answer interview piece with Judith Rodin, head of the Rockefeller Foundation. That interview did a lot of talking about the grants her Foundation is making to fund innovation (a fancy word for change) in all different kinds of settings.

To keep this posting short enough, I will only elaborate on a couple of ideas discussed in the Rodin interview because they seem like tools that many people could use at various levels to help move the discussion of change and innovation forward.

CROWDSOURCING
It turns out that a major funding focus for the Rockefeller Foundation is innovation. One of the areas in which they have been putting money is called crowdsourcing. They got into this with a for-profit company called InnoCentive. According to the article, Innocentive uses web-based platforms to bring bring together people who have never and will probably never meet to work on solving specific problems. According to the article, this process is used "to gather solutions to problems that have confounded people working in just one place, such as an R&D Department at a pharmaceutical company."

COLLABORATIVE COMPETITIONS
Collaborative Competitions are a subset of the Crowdsourcing idea and the example int he article comes from an organization called Changemakers. One of the major differences is that the web-based platforms Changemakers use have the capacity of showing everyone's thinking so that people are able to build on other people's ideas when they are thinking about big problems -- "looking for ways to help impoverished communities gain access to sanitation and drinking water," as one example. As I read these ideas I wonder how such a crowdsourcing application might be initiated to help our Pee Dee area work on the multi-county problem of dilapidated structures that are blighting so many neighborhoods in our small towns and cities.

User Driven Innovation
This is considered the second major innovation technique discussed in the article and the concept, as structured by a design firm called IDEO, is that those who are most successful with innovations are the ones who allow the people who are going to be implementing or using the product/service/idea to have "a real voice in the development process." I find this intriguing because I know it is an idea that has been discussed by my daughter as she is working on an HIV/Aids research project in Kenya.

There are a lot of ideas out there and there are tools that can be developed for using these tools in the problem solving process. But, as all of these articles touch, there has to be some real recognition of the need for change.

"We'll show them!"

The credit card companies may be using the above headline as their new marketing slogan. Pulled a flier from one of my credit card issuers from the mail box yesterday. Essentially the card said we are raising prices for your credit card in order to maintain profitability on your account. We are not offering you any more service. We have nothing additional to provide you for these additional charges, we just need to charge you more. This is one of those companies who got a piece of the bailout -- from taxpayer funds. The timing was not bad either, coming the same week as the President signed new legislation trying to reign in the multiple abuses these companies have foisted on their customers. One of the elements of this letter that is interesting is how similar the letter in my mail box was to another I saw earlier in the week from another irate credit card customer of another provider. He had even gotten through on the number and the person answering told him very nicely, just as the letter stated, 'Sir, you have a choice, you don't have to continue being our customer, we don't mind.' It is interesting how two completely separate companies can put out pretty much the same letter to customers in the same week saying 'continue with us or don't your choice we really don't care. Back in the civics classes from eighth grade there were these words they explained like monopoly and restraint of trade and price fixing that seem now to have very concrete meanings for what then might have been abstract concepts. Coincidence the wording is nearly the same from two different companies? Coincidence that the letters come the same week the government is trying to regulate surprise rate hikes and usurious penalties? How do you build community when the major motivation of many of the most important institutions appears to be, "We'll show you!?" This is not a free-market system with this much coincidence. Guess they are learning from the oil companies, who all appear to raise their prices by the exact same pennies or dimes or quarters at exactly the same time on exactly the same day all over this highly diverse country.

Some exciting discussions in Hartsville

Generally, mayor and city council positions do not generate a great deal of discussion. Someone might say, "I wonder who is going to run?" but then the discussion usually trails off to sports, food or something else. Since it was announced that Mayor Holt is going to be a Family Court judge and not in the running for Mayor, there has been a noticeable increase in discussion about who might be interested in becoming the next mayor.

From a community building, community thinking point of view that is a great discussion to be hearing. Hartsville is (and maybe has been) in a precarious position as a community. Like all municipalities there is a severe pressure on city finances with a budget that is not keeping up with expectations. Unlike ALL municipalities, Hartsville is and has been declining in population, which is not a healthy trend. Also unlike some municipalities there is a significant number of people within the city who have a vision of making Hartsville one of the best places anywhere in which to live. There is that group, many of whom have worked hard for years helping to make things happen, who believe Hartsville offers "something" as a community they do not see or hear about in lots of other communities. So, it is with more than a little excitement that I view these discussions about who might want to run for Mayor.

One of the most exciting parts of the discussion are the names of younger citizens that are emerging from this discussion. Some have been involved in working on committees and working with organizations like the Chamber and Downtown Development to help make the city better and now want to get more deeply involved. Some are newer to the idea of politics but have the feeling they can be among those who can make a difference. There is also discussion about others who have worked hard inside the city for much of their career who now know they can put that experience to use in moving the city forward. The whole idea of people having a vision for this great community we call Hartsville is exciting. The comprehensive plan that was adopted months ago supplies one of the few visions for Hartsville that has been articulated. It will be great hearing from those considering running for Mayor what they see for our community. It will be interesting hearing the growth philosophies or what we call in the grant making business "theories of change" that the people thinking of running for Mayor will be identifying. One thing I discuss, maybe ad nauseum in my observations of Hartsville, is a quote from a former boss and former Chairman of Sonoco -- "When you stop getting better, you stop being good." We have to find ways to continue moving forward, even in times of tough budgets.

We need to find ways to get people to buy into the vision of a forward-looking community that will be inclusive as we strive to become a 21st century living community that has people waiting in line for the opportunity of living and raising famlies in this community. We identify this community as "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living" and we call on residents and visitors alike to "Expect Pleasant Surprises." We need leaders who will continue to work to bring together all of the community capital with which we are blessed to make Hartsville one of the best places in the world in which to live. For some it is now -- but not for everyone.

Filing for the next city election is not until August but it sure feels good to hear the energizing discussion taking place already.

Community Leadership resoruces

While doing some research on leadership instructor and author John C. Maxwell, I came across the Community Leadership Organization. Maxwell was the opening speaker at their Leadership Conference in Long Beach, Calif. One of Maxwell's goals for this decade was to help lead leaders and that meant to help create leaders. He formed a company called Equip to train leaders across the world who would then train other leaders. His initial goal was to train one million and he hit that goal in 2006 and according to reports from his organization, they are over two million at this point. That is one reason Maxwell is considered a top authority on leadership in the world. The Community Leadership Organization also looks like a good resource for information on community building.

Patience and Persistence two Community Building Tools

New Vision Development CDC demonstrated the power of positive persistence and positive patience this noon time as they hosted the kick off luncheon for the New Vision Development Cafe at the New Vision Community Center on Bethlehem Road in the north section of Hartsville.

Pastor Calvin Daniels is a visionary leader who has been persistent in his quest to improve the quality of life among those who don't have as much in the vast area of his church's reach in what is also known as the Byrdtown Section of Darlington County. Pastor Daniels also heads New Hopewell Baptist Church and New Vision is a non-profit Community Development Corporation that Pastor Daniels and others developed years ago to try bringing new ideas and new sources of funding to the quality of life quest.

Okay, where is the patience and persistence? This morning the members of the New Vision CDC had the grand opening for their new cafeteria, which, beginning next week will become an eat-in restaurant in this northern part of Darlington County. Severalyears ago The Byerly Foundation provided New Vision with a grant to help enhance the kitchen area of the Community Center in hopes of helping it quality for Kids Cafe, a program of Harvest Hope. The CDC was able to install the new hood by then they were hit by a variety of delays that required other significant upgrades. They persisted and with some grant funds that they obtained with some assistance from Senator Gerald Malloy, they were able to accomplish the upgrades, quality for the Kids Cafe and also envision using this modern kitchen as a way to help sustain a variety of other projects ongoing in this Community Center. Non profit groups trying to do good have steep mountains to climb. They are about the business of doing good but doing good is often expensive in terms of both time and treasure. Doing good often takes much longer than many people would like or that many people have the patience to sustain. Congratulations to New Vision for having the patience and most importantly the persistence. You will be hearing more from this group as they find new and different ways to continue improving life in this rural area of Darlington County. Darlington County Superintendent of Education Rainey Knight was among those who were at this special opening luncheon. One of the missions of New Vision has been to help the children of this area understand the need to get a strong education so they can help continue improving the quality of life.

Patience and persistence -- two important community building tools that are not always in adequate supply. Dr. Calvin Daniels can help other groups understand how to put these virtues to work to accomplish more than most would ever dream.

Photo shows Pastor Calvin Daniels talking with Henry Counts of the Harvest Hope Kids Cafe and in the foreground are LaShonda and Mia, also with Harvest Hope.

Photo shows some of the New Vision CDC volunteers as they work in the kitchen to prepare for the grand opening luncheon.

Photo shows some of the people celebrating the grand opening of the New Vision Cafeteria.

Community in the news

Congratulations to Hartsville Mayor Michael Holt on his appointment to a S. C. Family Court judgeship. This will cause him to be a one-term mayor but the citizens of our State will be well served to have his values and his commitment to community and family on the Family Court bench.

City Council Meeting

Have not been to many city council meetings since I stopped being a reporter many years ago. City business can be tedious but it remains important business especially here here where we have a city that services about 22,000 people with a base of citizens of about 7,000 people.

Big news on May 12 --

Council passed the ordinance selling a three acre plot on what is called in the VISTA in downtown Hartsville to a group getting ready to put up a modern Hampton Inn to join the Fairfield Inn serving visitors to Hartsville. This is big news because lots of visitors to our small city are forced to stay in Florence and that means both accommodation and hospitality taxes generally go out of the city.

A police Corporal became a police Sergeant in a pinning ceremony in front of Council and what I believe was Sergeant Peavy's (hope I have his name right) squad. The new Sergeant's father, a former police chief, and Lt. Ruddick did the honors of pinning on the Sergeant chevrons.

Lots of budget type ordinances up for first reading and in these times of economic hardships, budgets are not very much fun to read or discuss. Budgeting in tough times is a real skill -- finding ways to continue making the organization better while having fewer resources to make things happen. I think part of that skill is having a vision for better -- did not hear any discussion of that type of vision.

This meeting was held at the Lawton Park Pavilion and it was a nice setting with the sun going down over the lake. Lawton Park was also nice as there were people walking for exercise, reading and talking for pleasure, playing tennis, fishing and children on the playground -- a great small city tableau as the meeting was winding down.

PBS.org is looking for comments about community communication needs.This blog is what I posted with them.

If you are getting someone to work on this question Doug Fisher of the University of South Carolina would be one specialist I would recommend. He implemented a community journalism story telling site for Hartsville, SC and it is, right now, an important link to the information system in our small city. While the site might sometimes deteriorate into a chat room you will see, if you study it, that it is the place those of us in this small city go for breaking news. A community needs a place where information can be gathered and shared. Community newspapers are finding it much more difficult to fill that role when their bottom line is controlled outside the community.

A community needs a place where the tough questions can be asked of those running the community. Those in charge never enjoy answering the questions but when the questions are asked and answers required the community becomes a better place. A community needs ways to point out the good things going on and applaud those who are making things happen. This used to be the role of the community newspaper but most communities don't seem themselves as reflected in their local papers as they once did. Communities need to feel their place in the world is up to par with others and the fact of convergence and multi-platform reporting is undeniable. Heck, I can blog and include photos, videos and sound and if I can do that for my own communications a community needs a platform that will enhance the overall information and communication flow that is flexible from needs of both the news generators and the news consumers. And, communities need places where the pulse of the community on issues can be gathered quickly. Generally, there was no single place in the community where that could happen. There is now that ability with the multi-platform capabilities and response-feedback mechanisms in much of today's communication technology. Our community points to the lack of communication as a flaw and it feels to me like this is a flaw that can be fixed.

I was glad to be able to express some of the needs of communication within a community with the pbs idea lab.

Community building is a daily activity

And you cannot always know what effect your small, or large, contribution might be toward community building. Ed Guest provided some agreement to a comment on a recent blog about the volunteers who make a difference for Hartsville. He did note that maybe such a blog was preaching to the choir and I think he is right. Probably those who don't find Hartsville an active community also have no reason to read a blog like this. But, I got to thinking that one of the things that does make us difference in this small city is the size of that "choir" that volunteers for so many different activities in Hartsville. Because we have so many things happening and, in truth, so many different things we can find some "sweet spots" for lots of people. Rich Harwood, when talking about public innovation, stresses the need for sweet spots -- those places where the needs in a community overlap with the interests of people (leaders) who can help meet those needs or overcome those challenges.

This past weekend was one of those great examples:
a canoe and kayak festival/competition
a community marketplace
an arts fund raiser that lent itself to food and frivolity
a softball conference tournament at Byerly Park
a Community Players production of "Deathtrap."
Hartsville High Prom
Coker College graduation
Church singing programs
an AAU/YMCA multiple team and multiple gym basketball tournament
a downtown sidewalk sale
Master Gardeners' Plant Sale (master volunteers)
And I know there is more that is missing from this list

Sometimes people wonder what it is they can do. Lots of people found a sweet spot in some of the above activities.

And, this week Rich Harwood had an interesting example of citizenship that he calls The School Bus incident.

The whole point is that we get better when we build and when lots of people get together to build together. This ethos is one of the things making Hartsville a special community.

Volunteers Make Major Activities Happen in Hartsville South Carolina

This weekend has been packed with things going on in Hartsville, South Carolina and every time I reflect on so much happening, something else pops into view that some might not have known was going on.

For example, I forgot about the singing group that was going to be at Emmanuel Baptist Church on Saturday night. I think they are called Tenth Avenue. The Hartsville Advent Christian Church is having Homecoming on Sunday and they will have the Tim McCLendon Trio as the featured group.

The Morning News had a page of pictures of a couple of things going on Saturday in Hartsville including the Butts and Blue Jean event sponsored by Black Creek Arts, the Kayak and Canoe festival on Prestwood Lake and Black Creek sponsored by the Darlington County Tourism, the Good Living Marketplace sponsored by the Hartsville Downtown Development Association, and on the Sports Page a note that the Florence-Darlington Tech Stingers are still alive in the softball conference tournament at Byerly Park.

There are still more than a dozen events not mentioned in this post but the idea of this post is to remark on the number of people needed to make all these events work. Sure, there may be one or two people who get a little compensation from a job to help out but the backbone of this type of activity is the Volunteer. I must have talked to 20 people on Friday who just casually mentioned that in addition to the things they were doing they were also working at this event or another event or another event over the weekend. It is always amazing the number of people willing to give of their time and their talent to help make their communities greater places to live and raise families. A strength of Hartsville is the legacy of volunteerism that has been part of this community -- probably even before the small city was incorporated.

Thanks for all those who were working and volunteering for all the events this weekend. Your efforts keep the pride flowing.