Full Circle Associates

Carl Moore and Suzanne Otter
Visuals: Critical Success Factors for Achieving Community Objectives

In public realm, you don’t have authority. In private realm just one person makes the decision and you just have to make a good decision. In the public realm, you have to keep making good decisions.

Susan agreed to join us this morning and I feel so bolstered. My name is Carl Moore, have a small consulting business named Community Store, taught at Kent State University and they made me emeritus so I moved to Santa Fe. All my work is in the public realm. They are messier, puzzles of transparency and inclusion are real, palpable

Susan: Hi I know lots of you, it is really a treat. I have been at this since the late 80’s working with David Sibbet. In the last few years have opportunity to work locally. Mostly do work in the community. My job is to help groups learn together about complex issues, make a good decision then do something they may have never done before. We’ll share some of those stories and where the graphics are used in that context.

Carl: My first course in GF was with Geoff Ball. Had opportunity to be facilitated in a group by David Sibbet, National Assocition of Community Leadership. David asked us questions for which drawning was the answer. Very helpful realization. I asked questions for which making lists was the answers. I’m a graphic primitivce

My job as a facilitator is to create a safe space for people to say their mine. They are free to be committed to the content. I know when I work that I need to be able to draw a picture of what the group is doing, their aspiration and the steps of the process. I need a picture.

One of the kinds of pictures necessary for me to work is to show them what they are about to go thorugh. When I do strategic planning, I’ll draw something like this on the wall. I’ll explain what’s occurred before we come together is an awareness of the internal and external environment analysis, SWOT, Visual quick way of showing what is done, what will be done and follow on.

Sometimes we use templates to let a group be facilitated. We’d like to do one with you. We’d like to learn what is the mission of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP). What is the mission, he asked?

(People contributed their ideas, and Susan is graphing them.)

What is outside of our misson?

(People again contributed. Insert picture here)

What of this language speaks to why you exist?

(Carl kept asking questions, digging deeper.)
Graphics can help create trust in the facilitator. The big issues in community in the west are land and water. Working in Eldorado around land issues. The community had been working, or arguing for a while. Before we went to the first meeting we interviewed county staff to find out project history – at least 10 hours, interviewing, making drafts of maps. It took a familiar form. Kind of like a matrix with time and phases to the work. We also had bars of information that went across. At the top level big events. When did people move into the area, ranching, to ranchettes, to suburban. Plotted weather, building permit issuing, planning events and then community events that went across. It was pretty simple and easy to read in this matrix. We began the meeting…

And they were angry for a variety of reasons. Having that chart in front of them. Impacted their knowledge that we had done our homework and done something to help them sort out their puzzle. Caused trust in us.

Second observation: Grpahics can be used to trick the controls. Was about to facilitate a meeting of Sheriff’s department. All with arms crossed, didn’t think to have donuts. If I began there it would be tough. I had a bunch of paper and I had just come from a meeting where someone did this to me. I put paper on the table and markers and said, “draw a picture of something about you that no one in the room knows about you.” Slowly, they drew pictures, then explained pictures and it totally changed where they were with status.

It can help manage complexity as Susan’s matrix illustrates. It matters to complexity, but there is a downside if the images get too complex, they call attention and mask the real meaning of the story.

My preference, and one of the reasons such a joy to work with Susan, how do you invite people in to engage them, but images not so slick that people are put off by them. Favorite example, was working on a project to build a new bridge from Indiana into Kentucky. Need for years. The people who were managing the process used GIS to show where the watersheds were. It looked so good. They could put all the layers up there. No one dared challenge it. In NM on hand drawn maps, people pick up a marker and change them. Favorite mapping story – worked three years with a citizen group in Katherine County. Encouraged citizens to carry weapons. Resolution for every federal or state agent to register when they enter the county. They felt abused. (Gap). One of the triggering things for movement – came in with hand drawn maps of the area where some cutting of trees could occur. Put them on acetate. First map outline, second map endangered species, third roadless area. Mapped each of the values and showed what was left for cutting. Then field trip to the selected area. Have to do things on the ground. Examined the area to see what is possible. Group that had barely been able to sit in the room together were able to move the issue a bit. An inviting use of mapping.

Susan: Would add – when you are working in the public realm, subject to open meetings act. People who come have other options, other political means to get things done. So it is critical that you don’t – for example we were unsuccessful where we could not get our design partner to put up a million slick maps. The neighbors walked in, didn’t like it and found other ways around the meeting. A room filled with slick graphics sent the message that the plan was already done. Graphics need to invite people in as opposed to triggering another way.

Carl: Invite them to build the materials, rather than imposing them.

Plato argued that the idea form of anything are in the demi urge, just below heaven. When you draw something, you are drawing something that is a copy of the ideal form. A copy of a copy. You are always being reductionist – the nature of the work.

My favorite book about community is called “Habits of the Heart: From individualism to commitment in American life.” Americans get to a stage when they are moving from individualistic to a more community way. What we’d like you to do, Susan said I have to do this because this is what we do to groups, count off to ten and remember your number.

We count off the group because people often sit with the people they know. We want you to answer the question, have you ever lived in a place that felt like community? What helped it be a community?

(groups break out, the report back and Carl helps identify patterns of what is community. See chart)

The most recurring themes: scale. Aristotle argued that the max number is 4000 people – max number of people who could interact with each other over the course of a year. Scale has to do with communication, sense of purpose, mediating institutions, ways to get together, there is a center to community. It might not be the kind of center the literature might describe. The back of the feedstore. The coffee shop at 7am on Monday. A shape to community – it is bounded. Obviously talking about place-based communities. You cannot race through a community and not be noticed. Part of the charm of Santa Fe are the perpendicular roads. You can’t race through downtown Santa Fe. Heard the word safe – if you don’t feel safe you don’t have community. Communities have ways to exchange, to trade babysitting services for something else. Create currency alternatives; barter. They are diverse. If not diverse, they are lifestyle enclaves. The definition – you are going to get two handouts later – one of them is an essay, “What is community?” A group of people who are interdependent, struggle with the traditions that bind them and the interests that separate them to envision a better future.” (get the rest). Then it means community is the struggle. I posit that your mission is to help people struggle for community. It is not an end state. You keep working at it.

Now share 1-2 favorite stories of doing this work in community. (See hand out) It is important to pick good clients. We want to tell a story about a place called Rancho Viejo – the future build out of Santa Fe for the next 40 years. They came on some hard times. They had built a plaza area in first stage. Lots of ideas of what was going to go into Plaza area. But the citizens took it over. Interesting that the worst enemies of the builders of the subdivision buy into the subdivision. The developers had to respond. Since they built the community college plan required them to add an affordable subdivision. Challenges. What kind of a process could we use if we bring people together to do this? The story is reflected in the picture in the handout.)

In the middle of this, Suzanne created a graphic and we filled in as we went along. Started to emerge after third meeting. We went through first stage – how to convene the group. I wrote a letter to every person. Told them about office hours to ask questions. Told we wold meet four times, when, how long and ground rules. I was convener so developer could participate as party in the process. 25 citizens came together. Invited 5-6 people who did not live there and no future interest to be committed to process with no stake in the meeting.

Laid out fabulous ground rules. Important. Clear about purpose and the givens and what is not up for discussion. For example, given is X% of affordable housing. If that was not a given, it would have stalled. Elaborate ground rules. If you would like a set, I’ll flip one over to you.

We took them through stage 1, learning. People came and taught about community college plan, history of development, county regulations. Meeting 1. We made a simple map to answer the question, what question begs a picture. Showed on the lower part of the map the topography of the area and the planning events and when people moved in, roads, that is a question that is helpful to have a picture as opposed to a list. It had a picture of the time when the citizens came together to say what should be done and what wasn’t done. Our challenge is how to pay attention to the past without getting stuck in the past. Critical component. Everyone had their version of the past.

We went through a learning then planning stage. Put them into groups, crudely taught about scenario then tell stories about what good would be. Tell stories about what you’d like to see in the village. Distrubuted the neutral people. Had fun. What is in common in these stories. What did you hear about the future that you really like? We recorded that. That was step 2.

Step 3 was chosing. We needed a way to hear what choices they wanted to make. We used one of the tools (shared in 10:45 session) variation of single text negotiation (from dispute resolution). We invited people – 25 in 5 groups – to tell us what their criteria for a good solution be and what they proposed be done for the village center. 30-50 minutes. Each group told what they came up with, Suzanne recorded. Then we reconstituted the group – hard to do in community because they want comfort of their neighborhood. To the new groups, answer four questions. What do all 5 roposals have in common, what could you agree with, what can you not accept and what 1 thing do you care most about. Then walked through how they answered to start to build what they all wanted, where there were differences and what needed to change to get to agreement on a set of choices.

Those four questions, opposite view – those were recorded in clean lists for side by side comparisons. Recording them in a more creative way would have been confusing.

There is a little more to it than that (laughter.) Ultimately you see a graphic representation of the work of the group. As you look across learning, planning, choosing and the planning state. Box for items for consensus and last column every member signing off. The developer could take this to the bank and the county commissioner when they needed more water allocation.

I’m clear when I do community work that the developer may pay me, but working FOR the community. Was fabulous – developer was former city manager. Had some bad experiences with community group – they hated him. That was his experience. They would challenge the process. He had seen how I facilitated the community college planning group. So he began process with absolute trust. He agreed to do what was resolved by the group.

This map was then taken out by members of the group to become champions of the process. At the third meeting a couple came in – the homework group – stumbled into this in another project. The compact we write and letter was set out was “don’t agree to do this unless you come to all the meetings.” The new group was balking, but the group took care of it. It is an issue. We try to do it with another process and had terrible luck because people did not participate in good faith. Everyone who signed off had participated in the whole thing.

Suzanne has been working on a water project. This is a water issue. Haymas valley (she draws a map of the territory). In the middle of the watershed are 5 communities, one of which is Haymas Pueblo, a sovereign region. The legislature, the other communities can go to the legislature and ask for funding for work and then they say we’ve spent a gazillion dollars with no results. So have to work as a region, not as a community. Not much experience working together, only in emergencies. The county hired a team of us working to see if we could get this group to form an alliance to go to the legislature. What has happened – what questions – in community work with its own characteristics have a picture of an answer or a list. For this project we also created a process map so the community knew when the meetings were, funding, and created another process map that “remember the meeting we just went to.” And one that gets filled in as we go along. The answers so far have been recorded in a list because the trust level is so low. If I were to rent big boards and work like this it would cause suspicions. These are people who are elected to run water systems, provide safe, available, affordable water. A huge responsibility. When they come in the room they have overalls on, know how to fix the well. They want to see if you are really writing down what I’m saying or is this a show for us. Very critical about this. Working for 9 months and we think they are going to sign the agreement next month. An example of being out there doing community work. A whole different animal. If one community doesn’t like it, they go directly to the legislature. You don’t have the same context in a community than within an organization.

A couple of “last things.” Rancho Viejo taught us a couple of lessons, then we’ll share a template.

The lessons we got – there really is an arrow of community change. Follow the arrow. The reality is if we can get a group to learn together before we ask them to say what is and make chances, we have a chance. Pattern is come out, tell us what you want is too quick. Don’t go there so soon. Have people learn together first.

Second, have the right convenor. It was a challenge for me to be the convenor, but there was benefit. IN another example the only possible convenor is the local doctor. Everyone depends on that one person. If you have one for the entire county, you will do whatever that doctor asks you to do.

Invite everyone. Democracy is messy. (Missed a bit to say hello to Rachel Smith ). Get to know someone before you ask them to do something. Must be convinced the process can manage where the convenor is going to “get the hurt from.”

Make a mess. If you begin too neatly you will never get to understand the complexity. Academics can reduce complexity and take over people’s ideas. You want to be protective – Suzanne’s point of writing what they say. Don’t put it into your language. Be wary of that.

Enlarge the shadow of the future to base the action. Pay attention to the past without getting stuck. Timelines are good for that. Let people add to that.

Pictures are a good thing to do. One is a process picture in the beginning, what is going to happen. And a picture at the end of what they produced. They will tell Suzanne how to make it better.

Last thing – the back side of the Rancho Viejo hand out – simplified for the purpose of understanding. We make the assumption because there are certain predictable behaviors in a group, over time facilitation strategies have emerged. Some are listed. Give people time to think before you ask them to speak. If I only did one thing, that would be it. If you don’t people with privilege speak up quickly and cleverly. With more time get confidence. (Read off list really fast)

In turn, processes, y’all know the nominal group technique: (see hand out). It is a process that is a collection of strategies. There are certain processes we use on a regular basis to do three things: generate, develop and select between ideas. What we find in terms of graphics, most of what we do using those tools are linear frameworks: lists, templates and matrices to fill in. Those processes and strategies can be used in other applications like strategic planning and we are likely to use graphics in other ways. We list those.

Q&A: do you teach groups, like when they are in chaos, I don’t do community stuff. This is really good, the group is uncomfortable and I explain why I am so happy. Training them to put on facilitators hat to understand their own dynamics. For groups that want to learn this (perhaps not community groups in conflict.) When you get in conflict, do you go into reflective space.

A: Christo, the guy doing the installation in Central Park. There were 200 organizations against him at the start – how could he fail with all that energy to draw upon. We will get push back. I try and design to anticipate so there is a place to put that. I do like the mess. Want to hear from the edges. Not sure I do it in instructional way. One devise we use – esp. with groups to meet over time – at the end of every meeting what do you need so that we come to the next meeting we can present info, bring people with knowledge. Chaos as a creative energy. Move the question towards ‘ can you fram that in the form of a question we can answer together. “ Then rigorous to respond to that question. One question was “we don’t believe you that any rural water systems can do this. Bring them here.” And we did. That fragile setting it needs to be converted into a way to keep the group together.

Q: Both you and Suzanne are modest about your work with complex and messy. For those of you who have not run public meetings, they can be abject terror. People come angry, verbally armed. So the work they are doing is amazing. Hats off!

Carl: Suzanne and I in the wake of fire in Sierra Grande that threatened to destroy Los Alamos. Can you create a process to plan into the future. Respectful to people who saved us and become a different kind of community. Helped city of Chattanooga do a process for transformation. Visioning process in Los Alamos that resulted in some nice elements. (Shows poster). This was in the newspaper. This green thing was the logo we used. The delta with scientific notation, Got the graphic from a local high school contest by sharing the community process with the students. The real thing they got was to work with a professional designer to convert into a logo. This was a full page in paper. You spoke. We listened. Did we get it right? Mission statement, whats going to be done and how to give feedback. Another one a month later – you spoke, we listened, here it is. Then to next stage to take abstract vision work into comprehensive planning. It connotes the delta, all the things in the legal process and included what/when for landmark stages. Process map so community sees how things would happen. The great joy in working with Suzanne is the kind of problem solving we do before going into project. We orient ourselves to the world differently. Thanks for being so attentive.