Authentic Engagement

presented by

Richard C. Harwood, President

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, all rights reserved © 2007

The Harwood Institute for

Public Innovation

People

in retreat

are

into close knit circles

all rights reserved © 2007

Yearn to return to reconnectand re-engage

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Answer the call

Tap people’s potential to make a difference

Forge a common future

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

What Creates Attachment?

Coherence / Meaning / Sense of Possibility

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Potential Pitfalls

• Activity happy, action deprived• Plug & play• Becoming mechanistic• Customer service mindset• Lack of public purpose

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Three Starting Points

• Start with Community First

• See People as Citizens

• Create New Pathways

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Start with Community First

• Understand community context

• Think about impact

• Be clear on “what space you occupy”

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

See People as Citizens

5 Principles of Authentic Engagement

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Authentic EngagementPrinciple #1

_____________

Pursue civic engagement,not public input

• How are people engaging on the underlying issues they’re working on?

• How am I designingmy initiatives - from the questions we’reasking people, to theways in which they interact?

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

• How will our initiatives ask people to think about the public challenges from a citizen’s standpoint:both holding self-Interests and being able to see beyond them?

• How are we creatingconditions where people take ownership of community?

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Authentic EngagementPrinciple #2

_____________

Engage people as citizens,not consumers

• How am I thinking about who should be engaged and where we can engage them?

• How can we bring people of different perspectives together?

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Authentic EngagementPrinciple #3

_____________

Discover voices,not simply

demographics

• How do I leave roomfor people to engage on the tensions inherent on the publicchallenges they’reworking?

• To what extent do I assume that we shouldnot engage people ontensions if we want them to stay attached?

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Authentic EngagementPrinciple #4

_____________

Seek common ground,not consensus

• Why am I providing information to people,especially when I believe they may not know enough about an issue?

• How am I askingpeople to be citizensin relationship to knowledge, as opposed to consumers of information?

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

Authentic EngagementPrinciple #5

_____________

Provide knowledge, not more information

Create New Pathways

• Imagine how people livetheir lives - the paths theycreate

• Understand the pathways you create

• See how you can connectpeople to other pathways

• Know that people are onan unfolding journey

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

“Relevance and Significance”

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007

More

Harwood Institute

Resources

www.theharwoodinstitute.org

• E-letter and Blog

• Videos• 5 Principles ofAuthentic Engagement

• Public Innovators Lab (Austin, TX)• February 5 - 8, 2008

Contact:

The Harwood Institute

for Public Innovation4915 St. Elmo Ave, Suite 402

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 656-3669 (w)

(301) 656-0533 (f)

www.theharwoodinstitute.org

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovationall rights reserved © 2007