Participation Public of Spectrum

The IAP2 present a very compelling, well constructed and well-adopted framework for public engagement.  Something no doubt honed and developed over many years of successful public engagements and policy reform.

Only it's wrong.  The stages may be fine, but it is 100% wrong in that is is completely backwards.

What I've come to understand in exploring engagement from the point of view of passion and within the context of our present day world is that "business as usual" is over.  There are some significant opportunities to enable and support deeper levels of engagement but it requires us to change our approach.

The need

You want to reach a group of people.  You have something you wish to accomplish.  The first step is to break down the underlying values and passions that are driving your initiative and then begin to identify who you are looking to engage with.

Stage 1: Empower

As Rahaf Harfoush might say, the first step is to pay attention to who among those you are trying to reach is already taking action and the tools they are using. 

It is not about us.  Repeat with me.  It is not about us.  It is about supporting these individuals and groups. It is about answering this question, "What can I actively bring to these people to help them accomplish the goals they are already committed to achieving?"

This takes time but it is quite straightforward to being to identify and find these passionate individuals.  A topic for a later post.

Stage 2: Collaborate

You have connected with the most passionate and likely your view of the world has been lifted and changed as a result.  And if you have done Stage 1 even moderately well, you have built relationships with real people. 

This is critical. Unlike the traditional approach where you hope to have strong bonds of trust by the end, in stage 2 you should have a platform of trust built with the most active and passionate people you can find.  This can now be leveraged to engage these people (and their networks) to work towards something larger or tangential but that aligns with their passions and actions to date.

This is about working together towards a common goal.  This is about you being seen as someone who helps them to accomplish that which they believe in.  A facilitator for their passions.

Stage 3: Involve

It can start with a simple invitation to a place or platform that can better harness or support a larger community of people united by common passions, values and/or beliefs.  Or it can be shifting the spend on conferences to become a series of community engagements where you are supporting the communities to further their own interests.

This is the realm of co-creation.  I'm reminded of a quote from Brains on Fire that remains one of my favorites.

"And believe us, it’s not about influence, because influencers can be MADE. But passion can’t. And it’s not about evangelizing your brand. It’s about your brand being the jumping off point that allows people to evangelize what’s important in their lives."

Stage 4: Consult

The world of prototyping, participatory design and mass collaboration open up many opportunities to more actively consult those you value and trust to offer insight, manpower and feedback to what you are working to accomplish.  Here they begin to work together with you to build your platform to support your goals, actions and passions.

Stage 5: Inform

This is my favorite.  This is no longer about posting notices, or publicizing town halls or making sure your point of view or platform is up on some website.  This stage is now about reaching out to all those who have been involved to date and showing them clearly what you have been able to build together with them.  And also the launching off point to loop back into an earlier stage.

NOTE: In my conversations with Lina Srivastava and Aaron Dus it has been quickly raised by both that the terms (names of the stages) need to be updated and there is also the opportunity to grow and evolve this model.  I'm very interested to see what both Lina and Aaron come back with.