Category Archives: Tool Box

My Basketball Coach

I have always been tall and husky.  I was my current height, 6 foot 7 inches, in my freshman year of high school, and I was a basketball player and I was pretty good at that game. Back then a guy my size was automatically assigned the center position.  And that’s where my coach putContinue reading “My Basketball Coach”

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Collaborating to Understand Collaboration; A New Tool

I imagine the majority of us value collaboration. We believe that doing it increases impact, fosters innovation, and is especially called for when it comes to effecting large-scale systemic change (or transformational change). Many say collaboration is more efficient than disconnected social change or social service efforts. The expectations of many funders are that grantContinue reading “Collaborating to Understand Collaboration; A New Tool”

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About Collective Impact: Types of Problems, Degrees of Change, Learning Loops, and Methods of Thinking

Collective Impact is multi-sector approach to large-scale collaboration that is authentically inclusive of citizens in its development and implementation – in particular citizens who have life-experience with the big problems or issues being addressed, such as poverty, climate change, family violence, and so many more. Collective Impact is not an approach aimed at creating programContinue reading “About Collective Impact: Types of Problems, Degrees of Change, Learning Loops, and Methods of Thinking”

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SCALES FOR EVALUATING ENGAGEMENT SATISFACTION

This tool is one I developed for a quick session I taught at Tamarack’s recent learning gathering in Vancouver, Community Engagement: The Next Generation. It provides an overview on the NetPromoter score, Likert Scales, the Semantic Differential Scale and Visual scales for collecting and measuring feedback from those you are engaged with. CLICK HERE FORContinue reading “SCALES FOR EVALUATING ENGAGEMENT SATISFACTION”

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Why Strategic Planning Goes Wrong

reprinted by request As a consultant, executive staff member, board director, and teacher, I have had the opportunity to engage in a lot of strategic planning. I think about it, research it, and look for ideas to make it work better than how it tends to work. It has always bothered me to know thatContinue reading “Why Strategic Planning Goes Wrong”

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Journey Maps

Journey maps are used often in the private sector to map out a customer’s experience of a product or service. It identifies customer needs and wants, motivations, and interactions with the product or service from beginning or end. In terms of a journey map for you collaborative or collective impact initiative, here are some ofContinue reading “Journey Maps”

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Thinking about the Charity Model and Systems Change Debate

There has been a movement afoot for the past 15 to 20 years that evolved out of a growing dissatisfaction with the charitable sector or more to the point, the Charity Model. Critics of the sector are nothing new, of course. And these criticisms are often based on unproven perceptions (e.g. there are too manyContinue reading “Thinking about the Charity Model and Systems Change Debate”

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Non-Profits and Lean Thinking

I had a conversation recently with my management team about capacity challenges and capacity building. I did so because it is not uncommon for those in our organization (and those in others as well) to “feel” like they are maxed out in terms of the work and challenges facing them. We work pretty hard atContinue reading “Non-Profits and Lean Thinking”

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Together, Differently

I sit on the Mayor of Edmonton’s Task Force to End Poverty. It’s a diverse group including the expected mix of leaders from government, business, education and community services. At a recent gathering we were working together to increase common understanding about poverty as well as to move forward with identifying strategies. In this sessionContinue reading “Together, Differently”

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