When I wrote the Paradigm Shift piece earlier in the week I didn’t mean for it to be
anything more than an expression of my perspective on the current state of
humanity, with a few off-the-cuff recommendations that might actually lead to
some real solutions here in Wisconsin. Generally speaking it was well received,
even by people who don’t particularly share my view of the world, so I decided
to post it as a blog, and write a follow up piece or two. Many people asked if
I would write other posts specifically about women’s rights and the environment; as
it turns out, I have a few more things to say about shifting the paradigm
before I move on.
The recommendations I made were by no means
all-inclusive, nor were they meant to be the final word on the matter, though
they did illustrate my point, particularly in light of the comments I received
from people who didn’t agree with them. Mainly the point that effective solutions
are never as simple as implementing the will of one person (even when that one
person is me, and I am sure I am correct). I want to further explore that
notion by suggesting that it’s time for our state - the people and the
government on both sides, together, and not
separate - to engage in real problem solving that leads to effective solutions
we can all agree upon and benefit from, and then move Forward setting an
example for the nation to follow.
The fact is that truly collaborative problem
solving requires everyone to open their minds to all sorts of ideas, even the
craziest of ideas, and to engage in carefully guided exploration to identify
the best ideas with the highest potential to result in the desired outcomes, to
test those ideas, and to implement effective solutions based on the results of
this exercise; at least that is how it’s done in the business world, and really
within any institution engaged in quality or continuous improvement initiatives.
Clearly, this is not the process Wisconsin’s legislature is using to resolve
our issues, which is why hunger and homelessness continue to be real, tangible
problems for the real people who call Wisconsin home. In fact, the inability of
the state’s legislature to effectively engage in actual problem solving is the
single largest barrier to job creation in Wisconsin because of the uncertainty
surrounding the few job-related pieces of legislation passed - everyone wants
to know, how long will they last? And, will they withstand the legal
challenges in state and federal court? Not that they are asking these questions all
that frequently since most of Wisconsin's recent legislation focuses on
reducing women from actual human beings to mere beasts of burden, and
disenfranchising minorities and the poor - but I digress.
When I was a public employee working at one of
Wisconsin’s technical colleges I went to a conference where I took a workshop
called "Introduction to Compression Planning with Storyboarding," which
is a facilitation technique used to garner consensus when the stakes are high by
utilizing a series of guidelines to drive effective discussions among
stakeholders with diverging viewpoints. During the first phase participants are
asked to Suspend Judgment, Listen to Each
Other, Spin Thoughts into Rich Ideas, and Avoid Speeches; during the second phase participants are asked to Challenge Ideas Not People, Merge Ideas to Create Strength, Focus on the Unique, and Narrow Down to Manageable Few. By
creating a framework for effective discussions, within an environment where a
diversity of opinions generates creative and unique ideas, effective solutions
rise to the top, independent of political affiliations.
What a novel idea it is to borrow a technique
from the private sector, and implement it in our statehouse to bring working
relationships back into the realm of civil discourse? If it can be agreed that
Wisconsin is in need of effective solutions to a number of issues, including
but not necessarily exclusive of those I cited in the Paradigm Shift post, and we recognize that there are numerous
techniques proven to be effective in developing real solutions, then we
should be able to agree that perhaps our legislature needs to engage in one or
more of these techniques - under the supervision of an independent third-party facilitator
and with the transparency necessary to restore the public’s faith in their
actions - to identify, develop, and implement real solutions to our real
problems.
Now, if only I ran the Zoo…
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