Letter from the Executive Director

I’m delighted to open the spring edition of our newsletter with the good news that CJ Callen has joined the TWI board. I first met CJ when she was the program director at Northern California Grantmakers. We quickly discovered our mutual interest in creating opportunities for dialogue and reflection in philanthropy. Later, as the executive director of Changemakers, she used dialogue and storytelling to “reach beyond the choir” in promoting diversity in philanthropy. Recently, she was hired as program director at CFLeads, a national organization dedicated to advancing learning, reflection and action related to community foundation leadership. Please check out CJ’s bio on our Web site www.thewhitmaninstitute.org/board_staff.html; I think you’ll see why we’re so excited to welcome her on TWI’s board.

TWI is committed to fostering new kinds of dialogues within philanthropy, so I’m pleased to report that we played an instrumental role in Northern California Grantmaker’s decision to use a dialogue process for the first time at one of its meetings. At the April 6 member session, Expanding Our Vision of Civic Engagement: Advancing Practices for Community Change, NCG members had a chance to experience firsthand how The World Café dialogue process works.

The catalyst for the discussion was an excellent paper, Creating Spaces for Change: Working Toward a “Story of Now” in Civic Engagement, by Matt Leighninger, director of The Deliberative Democracy Consortium. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m quoted in the paper.) Commissioned by The Kellogg Foundation as part of its Civic Engagement Learning Year, Creating Spaces for Change looks at the areas of convergence and differences among groups working in the field of civic engagement so that they may better understand one another and decide how to work together more effectively.

(To read the full report, please click http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2010/Creating-Spaces-for-Change.aspx) Chris Gates of PACE (a TWI grantee) and Kara Carlisle of The Kellogg Foundation joined Matt in the discussion.

Forty people participated in the World Café facilitated by Tom Hurley,  a World Café board member. The discussions at the small tables and the written questions they generated revealed the desire of participants for more authentic conversations and stronger connections among funders working in the arena of civic engagement. Many participants, for example, wished they had the freedom to talk openly about the things that haven’t worked in their foundations. Perhaps one of these days someone will organize a conference devoted exclusively to failed or flawed efforts. Until then, I hope that the excitement in the room at the end of the session encourages NCG to incorporate more interactive, dialogue-based processes in future sessions.

In another exciting development, TWI, along with LeaderSpring and The S.H. Cowell Foundation, has started co-convening The Conversation Lab: An Experiment in Funder/Practitioner Dialogues. The experiment, which began in February, is designed as a series of conversations in which funders and non-profit leaders engage in dialogues at a deeper level than usually takes place between these two groups. Our aim is to create opportunities to develop a peer-based learning and support network that brings together funders interested in leadership development and leadership program providers. We’re just at the beginning stage, but I’m encouraged by what has transpired so far. I will report more details on how the experiment is progressing in our fall newsletter.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy reading about the inspiring work of three TWI grantees highlighted in this issue. In challenging conventional thinking about how things are usually done, they are sparking lively conversations and generating new visions of what is possible.

All the best,
John

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The Forgotten History Tour

Here’s a test. What do you remember from your high school history class about the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Don’t blush if you draw a blank. Many people  do. That’s why Kirk Boyd, a lawyer and academic, wrote Humanity’s Agreement to Live Together (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; $15.95 paperback). Boyd is the executive director of the 2048 Project, a project of the University of California Berkeley Boalt School of Law. Its mission is to develop an International Bill of Rights that will be enforceable in courts around the world by 2048¾the 100-year anniversary of the Declaration. With the recent publication of his book, Boyd has launched what he calls The Forgotten History Tour to educate the public about the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 2048 Project.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the UN General Assembly established a commission headed by Eleanor Roosevelt to imagine a new social order that would prevent another devastating world war. On December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a vision of a world in which every person had the rights of freedom of speech and religion and freedom from want and fear. The Declaration was an important and inspiring first step, but it didn’t go far enough. “We don’t have rights unless we can enforce them in courts of law,” says Boyd. “Only by making them legally binding can we ensure they’re available to all.”

Boyd acknowledges that now is not the time to try to pass an International Bill of Rights. Rather, he hopes that his book will ignite a conversation about human rights that develops into an international social movement. “My book lays out the framework for what we have to do to be ready for that historical moment when there is agreement on the need for an enforceable International Bill of Rights,” he says. “I just hope it doesn’t take an international calamity for leaders to realize it.” Boyd’s book also lists specific actions readers can take to help make the agreement a reality. “But the most important thing people can do,” he says, “is spread the word about the Project and our Web site.”

The 2048 Project views the writing of the draft on an International Bill of Rights as a collaborative project. It invites people from all professions and countries to visit its Web site, http://74.220.219.58/~drafting/home, to make general comments about the idea of an International bill of Rights and specific comments about particular articles within the draft. The staff of the 2048 Project reviews all comments.

Boyd is frequently asked how the International Bill of Rights would be implemented. For example, how might freedom from want be enforced in courts? “The 2048 Project is a social contract, an agreement with those who govern,” says Boyd. “Today our government spends $1.6 trillion annually on the military. Imagine if the courts ordered the government to redirect a third of that money to schools, housing and social programs.”

From the start, Boyd has confronted nay-sayers who dismiss the 2048 Project as quixotic, wishful thinking, or an impossible dream. He counters by reminding his critics that many international agreements have been ratified. Most inspiring to Boyd is the example of the European Convention on Human Rights signed by 47 countries. “Europe has less fear of war now than it has had at any time in the past 400 years. If it has worked for 47 countries, it can work for 142. Eleanor Roosevelt said that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. The 2048 project is about continuing her dream.”

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Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions

Asking questions is like shooting arrows. Those that hit the bull’s eye direct questioners to the information they need or the outcomes they desire. Those that miss the target leave questioners feeling frustrated and defeated. Students attending elite schools typically learn critical thinking skills that serve them well in life. Not so lucky are those in failing schools or who have had little schooling at all. It is the latter population that concerns the Right Question Project (RQP) in Cambridge, Mass.

For the past 20 years, RQP co-founders and co-directors Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana have worked with nonprofit organizations serving minorities and individuals with low-incomes¾populations that often feel intimidated or unsure of what questions to ask when confronting people in positions of authority. RQP trains the staffs of these organizations in the RQP methods of formulating the right questions and making accountable decisions so that they can teach these skills to their clients. “The beauty of our process,” says Santana, “is that it is easy-to-learn and easy-to-teach without a lot of materials or expenses.”

Putting the skills into practice requires staff and clients alike to make a major shift in their behavior.  Instead of advocating for their clients or trying to solve their problems, staff members use the RQP methods to encourage clients to think and act on their own behalf. The results are impressive. Many clients become more confident and independent in dealing with situations in their personal lives, and some are emboldened to get involved in civic actions to improve their local communities.

Rothstein and Santana’s success in working with disadvantaged populations has encouraged them to adapt the RQP formulation process for use by middle and high school teachers. “Since Socrates, it’s been assumed that the learned person should lead the educational process by asking students questions,” says Rothstein. “We’re trying to reverse that. We see it as a way to bring a democratic educational practice into classrooms without announcing it as such.”

For the past nine years, Rothstein and Santana have presented their question formulation technique to teachers at the annual conferences of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Teachers’ enthusiastic reports about the effectiveness of the RQP model caught the attention of editors at Harvard Education Press, who invited Rothstein and Santana to write a book for classroom teachers. Titled Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Question, the book will draw on data gathered from a middle school in a low-income area of Boston that has integrated the question formulation process throughout the curriculum.

The RQP question formulation process consists of three steps: producing questions, improving questions, and strategizing on how to use the questions. “Our initial goal,” says Santana,” is to give students license to think. Once they start using this technique, they learn that asking questions in different ways can get different results and that makes them think more deeply about the kinds of questions they ask.” The feedback from the ninth grade class was encouraging. Said one student,” I learned that one question could lead to more questions, and that the first may have nothing to do with the topic.” Another said, “If I learn to ask the right questions, I don’t have to depend on adults to do it for me.”

“We think that formulating questions is a foundational skill that is essential for learning,” says Rothstein, “but it is not a skill deliberately taught in schools. When it is taught, it’s usually too complicated or laden with judgments about what kids should really be asking. We’re convinced that our simple strategy for formulating questions can be integrated into every classroom in the country and that it will sharpen the critical thinking capacity of all students, but especially those who haven’t had access to this training. We expect it to catch on like wildfire.”

Before that can happen, Rothstein and Santana have to complete the manuscript by this fall. Meeting the deadline will be all the harder for their having to raise funds from foundations and individuals donors to cover their expenses and time. Anyone interested in supporting the writing, publication, and dissemination of the book should contact Dan and Luz at 617-492-1900 or dan@rightquestion.org and luz@rightquestions.org

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Conversational Leadership

Too often the only people who have a say on matters of importance in organizations are  top executives. They discuss the issues among themselves, make decisions in private, and report the results to their staffs. Juanita Brown and Thomas J. Hurley believe these organizations are missing out on opportunities to tap the best resources for fresh thinking: their own employees. Brown is the co-founder of The World Café Community Foundation and Hurley, an advisor and coach to business leaders, is a World Café board member. Both are experts in leading The World Café dialogue process with groups. (For a description of how the World Café works, please click  http://www.theworldcafe.com/)

Recently, Hurley and Brown published an article, “Conversational Leadership: Thinking Together For A Change,” (Pegasus Communications, Inc, Systems Thinker), which offers a simple framework for understanding the practice of conversational leadership and the power of collective knowledge. “Conversational leadership starts with the belief in the possibility of collective intelligence,” say Hurley and Brown, “and the recognition that we can be smarter, more creative, and more capable together than we can be alone.”

Today many organizations take pride in creating cultures that encourage employees to show initiative in helping to make the organization more efficient, competitive or effective. Having an open invitation to participate, however, is very different from the intentional use of conversation to cultivate collective intelligence, as is the case with conversational leadership. Moreover, the conversational leadership framework follows specific principles for engaging participants and guiding them to new insights and more effective actions.

The authors give the example of what happened when Hewlett Packard used the conversational leadership process to engage more than 50,000 employees around the world in a conversation about plant safety. The ideas generated from the conversations not only resulted in a 33 percent reduction in the rate of company accidents, it also validated the process. The biggest gains in plant safety continue to be in plants where the conversation is ongoing.

Conversational leadership holds the promise of changing organizational cultures by fostering environments that value conversation, respectful listening, and critical thinking.
Adding to its appeal is its adaptability. It can be used with groups of different sizes, within one organization or across fields and sectors, in addressing one important question or many, as a simple design for a single meeting or as a long-term large-scale strategic initiative.

As Hurley and Brown concluded in their articles, “Conversational leadership has the potential to transform how leaders understand the organizations they serve, how companies and communities can employ the collective intelligence of all stakeholders in service of shared aims, and how all of us can participate in thinking together, for a change.”

The read the entire article, please go to. http://www.theworldcafe.com/articles/Conversational-Leadership.pdf

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TWI Interview Series: Daniel Goleman

We invite you to read a recent interview that John Esterle and Dan Clurman conducted with Daniel Goleman, the noted psychologist, writer, and lecturer. The interview is part of a series of informal conversations about decision making that John and Dan are conducting with experts from a wide range of disciplines.

Daniel Goleman gained international prominence with the publication of his 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence. A former science writer for the New York Times, Goleman’s other books include Working with Emotional Intelligence, Vital Lies, Simple Truth,and The Meditative Mind. His latest book is Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything.

To access the interview, please click http://thewhitmaninstitute.org/interviews.html.



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