American Graffiti: US Fellowship Mashup
What’s the opposite of blogger’s block? It’s called “Where do I start?” and it’s a great problem to have, when there is simply so much happening that you want to tell the world about. The word cloud here, generated by Tom Neumark during interviews with US Fellows, is a pretty accurate representation of my daily inbox!
Before I get into the details – did you know that you can sign up to receive the fortnightly US newsletter? Whether you live in the US, visit for work or pleasure, or want to maintain a global perspective, our newsletter will link you to US Fellows’ profiles, calls for action, and project progress. Email Barb Ballard to join our distribution list.
A recent newsletter headline tells the whole story: Milestones at Midyear. In the first half of this year the US Board of Trustees, made up of six committed Fellows turned a number of ambitious ideas into reality, introducing innovations with global implications for the RSA Fellowship and society.
- The US Challenge Fund was created to support Fellows’ project and network development, responding to the strong American entrepreneurial spirit. Did you know that per capita the US Fellowship has received one of the highest amounts of Catalyst funding across the global Fellowship, with six successful Catalyst projects so far?
- The Diebold Scholarships for Young Fellows, named for Founding Trustee David Diebold, are made available to qualified young people who might not otherwise be able to join. Diebold Scholars will also receive mentoring from one or more of the US Trustees. No question – this program will open doors to the genius of young people.
The Call for Nominations for the 2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal was issued by Henry Timms in the August 13 newsletter. The recipient will be an individual or group who has made profound differences in areas closely linked to the RSA’s agenda, whether through transatlantic co-operation and collaboration or through significant contributions to global affairs and social progress. Nominations close September 15, 2012 – so if you have a candidate in mind don’t delay!
- The US Student Design Awards (SDA-US) began as a Fellow-led initiative steered by Seren Page Bailey, a former SDA winner herself who knows firsthand the life-changing differences SDA awards have made over the last 87 years. After receiving a Catalyst grant and a US Challenge grant, SDA-US has become the first RSA-US national project. Some of the top US design schools are participating and will benefit from the expertise and support of our world class sponsors and advisers.
Nominations for the Benjamin Franklin Medal close September 15, 2012 – so if you have a candidate in mind don’t delay.
Finally, while we are on the subject of staff and especially since I’m bragging about the outstanding communications and web presence enjoyed by US Fellows, I should mention my friend and colleague Barb Ballard. Despite being in the hospital with her son on and off since June, she somehow managed to keep those emails going out and our website content fresh. Check out her work – and all the details of all of the programs mentioned above at the American Coffee House.
Lynn Broadbent is Fellowship Director for US networks – follow her @LynnUSA
Vancouver Fellows use LEGO® Serious Play™ for Creative, Collaborative Decision Making
Guest blogger Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, FRSA, discusses a recent Fellows’ meeting in Vancouver where she introduced the principles of the LEGO® Serious Play™ methodology
Globally, many companies are working with Management Consultants who use a facilitative approach with a creative tool called LEGO Serious Play. Yes, this is the LEGO brick, the toy that was originally designed for children and named after the Danish phrase leg godt, which means “play well”.
You might be wondering, how can adults play with LEGO to generate better ideas, improve decision making, or communication? Following is an overview of the process, how it works, and a description of how, this spring, Canadian Fellows and Friends of the Society met in Vancouver to discuss the strategic direction for the group going forward, utilizing this innovative tool to facilitate deeper, richer conversations.
First, what is this tool? In the early 2000s, the LEGO Group, struggling with its own strategy, decided to invest in learning. Because the toy had helped shape so many young minds, could it also be used to help adults address complex business processes such as strategic thinking, innovation mining, problem solving, and decision making? Great question. We know that business, organizations and communities struggle to do these things well, especially now, during rapid times of change requiring a more agile mindset.
They worked with two psychologists who created the framework for the process, which has four steps:
- Constructing
- Giving meaning
- Storytelling
- Reflecting
They discovered the outcomes were:
- Insight
- Confidence
- Commitment
They found that this process allows for 100% engagement because it keeps all participants in the Flow Zone, as described by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. During its early stages of development, the process was introduced to a community of management consultants who formed the LEGO Serious Play partner community.
So, how and why does it work?
These practitioners continue to use the tool today and they improve it each time they apply it to a new business situation or challenge. No two workshops are alike because they are always customized to meet the outcomes of those using the tool. Adopting an agile mindset during the process allows participants to discover new issues and to change direction, as the facilitator adjusts to drive the group toward its desired outcomes.
The process engages whole brain thinking. We tell people to think of their hands as the search engines for their mind, as their brain is a perfect computer system that holds complex information. But the brain needs a process to tap into that hidden power to bring it out into the light for objective examination. When we use our hands for building and we have the limitations the bricks provide, it is amazing how quickly the brain works through the hands to solve problems.
The facilitator constructs probing questions for the group to answer, starting with simple stepping into more powerful and complex questions, allowing everyone to answer from their perspective. Participants answer the questions through model building, which uses applied and systematic creativity to move the group forward. A strict etiquette is applied to all sessions, which the facilitator maintains to keep the group on track. This etiquette allows for an objective look at complex and challenging topics. It facilitates turn taking, model interpretation by the model builder, consensus building, and it provides a safe and playful environment where participants can take risks and share information.
People are building metaphorical models called artifacts. These artifacts hold complex information that is communicated through the process of story telling. This is effective because our brains use the frontal cortex to solve problems, but this area is also only able to remember about seven things at a time. So typical complex problem solving can be challenging for the brain and since the brain is wired for survival and hates confusion, the brain prefers to default to something that it has already tried before.
How many times have you attended a meeting, only to leave thinking it was completely unproductive?
This process drives new ideas and different thoughts by the sheer nature that we are not thinking with the help of a flip chart or the dreaded PowerPoint presentation. The LEGO® process also uses systems thinking to dive deeper into problems, so participants consider and address everything on the business landscape. This is important because we know that businesses, communities, and organizations all function as part of a bigger system. The system is created through the careful placement and connection of the artifacts. But it is not the LEGO bricks or the model at work here. It is the conversations that people are having while using the bricks as a prop to help give the thinking a hand. As you can imagine, LEGO Serious Play is a great tool to facilitate the design thinking processes.
Third, how was it used by the RSA?
Approximately forty people participated in the event. Graphic posters displayed around the room indicated the nine areas for discussion, which the organizers identified beforehand. The groups self-sorted by selecting a topic they felt passionate about for small group work. The first step of engagement is to ensure that people are working on topics they are interested in, have some connection to, and where they feel their involvement can make a difference. The topics included:
- Public Engagement and Collaboration: To enhance neighborhood police services
- Improving Substance Abuse Services: Through the engagement and support of drug users
- Making Connections for New Canadians: Working to ensure a sustainable future
- Transformation of Local Libraries: Creating business hubs for lifelong learning
- The Social Enterprising Prison: Creating programs for inmates to give back, while building needed skill sets
- Rethinking Education: Creating systems and practices that are truly learner centered
- Easing Social Isolation and Loneliness of Seniors: Through service redesign
- People Centered Cities: Creating better public space that’s lively, healthy, attractive, sustainable, and safe
- Energy and the environment: The path forward
Participants used a human bar chart to form small groups of five to seven people. This showed where people, as a group, had interest and focus. Some topic areas received no interest and those were not unaddressed.
Once participants selected their interest, they worked together using systematic creativity facilitated by members of the Strategicplay® Group from Vancouver. The building began with individual models and then the groups worked together to build larger joint models to explore and gain a deeper understanding of these complex issues. The facilitated discussions allowed participants to see, hear, and experience rich conversations and to unearth perspectives from all participants.
For new members and friends it provided an opportunity to see the types of work in which the RSA is engaged, how their fellow participants view the topic, and how they themselves might like to become more involved.
Following the session, participants formulated a planning committee, which has now narrowed the focus areas down to a few topics with the aim of putting serious action projects together.
For more information or to understand more applications of StrategicPlay with LEGO Serious Play visit: www.strategicplay.ca
Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, FRSA
Pitch Salon: “either to please or to educate”
Recently, I was invited by Blair Glencorse, a Fellow based here in Washington DC, to a Pitch Salon. What, I wondered, is a Pitch Salon? Turns out it’s a networking event that’s a cross between speed networking and TED Talks. It’s a lot of fun and a powerful way to expand personal horizons, share information and connections, and inspire new ways of thinking.
According to Wikipedia, a salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. Salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries, often consciously followed Horace’s definition of the aims of poetry, “either to please or to educate”, and played an important role in the Enlightenment.
It’s a unique format we thought would work well to generate some really exciting, creative thinking and collaborations. To make it work, we want just the right small group of people in the room
- Blair Glencorse, FRSA
So this 21st Century Pitch Salon had all the ingredients: Blair and his co-organizers, Alex Toma and Matt Rojansky, were indeed inspiring hosts; they brought together a carefully selected group of about 30 people under the roof of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Each person was invited to participate because they had something unique and exciting to offer and because they wanted to make the world a better place. We were ready to be pleased and educated.
The event began with a rapid-fire series of five very different presentations: the need for a US grand strategy of sustainability to address profound economic and political problems; advocacy for civilian victims of conflict around the world; the case for decentralized investment and distributed control; the internet and democracy; and the psychology and neuroscience of magic in fostering 21st Century skills. Each was allowed no more than five minutes, used no props, power points or specialized jargon, and the speakers followed each other with no break for Q&A. There was something about the intensity of this approach that was very compelling. I was transported into entirely new worlds and gained fresh insights into more familiar territory, and as each speaker wrapped up we were left wanting to know more.
The second part of the evening was a free for all, a social hour giving us the chance to mingle. We had questions for the pitch makers and for each other; introductions, information and business cards were exchanged. It seemed imperative to meet everyone in the room before the hour was up.
This format seems like it would work really well in a number of settings. It might be interesting to try it in some of the Fellows’ networks, with partner networks, as a workshop for students, or in mediation or therapeutic settings. Who would like to give it a try?
Lynn Broadbent is Fellowship Director for US networks – follow her @LynnUSA
We love our Event Partners
One of the many great opportunities of being an RSA Fellow is being able to connect with other interesting people and their work. Fellows often open up their own organization’s events to other Fellows which is a win for both sides. Everybody expands their horizons and their networks.
In the US Fellows use the American Coffee House to offer free or discounted access to conferences, lectures and seminars. In the next couple of weeks events offered by Fellows’ organizations include a seminar on social branding hosted by We First, a CCI weekend executive program on developing business acumen, and a 92Y partner event on rethinking taxes.
Together we are much more than the sum of our parts.
The 92Y Event Partnership was developed last year by US Trustee Henry Timms and Fellows Helaine Katz and Charlotte Cooper. What makes 92Y partnership events really interesting is that they have built-in networking time for Fellows to get to know each other and expand on the program’s themes. Similar partnerships to share events, skills and resources or to collaborate on research and projects are in development globally. It’s a powerful way to achieve our shared goals.
Lynn Broadbent is Fellowship Director for US networks – follow her @LynnUSA
Investing in Once and Future Fellows
Fellows come in all shapes and sizes and each one has a unique experience as a Fellow. The question “What is RSA Fellowship?” is really hard to answer as it’s different for everyone.
I thought it would be interesting to look at a couple of interesting examples of Fellowship. Take for example David Turner, who was recently elected as President of RSA United States. David started out studying textile design at a middle tier UK college anticipating few prospects after graduation. When a professor recognized his untapped potential and submitted his work to an RSA Industrial Bursaries Competition, all that changed. David won a prize and was fast-tracked to the Royal College of Art where he completed a masters degree and his real career began. His work took him to the United States, were he took up various senior positions in the textile industry focusing on product design, innovation, and technology development.
Although always grateful for the doors that opened to him because of the RSA, David didn’t keep up RSA Fellowship during the years he was busy building his career and starting a family. Eventually, some thirty years later, David felt compelled to reconnect with the RSA. He co-founded the RSA-US Southeast regional network, served on the RSA Fellowship Council, became a US Trustee and now serves as RSA-US President. He is working with Seren Page Bailey, also an RSA prize-winner, to introduce a US Student Design Award Competition. They both recognize the importance of encouraging young professionals, especially during these economically difficult times.
Investing in the next generation not only accelerates individual careers, but it can also bring innovation to benefit society much sooner. If that sounds idealistic, just think that Sir Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple and mentioned by Matthew in the previous post below this one, was the recipient of two RSA student design awards; like David and Seren, Jonathan acknowledges the difference that recognition made to his career development. The RSA now offers paid internships in London and continues to recognize emerging talent in a number of different ways, investing in our collective futures. Here in the US, we welcome Fellows’ help as we set up similar programs, beginning with the proposed US Student Design Awardsand the next generation of once and future Fellows!
Lynn Broadbent is Fellowship Director for US networks – follow her @LynnUSA
Network Building 101
Fellows and Networks come in all shapes and sizes and small can be beautiful. But what if your group is either non-existent or not quite there yet? You have a strong desire to do more as a Fellow, and you know the RSA’s work could really bring some benefit to your community, but how can you get started? My colleague Vivs gives an overview of how to start a network below and Andy gives a great example of a network getting things done. Here are some of my own pointers from my work around the US networks.
Your first point of contact should always be your regional network manager. He or she can connect you with other Fellows with similar interests. You might be surprised to find one or two are close by – two is company and three’s a network!
The Chattanooga network in Tennessee is a good example of a network built from scratch in a region where Fellows are few and far between. When David Turner moved to Tennessee, I introduced him to another long-time Chattanooga Fellow, Bo Sudderth, and they started meeting for coffee. Both men feel that their lives have been changed for the better by the RSA and both felt very strongly that they wanted to pass that opportunity along to a new wave of younger Fellows while also doing some good in the local community. They built relationships with local nonprofits and foundations, and met with civic leaders to better understand the gaps in the local social fabric that an RSA Fellows’ initiative might be able to fill.
The Chattanooga timeline went like this:
- November 2008: Two local Fellows meet
- June 2009: Grant approved by local foundation;
- June 2009: Community foundation account for Fellows’ network was created
- September 2009: Information event to introduce the RSA to the community
- November 2009: Two nonprofit leaders recruited to the Fellowship
- Spring 2010: Monthly Network meetings began; potential new Fellows invited and gradually recruited
- May 2010: RSA Catalyst grant awarded for Saturday Art with Dad Program at Calvin Donaldson
- Sept 2011: Chattanooga Fellows present to RSA US Board in NYC
Many cups of coffee later, the Chattanooga network has grown to 20 Fellows, all actively engaged in a cluster of social projects as showcased at the recent New York-Chattanooga network exchange.
“In my work, I have witnessed incredible potential realized simply through the committed action of creative, inspired citizens. The RSA and its Fellows are poised to accomplish similar ongoing success in communities throughout the world, and I am excited to see what is possible in Chattanooga as we continue to collaborate.”
Trey Meyer, Broken Windows Brigade
Chattanooga Lead Fellow Sharon Turner affirms, “The history and the resources of the RSA make a great platform for Fellows’ projects, while regular networking meetings provide inspiration and motivation. FRSAs are part of a tradition of change.”
It can take patience and hard work to get something going, especially is regions where Fellows are few and far between. Remember that it might not always be clear at first what RSA Fellows can bring to their community, but when Fellows get together great things happen. So even if you don’t start out with a Big Idea, it doesn’t usually take long for inspiration to strike.
Lynn Broadbent is Fellowship Director for US networks – follow her @LynnUSA
What’s Art got to do with it?
Filed under: Arts and Society, Fellowship, Uncategorized
At a recent networks exchange in New York, Fellows from the tri-state network and the Chattanooga network had a blast sharing experiences, stories, and inspiration. There were many conversations, presentations and even epiphanies on both sides.
One of the voices was Toni Gwaltney’s from Chattanooga. Toni has been involved with the Fine Arts and Human Rights most of her life. A brief encounter teaching an Arts workshop with children from our Cathedral school, Holy Trinity Episcopal, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, convinced her that arts education was her calling. So when RSA Chattanooga received a catalyst grant to help launch an arts program for under-served kids in Chattanooga, Toni had found another outlet for her life’s passion.
Toni commented, “As a teacher, the power of the Fine Arts to transform lives is awe-inspiring. For children who have nothing, it doesn’t just merely enhance their academic performance. It can be life-saving. We know we cannot change someone’s life circumstance, but we can help them develop a new vision, a way to a different life path, a way to rewrite their own story. The belief that something…a sheet of blank paper, a few notes on a piano, a handful of lines from a script… can be transformed into something different, something beautiful or meaningful or evocative, translates somehow in the heart and mind as FAITH. The Arts imbue us with Faith: faith in ourselves, faith in humanity, faith in what is possible.”
She added, “I do hope that we can find some way to share the faith with other communities who have been left out of the Arts. Can you imagine if we could put a Visual Arts or Orchestra or Theater program in every poor, culturally deprived community in America? I think the educational establishment would have to take notice!”
More reports on the Chattanooga-New York Networks Exchange can be found on the American Coffee House (www.blog.rsa-us.org) and a full report will appear in the November 1 US newsletter.
Twitter feed of #theRSA- @Samfr @miss_mcinerney @debrakidd look out for June #thersa report on in year admissions. May 22, 2013 joehallg (Joe Hallgarten)
- RT @MParsfield: @davidstuckler's book is out now http://t.co/sXIRTYf8h4 That's all from me, goodnight #RSAStuckler #theRSA May 22, 2013 BookshopEye (Bookshop Watch)
- @davidstuckler's book is out now http://t.co/sXIRTYf8h4 That's all from me, goodnight #RSAStuckler #theRSA May 22, 2013 MParsfield (Matthew Parsfield)
- That's the end of a superb and important event. Thanks to @davidstuckler and Dr McCoy #RSAStuckler #theRSA May 22, 2013 MParsfield (Matthew Parsfield)
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