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Channelling Fran Peavey – generating strategic questions for those who sponsor community engagement and collaboration

04/10/2018 By Max Hardy Leave a Comment

As many of you will know I have long been a fan of Fran Peavey; especially her work in developing the concept and practice of strategic questioning. Fran put forward the power of questions that make it impossible for the status quo to remain. Questions that create movement; questions that cannot be answered immediately, without giving serious thought. Questions that sometimes shake our foundations and certainty. Questions that make change inevitable and necessary.

If you want to know what I’m talking about check this article of Fran’s. And what I’m really curious about it is how strategic questioning can help to shift the practice of community engagement, especially those who commission it, and ultimately make decisions which are meant to be informed by community engagement.

I’ve been experimenting for the past 20 plus years; having been confronted with remarks such as these:

“I don’t really believe in community engagement. Nothing useful ever comes of it.”

“Where is the evidence that this is useful at all?”

“We have worked so hard to find an answer to this. We have years of collective experience. Once we go out to the community we are likely to have it all thrown out the window!”

“What we need is a process that delivers us a sensible outcome. We have to be able to persuade the community that this is the best possible result.”

“We have to be very careful. Very careful about certain people who we know who do not like us – who have an agenda!”

Now, it’s not as if there isn’t some validity to such concerns about community engagement. If decisionmakers/executives/sponsors of community engagement have only seen it undertaken poorly, and as a ‘Decide, Announce and Defend’ process, it is hardly surprising they have not experienced value for effort (however misguided).

Anyway, let’s bring back Fran. I have often asked myself, what questions might Fran ask of leaders and decisionmakers who are required to do community engagement, but don’t believe in it’s value. Here is a collection.

“What would you like the community and stakeholders to say about your organisation as a result of being engaged about this issue?”

“What might be the consequences of your community feeling like you are just going through the motions/ticking the box?”

“How differently would community engagement be undertaken if we believed it was valuable and useful?”

“What might it take for the community to appreciate the knowledge and skills of your organisation?”

“What is the most useful insight you have gained from someone outside of your organisation – about your business/ priorities?”

“If you have to do community engagement, what might make it a rewarding and useful experience for your organisation?”

“What might it be like to work with your community if much greater trust was established?”

“Can you recall the most memorable positive experience you have had when asked to contribute to resolve an issue being managed by another organisation? What happened? What made it so memorable? What might we learn from that experience you had?

Notice here that there are no ‘why’ questions. Questions starting with ‘why’ may be useful for understanding a situation; but they are not helpful for creating movement. ‘Why’ questions usually encourage people to dig in where they are; to be defensive; demanding a justification. ‘How’ and ‘what’ questions are a much better way to make space for movement.

It’s important to remember that Fran said there is no guarantee any question will always be strategic. It will depend on many factors. But you know it’s a really powerful strategic question when there is no immediate answer; when it compels people to think, to reflect, and to challenge their assumptions. Often, it’s like a ‘deer looking into the headlights’, where they become frozen and immobilised, even for just a second or two. When you have that kind of response you know you have landed a truly strategic question.

Whether or not you are familiar with the art of strategic questioning I’m curious to learn what questions you have posed to facilitate a shift. Or even a question you have been asked that had a profound effect on you, and your practice. Feel free to share!

Filed Under: Community Engagement Tagged With: Collaboration, Community Engagement, Fran Peavey, strategic questioning

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Max Hardy TEDx St Kilda

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I have worked with Max Hardy on two complex projects which took deliberative democracy and applied it to new problems. In 2007 at a ceremony in Arizona, USA Max along with the ACT Disability Advisory Council was awarded the IAP2 (International) Award for "Project of the Year" for our Citizens Jury project which provided scorecard

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Jessie Keating

Working with Max is a delight. Max’s facilitation, collaboration and problem solving style is respectful and calm, along with being both accessible and professional. The most significant project we have worked on with Max was the planning and undertaking of a community symposium, focused on the drafting of our city’s 20 year strategy, MV2040. We

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'I have had the pleasure of both being a participant in a fantastic training session run by Max, and also as a client. Max was of tremendous assistance navigating through a challenging engagement process with great support, advice and good humour. Thank you Max.' Kellie King General Manager – Community & Corporate Services, Wannon Water

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Lindy Fentiman

'I have had the pleasure of working with Max when he ventures up to sunny Queensland!  He is a generous, insightful and highly skilled professional who absolutely practices what he believes in.  Nobody understands the importance of collaboration, engagement and the challenges this brings for organisations better than Max!  He is an excellent coach, facilitator

Amber James

'I have known Max for more than ten years. I was a student of his doing the IAP2 Certificate, engaged him as a consultant for in-house work in local government, and then worked alongside him on a consumer engagement capacity building project at the Royal Brisbane Womens Hospital. He is great to be around and

Carol M Anderson

'If one were to ask me who was the best facilitator and facilitation trainer in the world, I would unequivocally answer “Max Hardy.” As the public involvement manager at one of the largest U.S.-based environmental engineering firms, I often took along my notes from Max’s facilitation class to meet with clients and, on their behalf, with the public.

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Lara Damiani

'I had the wonderful opportunity to watch Max in action facilitating the Citizen's Jury for People With Disability Australia in Sydney last month which I was filming. Max's tagline "results through collaboration" is spot on. It was pure magic watching Max create collaboration and results from a randomly selected jury - 12 very unique personalities

Crispin Butteriss, Bang the Table

'Max is a long time colleague, mentor and friend. He has a deft touch as a facilitator and collaboration strategist due his deeply developed empathetic listening skills, along with the experience and wisdom of many years of working on thorny problems with people from all walks of life'. Crispin Butteriss, PhD Co-founder and Chief Practice

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Anna Kelderman

'Max's extensive experience with deliberative engagement, as well as his uniquely calming facilitation style, has helped bring about a step-change in the type of public engagement expected in Western Australia. It has been an absolute pleasure to partner with and learn from the best in the business, and I continue to look for opportunities to

Lisa Rae

I first encountered Max in Auckland when he delivered IAP2 training I was attending. Many years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work with him on two significant local government projects in Melbourne using co-design and deliberative engagement approaches. Max’s great strength was helping council decision makers understand their role in the engagement process and

Amy Hubbard, Capire

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Moira Deslandes

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Becky Hirst

'Max is one of the leading superstars of community engagement and collaborative governance in Australia. Since I first met him as my trainer in Adelaide back in 2007, I've admired his approach. He's passionate, dedicated, admired in the field and I look forward to seeing the next steps of his career unfold. Watch out world!'

Beatrice Briggs

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Barbara Dart

Max recently facilitated a two day course for us at Council about tackling the internal and external challenges of community engagement. Max is an exceptional facilitator and his ability to draw on experiences across such a broad and diverse background in CE is invaluable to those before him. I would highly recommend Max to anyone

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