Mod. 5.2 - Ritual of Regard; People Before Politics

Reflecting on the exercise, Put People Before Politics, reflect on the following prompts:

• How might this approach benefit your case project? What might be needed for this to happen?

• How might the arts and creative processes be integrated into this kind of exercise? What effect do you think this could have?

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How might this approach benefit your case project? What might be needed for this to happen?

I think the 5 prompts from the Bridging Differences Playbook have huge potential to benefit our case project. Not only in terms of our team’s interactions with the North Park’s stakeholders and beneficiaries, but with one another as well. I’m imagining my peer group beginning this process by identifying what values we bring and want to incorporate into our work on the project. Each of the 5 prompts certainly frame that work and provide a starting point for very rich conversation that will help expand our relationships with one another, create space for vulnerability, and frame our work process. A great group exercise might be for each of us to share our thoughts around each prompt and where we feel we might flourish or struggle in the project around each one so we can all be aware and help each other grow in those areas. Once our values and framing exercises are completed and established, we can then turn our attention to how we might incorporate the 5 prompts into our work process.

Repeating the exercise around the five prompts, this time focused on our interactions with the project’s stakeholders and beneficiaries will clarify expectations, allow us to mutually support each other, create realistic work flows that also push us to grow, and potentially unearth some biases we may be unconsciously bringing into the project and share ways we might be able to address those during the course of building out the project proposal and, if selected, the actual work process.

How might the arts and creative processes be integrated into this kind of exercise? What effect do you think this could have?

I could imagine one of us taking the lead on facilitating the beginning of our time together by leading us through the exercise of building and establishing the values we want to bring and incorporate into the project of building the proposal. Digital resources that allow us to each pin Post-It notes in different colors to each value prompt would create creative space for digital interaction and teambuilding. We could also use breakout sessions and rooms to create time and space for each person to share their individual perspectives around each prompt. We could ask each person to complete the exercise of the five prompts related to stakeholders and beneficiaries in presentation format to share at the next meeting, which would allow people to frame their process vision on their own terms via artwork, graphic design, scrapbook, etc.

The invitation to create artistically not only instills personal investment, but also creates an opportunity to demonstrate and share each other’s strengths, preferences, and skill sets that they bring to the project that would facilitate and reinforce different assignments generated during the course of building out the proposal. For example, if someone shares amazing graphics, they might be a great resource for future presentations with stakeholders. If another person feels uncomfortable with designing graphics, but is very detailed in project management processes, let them take the lead on building out the framework for building the proposal to share with the group. Each of these elements not only reinforces each person’s individual contributions, but creates shared purpose, understanding and vision around how to build the project proposal in a way that instills confidence, inspiration and motivation.