Exercise 3: 5 Close Contacts

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    • #19394
      Joshua
      Keymaster

      From the book:

      Key Deliverables:

      1. A list of the advice you got that is relevant to the project.
      2. An improved version of the projects based on that advice.
      3. Your reflections on the experience.
      4. Votes from each person on which idea they liked most.
      5. Your choice of which project you’ll work on.

    • #19399
      Jim Jenkins
      Participant

      Jim’s 5 problems

      Field: Sustainability Leadership
      1. Problem: Many of the public are fearful and angry about the impacts of climate change and have given up hope that the problem can be solved

      Solution: Create a speaker series where people can learn how leaders are solving those big problems

      Field: Sustainability Leadership
      2. Problem: Organizational leaders feel fearful that sustainability project proposals will be rejected on the belief that they will create more work and cost that impacts profitability, without creating much value.

      Solution: Develop a how to forum focused on building sustainability project business cases and ROI calculations get more projects approved

      Field: Food Security
      3. Problem: Many people in urban communities feel frustrated and helpless when it comes to growing some of their own food because they don’t know how to where to start.

      Solution: Develop a demonstration urban food ecosystem and information resources that people can participate in and be inspired to take action

      4. Problem: people feel anger and disappointment when they find out green branded products they purchased are only slightly better for the environment or not at all.

      Solution: Create ‘how to determine product greenness’ videos to drive better decision making

      Field: Sustainability culture
      5. Problem: People who work in organizations are disappointed and sad when they find there is no means to participate in sustainability initiatives or there is a weak sustainability effort

      Solution: Implement a grass roots sustainability engagement function to provide opportunities for employees to participate in initiatives and learn to take on their own projects

      Advice received:
      #3 and 4 were well thought out and clear, no comment to make them better
      #1 and 2 could be shorter and less complex, couldn’t visualize the impact
      #5 was the best
      Recommend starting with a smaller solution for each, might be too broad to start for people to understand and engage on.
      #1: define what a sustainability problem is, every day people solving specific problems
      #2: good solution, certain % buy in for sure, generalizing is good to be more applicable.
      #3: Sounds familiar, probably a lot of information out there on You Tube that could be leveraged. Progress the listener to the living example, lets go together, take action with the person.
      #4: probably many videos already exist to reduce the amount of work in this one
      #5 How to make it happen in this company? Would have to be secret to make it work. Tie together teaching sustainability and applying it in your own life as well to make it more personal.
      #3 is the best.

      Reflections:
      Versions were improved after each feedback conversation and restated in their new form in the next conversation. This made for greater over all improvement.
      Each person focused on unique elements to improve. Knowing the people I asked, I saw how they look at life and work in their comments and what they focused on.

    • #19411
      Beth
      Participant

      Week 3: Soliciting Advice

      Conversation #1:

      1. Add something to the t-shirts like “I pick up trash”
      2. Do “Pequenas Placitas” or “small chats” with school children arranged by a conversation with the principal
      3. Use the graduating university students who are required to do 460 hours of social services work in order to obtain their degree
      4. Take a photo of every child/student who participates that includes what they did and maybe a quote.
      5. Include composting in the conversation.
      Vote for Project starting with school children

      Conversation #2:
      1. Start a Facebook page for the project.
      2. Use connections to the local government to make contact with them to find a way to include them.
      3. Get advertisements about the event out in the newspapers, social media, influencers in the area.
      4. Use t-shirts with the message of Yo Merida
      Vote for community wide event

      Conversation #3:
      1. Have “Brigades de Limpeza” (cleaning brigades)
      2. Develop a clear identity that can be easily communicated.
      3. Make use of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
      4. Form very concrete goals and objectives for reaching them after you have clearly articulated an “identity”
      5. There is something called “Jefe de la Manzana” that exists in other parts of Mexico. It is like a “Neighborhood Watch” with a leader who organizes taking care of a small neighborhood area like a block or several.
      Vote for a small event with one group (school, church, organization) and go to community wide event after.

      Conversation #4:
      1. Use Mexican people as the leaders. Suggested several local businesses that would be well suited to participate including a property management business with lots of community action and ties, a health concierge service also with ties.
      2. Make an event once a month.
      3. Use a local “influencer” who already has a large (predominantly gringo) audience.
      4. Connect with the Merida English Library which has a board of directors with lots of experience in outreach and local connections.
      5. Reach out to the governmental leaders through a woman who has already done lots of projects that have been run through local government.
      Vote for community wide event but want it to be monthly.

      Conversation #5: (scheduled for today.)

      • #19419
        Beth
        Participant

        Addendum:

        Revised projects
        1. Find one local group/person/business with whom to partner. With them, develop a strategy for targeting an area and types of businesses or organizations to set up a “area stewardship program” .
        2. Create a clear identity of “I Merida” in cooperation with local sponsors. Approach local government for support and participation through people already affiliated with them to plan a city wide event.
        3. Isn’t really different than the above.
        4. Create a stewardship program in one local school to develop pride, knowledge, and skills in how to care for our surroundings.
        5. This isn’t really a separate idea but one that should be integrated into others as above.

        Reflections:
        I really enjoyed this week’s task, largely because I love having a reason to talk to people. I chose first local people to talk with who are more connected to Mexican culture and views. I spoke to one gringo couple, one Cuban gay couple and 3 Mexican couples/families. I thought I understood the assignment from the discussion in class and proceeded without reading the details in the book first, so in that regard, I didn’t follow the directions. My first conversations included things like “that’s a great idea” responses and less consciousness about keeping the conversation focused. I think that worked originally because in the Mexican culture, you don’t “cut to the chase” (that’s considered rude) but chat a bit first and inquire about everyone’s well-being. I realize in reflection that with my gringo friends I started more immediately into the conversation. In my final conversation I consciously didn’t give any positive or negative responses to ideas, just acknowledgment and clarification. It worked. I actually stayed more focused in listening and making sure I understood their ideas.
        As the feedback from others who have taken the class has reported, people do like to give advice. There was absolutely no issue with people sharing their ideas. Everyone I spoke to had interest in the topic, and all had very personal suggestions and desires to “help”. This is a little concerning to me as I won’t be able to use everything that was shared. I clarified this in each conversation but I’m still wondering how it will fall out when I move forward without using the suggestions that were given. I will wait and see. All offered to be a part of whatever I choose to do.

        Project chosen to move forward:
        I have decided to move forward with a project in a school to start a program/club focused on community pride and stewardship.

    • #19412
      Hayden Kessinger
      Participant

      I came up short this week

      Hey everyone! I only managed about 3 and a half conversations this week. More people I asked to chat with are available next week so I plan to get their feedback then. I haven’t picked a project to dive into quite yet, although I’m nearly there. Below is the advice I did receive, as well as my reflections from the week. I apologize in advance for the length — I won’t be offended if you don’t read it all!

      I think a lot of the advice I got is a bit lacking. More like opinions or separate ideas. But honestly, it was all still helpful. I struggled to get them to give real advice.

      Advice received:
      1. Not all animal advocates feel this tense when discussing the subject. Some don’t speak about animal welfare in specific situations — what are those situations? and what can we do about that?
      2. Have news stations normalize conversations about animal welfare. Get it on radio, tv commercials. Use the same methods that meat industry uses to talk about animal welfare.
      3. The reason animal advocates are tense is because most other people are uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the topic of animal welfare.
      4. Perhaps it would be easier to convince them to do smaller steps at first; just reduce meat consumption at first. This makes it easier to get them involved (read book “How to create a vegan world”)
      5. When talking about animal welfare to others, make sure to reflect on my past to connect with where they are now… “I use to eat meat and buy the cheap meat, etc.” Be super transparent and honest where I came from. Make it clear that if you feel guilty now that there’s nothing you can do to change the past but you can move in the right direction now.
      6. Focus on alternatives = lots of success stories. Focus on the change and not on the situation. Show the % of change over time, the proportion of vegan products. Easier to convince someone to go vegan by saying more and more people are going vegan, instead of x% are vegan because people new to the movement will feel like a minority. If it’s more positive, it will be more exciting like a trend.
      7. Have a graphical representation of where we were 100 years ago compared to where we are now. Show that in the present moment it feels like nothing is happening but our efforts do have an impact
      8. Making vegan food for others turns something that was negative and tense into a nice bonding moment with family and friends. While it can feel isolating to have a strong viewpoint, people like good food! You can talk about veganism or not while eating but it’s a first step.
      9. Feeling lonely/isolated depends on where you live. Finding these groups is harder in smaller cities; they have to rely on online groups. Online networks already exist, offline: create one group locally, though it can be difficult
      10. Some farmers don’t see the problem. There are already programs that exist helping this transition occur. Would be hard to give advice for transitioning without background in farming. IMO, more important to decrease the demand. Younger people will [hopefully!] start new business that are more plant-based
      11. Try to organize with the workers to boycott a farm. Would likely be difficult but could have a big impact if all workers got on board. Stop subsidies of meat because the reason the jobs are there is because meat is so subsidized.
      12. Problem 4 has the highest level of solvability and the potential to make a significant impact relatively quickly. The solution for number 4 would be the easiest to implement. Probably many of us might have considered this, but there might be a lack of initiative/resources/etc. Also, this would be very beneficial as many animal advocates experience isolation and a lack of connection. It would help individuals continue advocating, supporting animals and maintaining their dietary choices. While there are some existing options, much more is needed.
      13. In general, everyone I spoke with asked for more specificity

      My updated project ideas:
      Problem: Animal advocates feel tense when discussing animal welfare and find it difficult to talk about.
      Solution: Have more difficult and uncomfortable conversations about animal welfare (just me)! Create a group of animal advocates who meet regularly to improve knowledge of relevant topics and gain confidence by acting out potential uncomfortable conversations. (Possibly pursuing)

      Problem: People who eat animal products feel guilt, judgment, and resistance when spoken to about the animal agriculture industry.
      Solution: Help guide people to make consumer choices that reflect their values. This could also be through a podcast, similar to This Sustainable Life. I could do the Spodek Method, animal edition. (I didn’t edit this, but have advice on how to be most effective with it… definitely considering pursuing)

      Problem: Animal advocates feel hopeless about improving the lives of farmed animals.
      Solution: Expose more people to the amazing work that is already being done for animals, what they can do, and the potential for huge change in the future. I’m still interested in organizing a large-scale fundraiser like a long-distance bike tour, but am interested in first building my volunteer organizing with The Humane League. I want to help other volunteers grow as advocates. (Although this one received no votes, I’m leaning towards pursuing it)

      Problem: Animal advocates feel lonely and different from others. They can struggle to connect with friends and family.
      Solution: Create an animal advocate social network. Start with local advocates that I already know and invite them to social events. Ask them what they want. (Considering weaving this into the project above)

      Problem: Slaughterhouse workers and farmers feel trapped in their jobs that exploit animals. They want to treat them better but the demand for animal products makes higher animal welfare impossible.
      Solution: Meet with farmers and/or slaughterhouse workers and ask how they feel about their position. If enough are disgruntled, organize group to disrupt the factory they work for. (Very unlikely I will pursue this one)

      Votes:
      1, 2, and 4 were each voted for as a favorite. My half conversation hasn’t led to a vote yet.

      My Reflections

      I have to say, this week was the toughest so far. It was difficult to set up conversations with people to give me advice. Three different people I contacted this week happened to be on vacation or at a work retreat, unable to help me until next week. I plan to chat with them when they’re available and get their advice. It was also a challenge because of the nature of the problems I’m proposing. The people I reached out to were all, for the most part, on board with the overarching mission. I didn’t feel comfortable asking my coworkers or other friends to give advice on this topic because I felt like it’d be weird for me or them or both. I recognize that by being picky with who I spoke to, I may have missed out on valuable advice from people with different perspectives. This will be something I hope to change moving forward.

      Another challenge was getting advice rather than feedback or brand new ideas. Everyone was interested and helpful but also sort of not. A couple of people I spoke to are well-involved in the animal advocacy space and therefore thought quite critically about the ideas. They considered how impactful each one might be as well as how realistic they were. This was helpful but also a little discouraging because it sort of squashed my ambition. Although I suppose feedback like that is pretty important and simply part of the process.

      Everyone I talked to expressed interest in hearing about how the rest of the course goes. They were curious about which project I might develop and wanted to know more. The conversations were enjoyable but because my ideas started pretty broad, the people I spoke to had some trouble coming up with advice, so they were a little bumpy at times. Some of them gave me resources that could help develop the ideas.

      My understanding of the problems and potential solutions definitely improved. This was both because of more time to think about it myself and because of the advice I received. I learned that I really need to be as specific as possible. I also became more committed to the goals of the exercises: connect to the specific negative emotions and figure out how to change them.

    • #19414
      Evelyn Wallace
      Participant

      ((Sorry if I misunderstood the assignment, guys! I didn’t at all go into the advice that the people gave me… But I DO have all the notes from those conversations so can talk about them readily in class tomorrow!))

      The first time I took this workshop, Josh asked us all if we had noticed the spiral staircase on the cover of the book. “That’s not an accident,” he said.

      This is the second time I have participated in Josh’s Initiative workshop series/ exercises. That is, I am on the second rung (?) of the spiral staircase: same spin, different level. And I can see from up here with more clarity the first rung… and the confusing-at-the-time feedback I received such as “the advice the person gives you isn’t the point.”

      This time around:
      • I was more organized with…
      o Weekly schedule: I didn’t wait until Thursday to start thinking about it. I was committed to doing the work on time, so even though some of my original appointments didn’t pan out, I felt more confident just reaching out to any known/ trusted person I happened to interface with. Like “hey! Jeni! How are you! Glad to see you at the farmer’s market! Hey listen do you have like 10 minutes to give me some advice on some community projects I’m in the VERY early stages of developing?”
      o Materials: I made sure to have scratch paper and pen during each meeting, and I dated and labeled all my notes. I know all these bits and bobs are going to go into one folder at some point, and I’m excited to build the portfolio this time knowing a bit better where it’s headed.
      o Meeting management: I was able to lay out for people what to expect, and to get some of their feedback and preferences in the places that was possible. I was also more confident in redirecting people when they started just… talking. (“I hear you! That sounds [fill in the blank/ emotion word]. If you don’t mind, though, I’m going to steer us back in the direction of advice, and if we want to get back to that later, I’m game!”)
      • I talked with people I had talked to last time, and even though I do a lot of other community work with these particular folks, these exercises have only been strengthening those working relationships. For example, one colleague said “Wow, Evelyn, I’m just so impressed with how solution-based you are! Can’t wait to hear how this all goes!”
      • I built more confidence around my own role in the community as sustainability leader

      Over the course of this exercise:
      • I got more confident and more concise in discussing each problem and solution and in introducing the whole format of the conversation at all. (“I’m in the very early development stage of some community projects…” and “Would you rather me go through all five project ideas and you can decide where you want to give advice, or do you want to give advice as we go?”)
      • I improved the explanation of the projects, especially the one that ended up being the favorite
      • I learned how to define my terms, such as “sustainability leadership”
      • I gained a sense of who would be valuable to speak to in the future
      • I began to understand how the advice isn’t the most important thing… but I also learned to recognize which advice is potentially more valuable… and I also learned how to make sure that I am responding even to the less valuable advice with the same grateful attention I do for the rest of it.

    • #19415
      Jim Jenkins
      Participant

      More from Jim on the conversation reflection

      Feelings before start: saw the intent, interested to see how it would turn out and how much I could get out of it.
      During the conversations: Surprised what some people focused on, a bit of judgement but paraphrased it into an improvement. The advisers were very willing to give their opinions.
      Learning: Definitely learned from the conversation, and that helped me think differently about the problem, see new possibilities and better solutions.
      Follow up: The people I spoke with were not surprised and likely wondering what I’m up to next. Curious about what actions the problems turn into.
      The conversations were fun.

    • #19416
      Olivia Ong
      Participant

      Method Initiative Exercise 3

      Deliverable 1: List of advice

      Field of Interest: Minimalism, decluttering, organization

      1. Parents overwhelm
      a. Analyze the inventory they have
      b. Observe which things are necessities
      c. Sell or donate items
      d. Create more space for the house – less inventory to manage
      e. Create an inventory list as a reference so that they can see if they really need something when shopping. Refer to it when they want to bring in new inventory
      f. Lead by example – possibly influence kids
      g. Develop a sample model space and give a feel of of what life could look like
      h. Get kids involved in the process with fun
      i. Make it a collective activity and schedule it in

      2. Kids under 12 overwhelm impacting parents
      a. Simplify their environment from the time they are infants
      b. Reduce unnecessary decision making fatigue.
      c. Help kids value experiences and activities over objects
      d. Control the inflow of items rather than just control the pre-existing.
      e. Rent rather than buy toys to practice good stewardship of keeping items in good condition

      3. Teenagers identity in objects
      a. Help kids value experiences and activities over objects

      4. Working professionals combatting procrastination
      a. Build decluttering into their schedule
      b. Make it small, short, and accessible
      c. Dedicate time and build a habit
      d. Help them learn to identify top 5 priorities
      e. Use kanban boards – To Do, In Progress, Done
      f. Help them break down, prioritize, and create an action plan, schedule execution into bite sized action items
      g. Help them uncover intrinsic motivation

      5. Women
      a. Assuming there are others, approach others in the household to all work together
      b. Support swap – exchange help with others
      c. Change mentality about priority
      d. Acknowledge that stuff will always be a problem

      6. Environmentally conscious adults
      a. Post resources on buy nothing group for broader audience
      b. Create community using forums
      c. Be more conscious about what we buy/are bringing into the home
      d. Increase frequency of HS recycling waste days that are win-win for community and HS kids gaining volunteer hours, make offerings consistent, improve awareness/advertising, schedule regularly
      e. Push the community to offer a community wide clean up day that is free to everyone
      f. Provide visuals for easier understanding

      Field of Interest: Relationships, self-awareness, loneliness

      1. The elderly
      a. Create community with local teenagers and elderly neighbors. Provide companionship or services, i.e. reading, grocery shopping, playing cards. Earn volunteer hours
      b. Make it win-win
      c. Engage folks of different age groups
      d. Use proximity for support – introduce neighbors to each other
      e. Create events to meet neighbors
      f. Know that hobbies and interests can change
      g. Teach them to find things that are interesting
      h. Find community, put yourself out there, be curious about others
      i. Teach and provide them resources to connect with far flung family and friends by providing training in using technology
      j. Combine preschool with a retirement home + cross pollinate with activities they can do together

      2. Single working professionals
      a. Develop your own hobbies
      b. Find community around your own hobbies
      c. Find community, put yourself out there, be curious about others
      d. Help people connect with groups with similar interests as people may be hesitant to invite others in but may want to join a group
      e. Increase awareness of local native neighbors who are proactive to get to know others – have them invite newer folks to holiday events

      3. Children
      a. Teach kids compassion and empathy
      b. Kids are learning to name their emotions but are feeling justified in their emotions. Teach them to move forward from their emotions
      c. Teach complexities of what to do after identifying their emotions
      d. Teach kids judgment – Normalize conflict.
      e. Allow the child to have space by not correcting immediately. Allow them to feel their feelings and affirm their emotions. Separate that from how they might resolve the conflict.

      4. People who struggle with friendship/connectedness
      a. Identify what people are looking for in a friendship
      b. Find common interest/common ground
      c. Find places where people can meet and find common interest
      d. Find community, put yourself out there, be curious about others
      e. Help people connect with others with similar interests and thought processes so they feel comfortable making friendships
      f. Work to identify why people experience their specific difficulty to uncover other potential underlying issues or behavior problems that cannot be corrected with simple teaching
      g. Use smaller groups for introverts – i.e. help them seek 1-1 time

      5. Working professionals facing hardship
      a. Find online forums for people in the same group encountering some things they are going through
      b. Identify team or safe individual that they can reach out to
      c. Remind them that they are not alone
      d. Normalize hard things

      Deliverable 2: Improved version of projects based on that advice

      Topic of Minimalism, Decluttering, and Organization
      1. Parents feel overwhelmed with homes – Help them simplify their space and engage all members
      2. Children under 12 overwhelmed with decision paralysis can cause stress in parents – help parents simplify their environments
      3. Teenagers feel attached to their belongings – Teach them to craft identity around values
      4. Working professionals feeling helpless to combat procrastination – help them minimize things they need to do or inventory
      5. Women feeling alone and overwhelmed with the process – body double
      6. Environmentally conscious adults feeling underequipped to take action – increase resources and accessibility by engaging community events and sharing knowledge broadly

      Topic of Relationships, Self-Awareness, and Loneliness
      1. The elderly feel lonely – find and develop communities of varying age ranges
      2. Single working professionals feel lonely – find communities based on common interests
      3. Children feel frustrated when in conflict with others – teach them to name emotions, sit with feelings, have compassion/empathy, and then move to resolve conflict
      4. People who struggle with friendship feel lonely, misunderstood, and disconnected – help them find community based on common interests
      5. Working professionals facing hardship feel lonely – teach them to find community and seek help

      Deliverable 3: Reflections

      • How did you feel about the exercise before starting? Were you anxious, excited, confused? How did your feelings change as you did the exercise?

      I overestimated how long the exercise would take and the ease of getting it done. It was stressful trying to complete all five by Friday so I could organize my thoughts, reflect, and then post by 24 hours before class so others could read my responses. I happened to complete this Friday and then completely fell off the boat after the ‘sleep on it before posting’ part. As I completed the exercise, I felt closer and closer to the finish line. Since I had two topics, I felt the burden of entertaining more than one shiny object. Organizing my notes into the key deliverables was also quite an extensive task for me. Overwhelming at times, but better and better as I completed the tasks and sorted my thoughts. This write up in particular felt burdensome and stressful. Not only were my notes that I took haphazard, but during this reflection and compilation of notes, I had to reorganize the notes and parse through them.

      • How did you feel during the conversations? How did the other people seem to feel?

      During the conversations I felt overwhelmed to communicate succinctly. I quickly realized that the way I’d phrased my original problems/solutions were way too wordy and I constantly felt like I was having to give the short version but then circle back to explain further.

      • Did you get advice beyond your expectations? Did you learn from the conversations?

      I felt like people gave way more advice than they thought they could. Via the telephone, people preferred to give advice after each project rather than hear all of them before commenting. Most people voted for roots of problems, things they struggled with themselves, or what they felt like would have the biggest impact on community. I learned that people often would pass judgment as the book suggested and I would need to paraphrase in order to extract advice from people.

      • Do you feel your understanding of the problem and the quality of the solution improved?

      Yes, some problems are interrelated or rooted in one. In terms of quality of solution, perhaps the short versions didn’t quite seem to be improved, but there seemed to be broken down steps that I could follow or work within to gain further feedback.

      • Do you think the people you talked to are interested in learning how the project evolves?

      To a certain degree there is curiosity on their side.

      • How would you characterize the conversations—boring, fun, exciting?

      People giving advice seemed neutral or interested in giving advice. Some folks simply wanted to help me out as I sought out many groups and got little traction. At times they were interested by decision paralysis or sheer number of projects. It was neutral with a hint of fun and curiosity. I was most intrigued when folks got to the voting portion. I’d tried to be as neutral as possible during the voting and told people to pick their favorite one, pick the one they wanted me to work with, and/or pick the one they felt was most viable. In minimalism, a lot of people felt like parents were the root for kids, teens, women, households, etc. so they picked the one that seemed to tie more things together. However, there also seemed to be interest in the one about environmentally conscious adults as it seemed that some folks struggled personally from that specific problem. It also seemed like a problem that the community could benefit from, and thus some people voted for it. In relationships, votes for the elderly came as people recognized it as a persisting problem, and votes for those who struggle with friendship came because once again, it seemed like it was a fundamental problem that the other projects stemmed from.

      Deliverable 4: Votes from each person

      Topic of Minimalism, Decluttering, and Organization
      1. Parents feeling overwhelm – II
      6. Environmentally Conscious Adults – III

      Topic of Relationships, Self-Awareness, and Loneliness
      1. The Elderly – II
      2. Single Working Professionals – I
      4. People who struggle with friendship – II

      Deliverable 5: Choice of project

      I am struggling with choice of project. Nothing quite seems to pop out over the others. Project 6 was a last minute add in the original phase of crafting projects for the topic of minimalism and a surprise to me. Once again, it is because I don’t see the environment as a core motivating value of mine. Relationships and minimalism seem intertwined. Also, despite forcing myself to complete all of these for both topics, both shiny objects are just as shiny as they were from the get go. Send help!

    • #19420
      Beth
      Participant

      Final conversation:

      Conversation #5:
      1. Talk to the principal of the school to get their ideas about how to set up a group or club of school children to participate in the project.
      2. Have an afterschool workshop that kids can attend to do learn about the environment and trash.
      3. Talk to the local government about adding garbage cans to the streets of the city and make sure you also talk to them about servicing those cans so they get emptied regularly.
      4. Talk to whoever is in charge of garbage in the city to make available online when garbage is picked up in different locations around the city.
      5. Make some kind of game/competition with children around the topic.
      Vote for establishing a school program for children to participate and help direct/create

    • #19422
      Evelyn Wallace
      Participant

      5. Choice of project: Sustainability Leadership workshop targeted to small business owners in La Grande.

      4. Before I counted, I thought for sure everybody voted for idea number 5 (i.e. sustainability leadership workshops for small business owners in La Grande), but after I counted, I realized that there was actually more of an even split.
      -Small business votes: 3 people voted as first place
      -Expanding social work curriculum: 2 people voted as tie for first place
      -School-age kids after school-program: 2 people voted as tie for first pace & 1 person voted for second place

      3. For reflections, see prior/ above post

      2. The improved version of the project is that I learned to say “triple bottom line” before I say “sustainability leadership”?

      1. List of advice I received for the winning project idea:

      -Emphasize affordability of sustainability
      -offer adventure; include sense of adventure (business trips can be adventure and sustainable)
      -help business owners make sustainability a habit (and teach them that habits can change)

      -consider their schedules/ capacity to attend yet another training
      -small business owners are practical, so don’t lead with “I’m going to help you identify your values!” Switch to “…fulfill your values AND improve your bottom line!” They don’t have time to “natter” (their word)
      -recognize that small business owners want to connect with like-minded folks as networking
      -present sustainability in a non-ideological way
      -remember to use sustainability as being the same as cost-effectiveness
      -don’t do full-day workshops; consider how to pulse
      -consider on-site coaching

      -be aware that even small business models are different, maybe a one-size fits all model won’t work
      -look into subsidies and incentives for sustainability measures small business owners can take

      -conduct a needs assessment with the small business community (do they really need what you think they need?)
      -prioritize financial element. Sustainability equals earning a living!

    • #19512
      Bonnie
      Participant

      Deliverables:

      A list of the advice you got that is relevant to the project.
      Project 1: Experiencing anxiety while waiting for a doctor’s appointment can lead to an increase in blood pressure
      -Is it a common problem?
      -How much is the implementation cost? Is the cost larger than the benefits that hospital/clinic would consider doing it?
      -Add TV to distract
      -Have volunteers/greeters talk to patients while they wait
      -Have a questionnaire asking why patients are nervous to address the root cause and what would they like to address their stress
      -Explore the research on the scale of the problem and the specifics of the problem

      Problem 2: Individuals who lack access to reliable transportation often feel frustrated and anxious about missing medical appointments, leading to delayed treatments and negatively impacting their overall health and well-being
      -It is a huge problem, figure out why we don’t already have something like this on a large scale
      -Understand what works well in the current shuttle model
      -Think about implementation – why pay for the insurance?
      -Can doctors go to patients’ homes instead?
      -Clarify the emotions and think about what these people are feeling

      Problem 3: People often get confused by their health insurance plans, leading to misunderstandings about what is covered. This confusion can result in unexpectedly high medical bills for treatments not included in their coverage
      -Sounds like a one-time learning process, similar to NerdWallet or a single intervention
      -Target soon to retire, young adults at age 26 or older
      -Frequent Workshops in the library to educate the public – create a place where people can consistently get help

      Problem 4: People often feel overwhelmed when trying to access their medical records from different providers across various healthcare systems. The information is frequently incomplete, and patients have to navigate multiple platforms to retrieve their data
      -Is it a pain point for most people?
      -Do not care so much as long as the doctors have all the records
      -Make something like outlook that can integrate all appointments from different email platforms
      -No comment

      Problem 5: After receiving care, patients often feel uncertain about their next steps and may not know where to find the support and guidance needed for recovery, leading to anxiety
      -Is it a common problem?
      -Offer text message to follow up
      -Create a full time position for someone to follow up with patients

      An improved version of the projects based on that advice.
      Project 1: Offer water and TV access, or have volunteers and greeters engage with patients to help ease their anxiety
      Project 2: Build on the strengths of current shuttle programs that provide patient transportation to clinics and hospitals, and identify areas for improvement
      Project 3: Identify a specific target population and create easy-to-understand short video clips or materials tailored to their needs
      Project 4: No change
      Project 5: Collaborate with clinics and hospitals to establish a dedicated full-time role focused on patient follow-up and ongoing care coordination

      Your reflections on the experience
      I really enjoyed speaking with each of them. They offered valuable perspectives on the issues, whether from their own experiences or those of their relatives and friends—perspectives I hadn’t considered before. These conversations have deepened my understanding of the emotional impact of these problems and inspired me to focus more on addressing the root causes rather than just the symptoms.
      Votes from each person on which idea they liked most
      3 votes for problem 2
      2 votes for problem 3

      Your choice of which project you’ll work on.
      I’m leaning towards Project 2 or Project 3. Improving healthcare accessibility has always been a passion of mine, but I recognize that it will take more time to implement due to the numerous stakeholders involved. This will require extensive research to identify what’s currently working, areas for improvement, and significant coordination efforts. On the other hand, Project 3 would be quicker to implement, as I have extensive knowledge and experience in interpreting health insurance plans.

    • #19513
      Bonnie
      Participant

      Reflections:

      How did you feel about the exercise before starting? Were you anxious, excited, confused?
      Before the start of this exercise, I felt a bit anxious because I am still catching up in this workshop and I wanted to make sure that I have 5 contacts that are available for me to talk to this week. I feel a bit stressed to coordinate and ensure I got the information that I needed. I am also very excited because I got to work on the field that I am interested in. I want to hear my friends’ perspectives and see if they resonate with similar problems.

      How did your feelings change as you did the exercise?
      I felt more organized, and I felt more confident in articulating the problems with others.

      How did you feel during the conversations? How did the other people seem to feel?
      I made sure to keep my interviewees engaged throughout the conversations while staying within the scheduled meeting time. They all seemed genuinely interested in the issues I am working to solve, likely because they have experienced some of these problems themselves. The first two interviews took the longest, as I was still getting a feel for how to facilitate the discussion effectively, and I felt like I was rushing toward the end. However, by the time I reached the last three, I was able to finish more efficiently than anticipated and enjoyed the process more.

      Did you get advice beyond your expectations? Did you learn from the conversations?
      Yes, I got advice beyond my expectations.Some even shared valuable resources and websites for further exploration. Although I have been working in healthcare for over 10 years and thought I had a solid grasp of the field, the conversations I had this week were truly eye-opening. Listening to the voices of the customers—who are all of us navigating the healthcare system—gave me a deeper understanding of their experiences and emotions.

      Do you feel your understanding of the problem and the quality of the solution improved?
      Yes, after gathering people’s advice, I gained more information and perspectives to better understand the problems and tailor the solutions accordingly.

      Do you think the people you talked to are interested in learning how the project evolves?
      Yes, a few of them asked me to keep them updated on which project I will be working on.

      How would you characterize the conversations—boring, fun, exciting?
      I enjoyed the conversations and learned a lot. Since my interviewees had experienced some of the problems discussed, I could sense their frustrations. However, the discussion became even more exciting when we began discussing solutions and advice to these issues.

      • #19528
        Hayden Kessinger
        Participant

        Hey Bonnie,

        I love that you value learning new things and humility. Though it can be a bit jarring it’s exciting to have our eyes opened to things we never expected! I hope to have many more experiences like that in my future.

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