LIBRARY RESOURCES & BLOG
This area is filled with how-to articles, engaging conversations, and tons of examples of Catalytic Thinking in Action including actual planning sessions. Much to explore and learn from!
We went to dinner last night with a group from our Pollyanna Principled Consulting Course. During the day, we make sure the group’s creature comforts are met as best as possible, feeding them well. Great breakfasts (yesterday a frittata) and great lunches (chicken with mango salsa) and great desserts (cheesecake yesterday). Fresh fruit and pastries … Read more
This week we have been immersed in another Pollyanna Principled Consulting Immersion Course with consultants from around the U.S. and Canada. As always in these groups, I learn as much as I teach. Here are just 3 things that have been reinforced for me by this terrific group this week. 1) The value of taking … Read more
Oh no, here it comes. When times are tough for Community Benefit Organizations, a single article like this one (originally from the Wall Street Journal, then quoted at the Chronicle of Philanthropy) can be enough to send boards and EDs scurrying to get ahead of the latest new fundraising fad. Membership is by no means … Read more
“Are you comfortable?” Reno Police Officer Patrick O’Bryan uttered those words to a silent room of 100 community leaders last summer. “Because if you’re comfortable, then nothing will change. To change our community, we need to step outside our comfort zone. So are we willing to be uncomfortable?” That story came to mind often last … Read more
It is the end of Day 3 of our Pollyanna Principled Immersion Course for consultants. Our expectations have already been surpassed so many times, we are now simply reveling in what continues to evolve. The combined experience of this group of 7 practitioners easily approaches or even surpasses 100 years. They have certainly been around … Read more
Anymore I can usually tell how good a consultant is in the first few minutes of our conversation. How? By how much they listen. By how much they want to learn, no matter how much they already know. By how much they ask questions instead of talking about themselves. By how much it’s not about … Read more
This post is the 3rd & final installment in a series. To begin at Part 1 head here. The Evidence We’ve established that Problem-Solving solves neither complex organizational problems nor complex social problems. And we’ve posited that the only thing that CAN solve such problems is to look beyond the problem – beyond “zero” – … Read more
It’s the start of another start of another week of creating the future for your community! These days, I’ve been in the middle of the project of a lifetime – finishing up the development of the first Immersion Course for Pollyanna Principled Consultants! Talk about a massive endeavor – sometimes we wonder if we will … Read more
This is Part 2 of this post. If you have not read Part 1, you will find that here. Reverse Engineering the Future We DO Want There is something that DOES work to solve the large, systemic problems our organizations and our communities face today. And that is to aim our efforts out beyond “zero” … Read more
The War on Drugs. The War on Poverty. The War on Illegal Immigration. Fixing a dysfunctional board. Team-building to boost employee morale. What do all these things have in common? If you answered, “None of them have solved the problem,” you would be right. Decades of fighting drugs, poverty, illegal immigration; decades of trying to … Read more