The Flow Campaign 4/10/2011 Issue 5

   4/10/2011-4/16/2011    Issue 5

Community Vitality This week we are focusing on Community Vitality which is the idea that true happiness comes from the connections and relationships we build with the people around us in our homes, our neighborhoods and our work places. Most working adults spend the vast majority of their waking time at the workplace.  People who work forty hours a week spend more time with their coworkers than they do with their family and much more time than with their friends.  Therefore, it is essential for us to make our work environment community a more pleasant, meaningful place. So what are some actions we can take to make our work places more pleasant and more enjoyable?  Here are a few ideas that can transform the experience we have at our workplaces. Firstly, eating is fundamental to the human experience and many people working at full time jobs do not either eat properly or eat with others.  Eating with your coworkers is one of the first steps to take to establish and grow a more pleasant work environment.  When eating with coworkers I would first start by eating on the work campus when appropriate as this will tie the experience with the workplace. Secondly, get rid of your headphones or other personal devices that separate you from your surroundings.  Audio clues are so important to relationships, but body language is even more so.  The act of putting on isolating devices sends a strong signal to others that you do not care to interact and that you don’t value the ambient discussions and hubbub of office life.  Thirdly, come In to work early.  When you are relaxed and rested the day at work is a more pleasant experience as you do not need to be running around and catching up with duties or actions that need to be done.  When you have plenty of time every other action becomes easier and with less effort.  Also, when you come in early you can spend that time chatting with coworkers, getting the best coffee and of course impressing the boss. Lastly, listen more.  Coworkers are starving for attention and if you are a person whom they can talk to about small, and the most important, things they will pay you back in favors, friendship and respect.  Recommendations This week’s website recommendation is: Sustainable Industries This week’s book recommendation is: Not On Our Watch by Don Cheadle, John Prendergast Sign up for the weekly newsletter.		Brian Kahn:  Getting Back to Our Founding Values Community, Governance, Cultural www.townhallseattle.org Monday, April 11, 2011 | 7:30 – 9pm   Seattle for Japan Benefit Community, Material www.seattlegreendrinks.org April 12, 2011      5:30PM  - 9PM   Jane Fonda, Inspirational Luncheon Community, Culture, Health www.ywcaworks.org April 14, 2011 Noon-1:30PM

Progressive Self Destruction

A friend of mine over at Cognitive Policy Works is doing fantastic work around getting Progressives to have a unified strategic plan on how to bring about the change that is needed in our modern day politics.  The problem that has been holding him and fellow Progressive organizations back has been a shocking amount of selfishness and close sightedness from fellow Progressives and an overwhelming sense of ownership of missions that deny other organizations that are closely related to find any purchase.

Progressives are good people who wish for social justice, equality and equal access to services and opportunities for all those who wish it.  However, the organizations that claim this mission are often not practicing what they say is their beliefs.  Numerous organizations still have an "us vs. them" attitude even towards fellow organizations whose missions align with their own.  The ownership of missions almost always comes with a sense of exclusivity.  The mission needs to be accomplished in this particular way by us and no other.

The fact of the matter is that many organizations spend too much time taking actions or making plans that other organizations already do better, more efficiently and with a longer history of accomplishment.  It is almost as if some organizations do not ever come out of their small circle of friends to look at some of the impressive work that other like minded organizations are accomplishing.

For instance in the world of green or sustainable certifications there are numerous accrediting agencies doubling and tripling up on the same relevant areas of sustainability.  There are literally dozens of agencies or organizations that provide certifications and reviews with the same basic standards.  Why is this the case?  Instead of many organizations doing the same work, why not have the organizations that do the work the best do it and the other organizations can then focus on a specialty of their own?

Too many nonprofits do not understand that over saturation of services is in the long run hurtful to those very same nonprofits that we claim to want to assist and see thrive.  Nonprofits need to learn from each other and use each other as resources, collaborators and experts.

In order for non profits and progressive organizations they must first have a realignment of their goals and missions to include collaboration and shared responsibility.  Organizations must use the expertise offered in the nonprofit world in order to supplement their own expertise.  Too many nonprofits and progressive organizations feel the need to do their own version of project or program when their are others that are much better and provide better results.

The nonprofit world needs to start thinking like the for profit world in one major way.  What makes your nonprofit special?  What is its major product that is unique either in an original way or additive to another product or service already in existence?  Why does this nonprofit need to exist?  What is its niche?

The other major point that is holding back the Progressive movement is the idea of scarcity.  Progressives have fallen for the oldest trick in the marketing world and that is the idea that their is not enough to go around.  Whatever that enough is, oftentimes Progressives feel that they only have enough to support themselves and they fail to see that in the long run by supporting other organizations that have aligned missions and focus, the overall society will be positively effected.

The nonprofit world cannot afford to be a competitive one as the work we do inherently requires people working together to make a real difference.  We cannot rely on a product or service to bring in consumers without the aid of others in marketing, awareness or reputational help.  We are unique in that we wish to serve others through our work, but we must also be willing and able to assist others who have a similar mission.  There is enough.  There is more than enough and it is through our actions of collaboration and sharing that we can together ensure that there is a safety for ourselves when we fall on leaner times.