1. Participants move beyond tactical thinking. Most people are preoccupied with the tactical thinking needed for their organization’s day-to-day operations. It takes a special but vital commitment to think strategically about the organization as a whole, whether it is a community, non-profit, business or governmental entity. We help organizations to self-author their own strategic plans, working with board members, councils and commissions to answer “what” questions about strategic priorities and desired results, before engaging staff and consultants in “how” questions about the strategies needed to achieve those results. By facilitating cities, neighborhoods, museums, citizen coalitions, county commissions, school boards, partnerships and other organizations in developing their own strategic plans, we maximize their internal knowledge, talent and energy.

2. Participants learn what they know, and what they need to find out. Stakeholders are individuals holding personal or organizational interests, knowledge and ideas. Initially, they may be in the same room but they are not yet a group acting as a team. Reaching that point, despite the degree of friendliness or hostility present at the outset, is a critical milestone. It takes time and trust, and an ability to listen well. Bringing representatives of cities, neighborhoods, non-profits or government agencies together usually triggers protection of their territorial interests and identity. Something happens, though, when they see not only their distinctive differences that need to be respected, but also the many things they have in common. One measure of our success occurs when the group turns into a team and sees the potential of collaborating for mutual gain. It is also the point when they realize what they lack, and need to know from others before arriving at conclusions.

3. Stakeholder values and other expertise are applied at the right time and in the right sequence.
We have a saying “Knowing how to solve a problem is the last thing you need to know to solve it.” Most people go to solutions first - it’s human nature. We suggest that other things come first. “What are the opportunities and

issues and do you know them well enough to explain to a stranger?” “What should success look like if all the as yet unknown solutions and actions work to perfection?”

In older, conventional processes, someone else defines the problem, weighs alternative solutions, and presents a draft recommendation to the affected parties for “input”. In many cases consultants or staff arrive, do all the analyses without much communication with anyone else, apply personal knowledge and expertise to produce a solution, and then hold a meeting to present (or sell) their findings. When they encounter resistance to their ideas, it may be because they used a process that postponed public involvement until the work was virtually done. They wonder why those receiving the benefit of their skills are so unsupportive or angry. This passive-style participatory format is unacceptable to most people, and should be on the endangered species list, in this case moving toward extinction.

4. Much more active stakeholder roles. Stakeholders, whether within an organization and its partners, or out in the broader community, have a much more valuable role. Their knowledge and ideas need to be welcomed and tested with good data, and then brought to bear on the opportunity or issue being addressed as early as possible. “Engage and activate now rather than postpone and try to convince later”. We tell engineers that engaging the public is like designing coastal protection. You can apply brute force vertical walls and watch them get

pounded to failure over time, or you can design flexible slopes that absorb wave energy. Don't build walls. Engage people early, and then bring the full wealth of advisors and experts to bear. Stakeholders welcome such input – they want to hear advice and recommendations from such people. But not on the first day they meet them.

5. Positive answers to exit questions. Bringing all the talent and energy together with respect for distinct roles builds better recommendations. Were the consensus-based results publicly supported by the stakeholders and the professional advisors? Did the decision-makers welcome the results, even though they may have modified or rejected some for stated reasons? Did the majority of people believe they had gained more than they lost, even if they had not obtained everything they wanted? Would they participate again in future, because the current process was a successful and trustworthy experience?

6. Awareness of better methods to explore. Successful engagement in collaboration has broader ramifications than the project itself. Stakeholders, advisors and decision-makers often conclude that there is a better way to attain success, and that it can depend on the presence of a skilled and facilitative neutral. “We don’t have to beat each other up to get somewhere.” “We would never have achieved this if left to our usual confrontational or withdrawal behaviors.” “We can do better in future because of what this process has revealed.”

7. Clients and staff are more self-reliant. One of the tenets of good marketing is nurturing the clients you already have. Consultants know this, and strive to be top-of-mind when their clients need services. We are no different, but there is a significant twist - the ultimate indicator of our success is being needed less or not at all. While we will always tackle new assignments for our clients, we do not seek doing the same thing over and over for the same people. We prefer to add to their skills, and as our clients learn about collaboration and being facilitative themselves, they can limit their need for our services to special challenges and circumstances.