“Managing Community Change” Ismo Heikkila National Director Aboriginal Services Cando 21 st Annual National Conference & AGM Nanaimo, BC September 22 - 25, 2014
Speaker Ismo Heikkila, National Director, Aboriginal Services Ismo brings over 30 years of financial services experience and an effective ability to communicate to a broad spectrum of issues related to change management, communication planning and financial education. He leads the delivery of Financial Education and Communication Strategies for Aboriginal clients of T.E. Wealth across Canada. T.E. is a partner member of the National Trust Officers Association (NATOA) and Ismo is a member of the Education Committee. T.E. is a corporate member of AFOA Canada. Ismo authored the following articles for the AFOA’s Journal of Aboriginal Management “The Financial Planning Growth Process”, “Supporting Community Change Through Communication and Financial Education”, “Human Resources Management The Rewards and Consequences of Retirement Planning”, and “Appreciating the Challenge of Community Change”. He recently authored “Financial Literacy & Health Wellness” for Aboriginal Marketplace. T.E. is a partner member of NationTalk and Ismo is a member of the Business & Finance Advisory Board. Ismo works closely with Aboriginal community leadership and human resource professionals to audit their existing financial education programs and design complimentary communication programs that assist them in meeting their objectives. He is a regular speaker on such matters having spoken at the Canadian Institute 50 Best Employers Conference, Human Resources Professional Association National Conference, The World Future Society Annual Conference, The Industry Council for Aboriginal Business, as well as the AFOA Canada National and Regional Conferences. Ismo also consults on matters relating to adult learning, financial literacy, and philanthropy. 2
Our mission statement Our team works with Aboriginal Communities and Trusts that are accumulating wealth received through treaty settlements, economic development revenue streams, resource revenues or the settlement of specific claims. It is our objective to build capacity at the Community level in order to enhance decision making abilities necessary in growing wealth for today...and preserving wealth for tomorrow. 3
Today’s topics • The Community • Managing Change • Learning & Literacy • Financial Education • Communication • Appreciative Inquiry 4
Community status • Goals • Capacity building • Empowerment • Strategies • Primarily mainstream researchers and practitioners • Evolving trends • Communities taking control • Programs representing “own culture” 5
Capacity “A society doesn’t change by adopting new tools, but by adopting new behaviors” …. World Future Society 6
Dimensions of capacity • Leadership • Participation • Social support – collaboration • Sense of Community – readiness to improve • Access to resources • Skill development and empowerment 7
What’s lacking • Strategies for building capacity • Measuring capacity change 8
Considerations • Aboriginal frame of reference is still developing • Mainstream definitions of success differ from Community expectations • Mainstream models assume mainstream resources and skills exist and can be identified 9
What about… • Community history • Culture • Language • Identity • Culture division – traditional & dominant • Band sovereignty • Priorities 10
“Positioning…” “Communities are the agents of civic reform…” … World Future Society 11
“Ways of knowing” • Aboriginal vs. Western mainstream • Transformation of power relationships • Honoring direct experience interconnectedness, relationships, values… • Focus on Community self-determination, healing, transforming 12
Community uniqueness • Process on own terms, own skills, collective assets, link to other community initiatives • New large initiatives can overwhelm resources and staff • Long term initiatives have value, yet substantial immediate needs may have priority 13
Time • Time is needed to fully establish and integrate a capacity building process • Mainstream models expect too much too soon • Historical, cultural, special, political environment plus time is needed • Pressure to succeed may cause failure – need time to build trust, improve communication, develop solid working relationships 14
Sustainability • Time for long term support and evaluation • Is there an assumption that leadership will actually use the tools and processes? • Communities want to preserve natural balances in nature and life • Need to minimize mainstream linear, static, time – oriented format • Mainstream involvement must include community specific orientation (awareness to action model) 15
Change • The relationship of events to time • External & internal • The growth process 16
What we know… • Strategy • Tactics • Templates • Leaders & managers • Influencers 17
Review of the learning process Awareness Information Mental Understanding Acceptance Competency Emotional Education Action 18
Factors to consider • Age • Literacy • Gender • Current events • Current health • Organization culture statues • Residency • Marital/family status • Ethnicity • Income • Personal values • Personal assets • Education 19
Traditional definition of literacy… “You either can read or you cannot read” therefore “You are either literate or not literate” 20
“Future Shock” The illiterate of the 21 st century will not only be those who cannot read and write – but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” … Alvin Toffler 21
New definition of literacy “Literacy is the ability to understand and use information from written text in a variety of contexts to achieve goals and further develop knowledge and potential”. - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development International Assessment of Adult Competencies - 2013 22
Overview of managing change What we want to accomplish…. • guide us to appreciate the “people issues” • give us tools we can use to manage change • stimulate discussion among members 23
What major issues do individuals think about every day? • Health • Relationships • Career • Finances 24
People challenges • Understand member is on the receiving end of change • Manage change so the members will “own” the process 25
The members “ We don’t have a single person to waste” - Maggie Kuhn, founder of the Gray Panthers 26
People & Change “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” … Mahatma Gandhi 27
People Factors Culture • comfort in routines • fear of change • “initiative” fatigue 28
People & Change “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself” …Leo Tolstoy 29
The challenge: … Overcome fear while preserving ego … Fear → “Saving Face” 30
Gaining buy-in Progress requires four pre-conditions : • knowing what to do and why • knowing how to do it • wanting to do it • having the resources 31
Leadership “The noblest joy is the joy of understanding” … Leonardo da Vinci 32
Resistance Overt Covert • Memos, meetings, one-on-one, • Hidden and can go unnoticed until it public behaviors destroys a change initiative • More constructive than covert • Clandestine unrest from indirect because it can be heard and be complaining to sabotage addressed • Usually the result of low trust and inadequate preparation 33
The community “Social advance depends as much upon the process through which it is secured as upon the result itself.” - Jane Addams Nobel Peace Prize laureate, social worker, and suffragist (1860-1935) 34
Community sources of resistance • Diverging Goals - change is seen as a threat to established goals and means of achieving goals • Economic Motives - change seen as a threat to current resource allocation • Political Motives - change seen as a threat to establishment power relationships 35
Communication “The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished” - Daniel W. Davenport 36
Communication Step 1 Sender Message Receiver Step 2 Sender Message Receiver Step 3 Sender Message Receiver 37
Communication Challenge “There is a breath of content for everyone, yet depth of content for only a few” 38
The communication gap Chief & Council I Managers s s u Members e f o c u s Time 39
Establish key messages Answer the 5 W’s • WHO : Who is affected? Who is championing? Who is Watching? Who cares? • WHAT : What impact will it have on me? What will I have to do differently? • WHERE : Where can I ask for help? Where can I get more information? • WHEN : When will I hear more? When will these changes happen? • WHY : Why is this necessary? Rewards & Consequences 40
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