Slides from a Keynote address at the Rural Policy Leadership Institute, Dallas, TX, April 8, 2013

1. Building Collaborative Capacity for
Policy Change
Scott Hutcheson
Rural Policy Leadership Institute
Energizing the Rural Policy Voice
April 8-10, 2013

10. Key Themes for Tonight
 What’s Changed?
 The Power of Networks
 Story of Network Development
 Characteristics of Effective Policy
Networks
 Building Collaborative Networks Using
Strategic Doing

11. Our World of Our Grandparents
First Curve –
Prosperity &
productivity driven by
vertical hierarchies
Prosperity occurred at a rate the
world had never before experienced

12. The S Curve Caught Up with Our
Grandparents
Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0
license.

13. The 1st and 2nd Curves
Second Curve: Productivity is
Driven By Networks
First Curve: Productivity was
Driven By Hierarchies
Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0
license.

14. The “2nd Curve” Is Where Our
Grandchildren Will Find Success

15. Changing Models for Getting
Things Done
1928 2011
Fewer than 60 all working Over 1,750 hardly any working
for Warner Brothers for Warner Brothers

16. Changing Models for Getting
Things Done

17. Changing Models for Getting Things
Done?
Philanthropy
Townships Workforce
Economic Development
Social Service
Cities/Towns
Healthcare
Counties
Feds
State Higher Education
Public Safety
Education Agriculture
17

18. Successful Communities &
Organizations Are Getting Things
Done in New & Different Ways
They are moving
from hierarchies
to networks

19. We Building Capacity by
Building Networks
 Effective organizations are built on
connections.
 Better connections mean better
opportunities.

20. Two Components of a Network
Nodes Links
People, groups, Relationships,
or organizations flows, or
transactions

21. The Power of Networks:
Networks Make Us Smarter

22. The Power of Networks:
Networks Are Efficient
20 people in a network each
contributing 1 hour per week to
advancing the network’s agenda equals
a .5 FTE professional

23. The Power of Networks: Networks
Make Our Work More Valuable
The value of a network
is far greater than the
sum of its parts.

24. +

26. The Power of Networks: Networks
Make Our Work More Valuable
Linking & Leveraging
Assets

31. Linking & Leveraging YOUR
Assets
 Your networks
 Your skills
 Your knowledge
 Your experiences
 You passions

32. The Power of Networks:
Networks Allow Us to Innovate
Trust Co-Creation
Co-Execution
Turf Sharing
Resources
Sharing
Information
Mutual
Awareness
Acknowledgment Exploration Cooperation Collaboration Innovation
TIME
The Social Innovation Continuum
Adapted from Collaboration Continuum from ACT for Youth

33. Networks Are Built Deliberately
Just because your organization has the
word “network” in its name, doesn’t
mean it functions like a network

34. Network Must Be Built Deliberately:
Exercise
• Exchange contact
information with
someone you do not
know (or know well)
• Find one thing you
have in common
• Decide on a follow-
up activity
– phone call
– information exchange
– introduction to third
party

35. Networks Must Be Built Deliberately:
Seven Levels of Network Weaving
1. Introducing A and B in person and offering a collaboration
opportunity to get A and B started in a successful
partnership.
2. Introducing A and B in person and contacting A and B
afterward to nurture the connection.
3. Introducing A and B in person.
4. Doing a conference call introduction of A and B
5. Doing an email introduction of A and B
6. Suggesting to A that A should talk with B and then
contacting B to let B know to expect a call from A
7. Suggesting to A that A should talk with B

36. Networks Require A New Set of Skills
NEW NETWORK LEADER ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
Convener Maintains the civic spaces
Connector Links people and other assets
Civic Entrepreneur Sees new opportunities
Guide Maps a complex process
Strategist Reveals larger patterns
Knowledge Keeper Distills face-to-face conversations into key points and
patterns
Web 2.0 Maven Applies Web 2.0 power tools

37. Success Story: How ACEnet
Built a Network
ACEnet provides a wide range
of assistance to
food, wood, and technology
entrepreneurs in 29 counties
of Appalachian Ohio
Building Smart Communities through Network Weaving
by Valdis Krebs and June Holley

38. Stages of Network Development
ACEnet Success Story
Had a hunch that there was the potential for a
network of tomato producers. Mapped the network
by asking existing and emerging food professionals
three questions:
 From whom do you get new ideas that benefit
your work?
 From whom do you access expertise that
improves your operations?
 With whom do you collaborate?

39. They Found it Was a Network of
“Scattered Fragments”

40. Decided to Invest in a Kitchen
Incubator as a Network “Hub”
Kitchen Incubator became
a hub for restaurateurs
and farmers

41. Mapped the Network Again and Found
that a “Hub & Spokes” Network Had
Emerged

42. Additional Activity Began to
Emerge
 Farmers Market
 Outdoor Café
 Restaurant
Association

43. Mapped the Network Again and Found
a “Multi-Hub” Pattern Had Emerged

44. Network Began to Make Connections Outside
the Region Resulting in a “Core & Periphery”
Network

45. Your Network
 What phase is it in?
 Scattered Fragments
 Hub & Spokes
 Multi-Hub
 Core & Periphery
 What could you do to take it to the
next level?

46. Successful Policy Networks are…
 Diverse – involving the public sector,
private sector, nonprofits
 Open & Flexible – adaptive to
constantly changing environments
and always open to new participants
 Fast – well equipped to identify
issues, outline a vision, options, and
action plans, launch concrete actions
Streck, C. (2002). Global public policy networks as coalitions for change. In Esty and Ivanova (eds.),
Global Environmental Governance: Options and Opportunities.

47. Policy Networks
 Scope  Direction
 National Policy  Top Down
 Statewide Policy  Bottom Up
 Regional Policy  Concentric Circles
 Local Policy
 Types
 Public Policy
 Institutional Policy

48. Building Collaborative Networks
with Strategic Doing
Strategic Doing enables people in loosely
joined, open networks to think and act
strategically.
Instead of broad visions, they pursue
measurable strategic outcomes.
Instead of focusing on problems and deficits, they
define new opportunities by connecting their
assets.
Instead of looking for a visionary leader, they
recognize that leadership in open networks is
a shared responsibility.

49. A Strategy Answers Two Questions
49

50. Strategic Doing: Four Questions

51. Strategies Emerge from “Learning by
Doing”
Strategic Planning Strategic Doing

52. Simple, But Not Easy..
Mastery Requires Practice
52

53. Like Kayaking in the Ocean:
Adjusting to Dynamic Conditions

55. Thank You
Scott Hutcheson
Assistant Director
Purdue Center for Regional Development
Purdue Extension Economic & Community Development
765-479-7704
hutcheson@purdue.edu