CivilSay introduction and the Moment of Oh! - the approach we use at CivilSay to make tough community decisions.

1. The Moment of Oh!
John Blakinger
&
Greg Ranstrom
© CivilSay

2. CivilSay Who We Are
TM
Mission
We help communities make tough decisions that
satisfy the diverse interests of community members
to the greatest degree practical
We solve tough community problems

3. Where We’ve Worked
 Silicon Valley poverty initiative
 Groundwater protection in South Deschutes &
North Klamath Counties

4. How We Do It
 Our approach is described in the book, “The
Moment of Oh!”
 It involves
 5 stages of engagement
 7 core principles of engagement

5. Five Stages of Engagement

6.  No knowledge of situation
 Misunderstanding of
situation

7.  Doesn’t have time to
consider the situation
 Has other priorities
 Doesn’t recognize any
interest in the situation
(some individuals will never
move beyond this stage)

8.  The point where an
individual recognizes their
interest in the situation
 Recognition that doing
something is better than
doing nothing

9.  While something must be
done, no options look
great
 Leaders must slow the
process until more
members have achieved
their Moment of Oh!

10.  Solution has been selected
and implementation
commences
 Ongoing communication
is essential to maintain
community support

11. Seven Principles of Engagement
• Include diverse perspectives
• Understand each other
• Use experts wisely
• Expect it to be messy
• Make decisions based on
shared facts
• Take one step at a time
• Leave tracks

12. Include Diverse Perspectives
Every community decision affects different groups differently
• Include advocates and
dissenters
• Help the community
understand the interests of
others

13. Understand Each Other
Understanding is the basis for a community moving forward together
• Communicate
• send
• receive
• verify
• Conversation
• unpack what is believed
• repack with new ideas
• Relationships
• built individual-to-
individual
• build across interest groups

14. Use Experts Wisely
Every expert also holds a particular point of view
• Experts provide facts
• All views must be heard (not
just the experts’)
• Being right doesn’t ensure a
supported decision

15. Expect it to be Messy
Tough community decisions involve opposing views, require time, and are messy
• Diverge
• include all perspectives
• entertain odd ideas
• listen to all participants
• Converge
• connect diverse ideas
• be alert for creative
alternatives
• don’t rush to converge

16. Make Decisions on Shared Facts
A foundation of shared facts leads to decisions that stand in contentious situations
• Maintain – and refer to – a list
of facts
• Ask members to connect their
ideas to the facts

17. Take One Step at a Time
When planning, define an overall goal and allow longer-term schedule flexibility
• Define the objective
• Define short-term details
• Add detail as more is learned

18. Leave Tracks
Providing a path for others to follow brings more people to the Moment of Oh!
• There are different paths to the
Moment of Oh!
• Have different interests
describe their Moment of Oh!

19. The Moment of Oh!
5 Stages of Engagement 7 Core Principles
• What? • Include diverse
• No! perspectives
• Oh! • Understand each other
• Whoa! • Use experts wisely
• Let’s go! • Expect it to be messy
• Make decisions based on
shared facts
• Take one step at a time
• Leave tracks
http://www.civilsay.net/