Forum Activity for @john-hamerlinck

Data About the Effective Use of ABCD by Cities and Non-Profits in the US

Data, Evaluation, and Research

Hi, Eddy. Large organizations struggle with ABCD because they are often centralized (as opposed to distributed) networks. Information moves primarily from a hub, out to members, or if the organization has a large staff, it is org chart driven. Relationship building among members is secondary to a member's relationship with the organization. 

ABCD is about getting things done. Your entire membership may probably never be directly involved in achieving a specific outcome. I would suggest finding an affinity group from within your larger membership, that wants to create or change some small, but tangible aspect of your work. That small group of people who are passionately interested in the same goal can map, connect, and leverage their assets, and then implement something that can serve as a 'proof of concept' to other members who might do the same. Folks who have tried to do large scale ABCD often focus too much on the asset mapping process, and not enough on implementing a desirable action, that they end up creating data bases that are obsolete before they are even 'completed.'

Intergenerational Asset Mapping in our Rural Community

ABCD and Youth

The most important thing I learned from working with an intergenerational community project nearly 20 years ago was, that barriers to understanding the potential of other people's assets decreased greatly when the middle generation was absent. By this I mean that youth saw tremendous value in people who were their grandparents' age. The elders also seemed to give the youth tremendous boosts in self-esteem, because they were frequently validating the contributions of youth.

ABCD as foundation in Community Inquiry Labs at the public library

ABCD and Institutions (Universities, Hospitals, Government, Libraries, NGOs, etc.)

Hi Katie,

I always think that the best way to see how ABCD complements an approach a group is taking, is to see if participants are gaining a better understanding of local, formal and informal associations. It is important to see people as networks, and not just groups.

Community Resilience: The key for sustainable community development

ABCD and Rural Communities

Congratulations, Luis. I have two questions: 1) Do you have specific goals beyond "revitalized' community spirit"? and 2) How much time has normally lapsed from the time assets are identified, and the time those assets are effectively mobilized?

What's the difference between stakeholders and community engagement?

ABCD and Community Organizing/Engagement

Anyone who feels the impact of a policy, or a situation is a stakeholder whether they are engaged or not. Any stakeholder who is "engaged" assumes responsibility and risk in order to create change.

Parks and Rec practitioner loves ABCD

ABCD - Getting Started/Challenges

Hi Marisa. The question of scale is important. There might be a different approach if there is an identified challenge you are trying to address, than there would be if you are simply trying to do some basic relationship building. Either way, small steps are probably a good idea. Find some people with some already identified common interest. Do some basic appreciative inquiry. Ask people what they care about, what concerns them, what they like doing. See if anything surprising emerges from that set of conversations. Then do actual asset mapping when you have a goal or an action in mind.

Looking for ABCD practitioners who are also familiar with theater of the oppressed and psychodrama

ABCD and Art

Hi Andres,

There is a small organization in Minnesota called, The Theater of Public policy. They combine improvisational comedy performances on the same program as interviews with issue experts and/or elected officials. I don't know to what extent they have engaged in international work, but they might be worth contacting. http://t2p2.net/

storytelling

ABCD - Getting Started/Challenges

There are a growing number of resources on the internet for sharing stories and amplifying the voice of people whose stories might otherwise go unheard. The site ComDevasia http://www.comdevasia.org has lots of examples and ideas.

There are some websites that serve as very good platforms to collect stories. I have used PlaceStories http://placestories.com. It is worth looking at.

CD Worker Burnout: Does the ABCD Approach decrease this?

Open Discussions

I wonder if it might be useful to think about effective ABCD as practice that is not professionalized at its core. For me, the key to successful ABCD is the emergence of shared leadership by people who are doing the work because they are passionate stakeholders, not because they are getting paid by an NGO, or government agency to implement a policy, project, or program.

Distributing the workload, or the responsibilities of paid staff across a group of community volunteers does not constitute ABCD. Shared leadership, shared risk, and placing some trust in the wisdom of well-informed amateurs might be the best way to keep anyone from getting burned out.

Is demonstrations and boycotting part of ABCD action?

ABCD - Getting Started/Challenges

I believe that ABCD can greatly inform traditional adversarial organizing approaches. Your collective voices are assets, boycotting is leveraging the assets of committed people. ABCD can also complement the goals of getting rid of the status quo, by using capacity-centered approaches to creating what will replace the old policy/practices. I wrote a little about this idea here: http://abcdinaction.org/john-hamerlinck/blog/100/addressing-common-misunderstandings-about-abcd