Our approach to change

Sound principles and effective process design are the keys to achieving social and political changes in people, organizations, communities, and institutions. This page describes what we have learned about effective process design. These processes are informed by the following principles:

"So often, when there's a problem, we want somebody else to do something. But we all are somebody."--Harriet Whitten quoted in the Lynchburg News & Advance about the city's dialogue-to-change effort

Core principles that inform our approach to change

1. Involve everyone. Demonstrate that the whole community is welcome and needed.
2. Embrace diversity. Reach out to all kinds of people.
3. Share knowledge, resources, power, and decision making.
4. Combine dialogue and deliberation. Create public talk that builds understanding and explores a range of solutions.
5. Connect deliberative dialogue to social, political, and policy change.