018: The Power of Activating People in Complex Situations with Max Hardy

Thriving in Complexity Podcast

In this episode of Thriving in Complexity, Susanne Le Boutillier speaks with one of Australia’s foremost experts in community engagement processes, Max Hardy. Max highlights that starting softly and listening without judgement, rather than going in hard from the start, is key to creating positive outcomes that benefit both the community and the organisation.

Max discusses the importance of co-design in activating people and how it helps to create a sense of ownership and buy-in from the community. He also explains how fear of failure can hinder the engagement process and how utilising appreciative inquiry and framing questions can help overcome this. Max also explains how utilising digital tools in engagement processes can enhance community participation and create a more inclusive process.

If you are looking for practical tips on how to effectively engage with communities or people across your organisation, this episode is for you. Tune in and learn from Max Hardy's extensive experience and remember, the quality of early engagement helps to set you up to get somewhere - it might not be exactly where you thought you were going, but it will be a better place.

WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• What most people don't know about Max (04:45)
• What does working in the public participation space means (06:20)
• The impact of activating people in the community (10:30)
• The value of Co-design in activating people (13:50)
• How does fear of failure affect the process (18:35)
• The importance of listening without judgement (24:25)
• Why we need to explore different ways of having a conversation (30:01)
• The benefits of framing questions (32:02)
• Utilising appreciative inquiry in complex problems (37:32)
• The power of digital tools in engagements (41:52)
• What does thriving in complexity mean for Max? (48:00)
• A situation he would've handled differently (49:39)
• Max's advice to his 25-year-old self (53:23)

Quotes

"When faced with a complex situation, people often tend to think, or see the community as a problem to be solved, rather than an asset to be utilised." -Max Hardy

"Building relationships is absolutely critical. And you only build those relationships when people know that you actually care about what they care about." -Max Hardy

"If you demonstrate you're interested in what people know, then they'll become curious about what you know." -Max Hardy

"The lens through which we interpret things is based on what we already know, and have experienced ourselves" -Susanne Le Boutillier

Resources

TED Talk: Questions change everything in community engagement

WHERE TO FIND MAX HARDY

• Website: https://maxhardy.com.au/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxchardy
• Email: [e-mail]

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