Blog
Managing Phony Issues & Conflict on Social Media
What you can do, is take note. A lot of notes actually. Keep a running list of what pseudo-issues are being shared on Social Media. Use Social Media as a listening device — even if most of what you’re hearing is garbage. Try to identify who is generating and...
How Should Public Agencies Funded by Users, Weigh Non-User Input For Decision Making?
An organization that participated in one of our recent monthly Clinics asked an interesting question: "Agencies were created by the public, but many agencies are funded largely by users (i.e. hunting and fishing licenses). When there is disagreement, does the will of...
If Public Officials Shouldn’t Rally Support for informed consent, is Same True for Private-Sector?
We received a question from a listener following Consent-Building Clinic #81. To paraphrase John's question: If rallying support in the public-sector is likely to backfire (and create more distrust) does the same go for the private-sector?" (To hear John's actual...
Anti-Government Groups & Conflict Resolution: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your “Public”?
Things in Burns, Oregon might get have officially turned ugly. And while the folks at the wildlife refuge in Oregon aren't your average opponents, their stance isn't legitimate, there is an element of their stance that no public official should ignore......
Managing Stakeholders: You Can’t Take Sides, but You Aren’t “Neutral” Either
Consent-Building Clinic #73: Recorded October 2015 “Our CP Process can turn into a free-for-all of various stakeholders, each fighting as a special interest, . . . while we try to remain neutral.” "It’s a jungle out there!” is what comes to mind here. Because, of...
Don’t Jump to Decision Making Solutions! Protecting Your Public from Fatal Conflict Resolution Pitfalls
Consent-Building Clinic #72: Recorded September 2015 Help! When we involve stakeholders early in our planning process – which is something we strive to do – many of them jump prematurely to a solution." This can happen even with the more sophisticated stakeholders,...
Consent vs. Consensus: A Classical Case
One of the things I promised to cover in the Blog, was an example of Consent that is so typical, so representative, so demonstrative that it deserves to be called a case of "Classical Informed Consent" . . . as opposed to "Consensus." In thinking about an example,...
2 Key Ingredients to Establish Public Legitimacy for Agency Regulators
If you work for a regulatory agency, or even if you don't -- but you administer regulation -- you must have these two key ingredients to establish Legitimacy among your public. In the short video below, we'll follow-up the discussion from Consent-Building Clinic...
