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Real-World Obstacles

When the Public Uses this Dirty Tactic on You…

What can you do when a stakeholder stays out of the process — until the very end?

And then complains that they weren’t involved!

Understand why this (dirty) tactic is being used on your organization, how to handle it, and protect yourself from being the target of it in the future.

Mechanics, Doctors and Carpenters Don’t Do This – Be Sure You Don’t!

Why do public professionals grab outreach tools (meetings, advisory committees, etc.) before analyzing what’s causing their public to be “uninformed”?!?

This commonplace — yet deadly — mistake creates more anti-government sentiments than it heals.

We explain why and how to create an informed public without adding fuel to the fire.

Does “Listening” Mean Doing What Public Wants?

How can you “listen” to the public when your hands are tied?

Perhaps it’s too late in the process. Or you simply can’t do what they’re asking of you…

Part of your job as a public servant is to listen, but what does that mean if you can’t do what they want you to do?

How to get access?

Who helps you when things go sideways with the public?

What do you do when your public outreach isn’t going well?
How do you diffuse anti-government attitudes targeted at your team?
Does confidence in your projects depend on internal disputes not being made public?

Whatever the challenge you face, we are here to help.

Unlike other resources, we train you how to problem-solve without becoming dependent upon us. You learn to think like we do — and like the Implementation Geniuses we’ve studied for more than four decades!

What’s the Clinic Library?

Here, you can get answers to your problems — on demand.

You’ll have streaming access to 130+ challenges public officials face.

In each session, we deconstruct the problem, then guide you to the solution. It’s more than a one-time fix.

It’s a solution that sticks, and helps you prevent the problem in the future.

What if you’ve never had our Consent-Building training?

Even if you’ve never had our introductory course (SDIC: Systematic Development of Informed Consent), you’ll get a ton of mileage out of these recorded presentations and handouts.

It might be a bit counter-intuitive, but you’ll see how our approach is different and wildly successful for those that use it.

You’ll learn details and application we don’t cover in SDIC course

You can use the Clinic Library as a way to dive deeper on challenging issues. You’ll get a refresher on why our method works, and how to put it to use for you and your organization.

You serve the public. We serve you.

Don’t waste time being frustrated.

Use Consent-Building to be an effective problem-solving entity.

Inform and serve your public — and get your mission accomplished!

Can You Relate…?

“I am so tired of all this NIMBY! It’s slowing down the organization so much… can’t stand the rhetoric!”

“It’s really difficult to get on the same page with my team these days. How do I run an effective organization?”

“I’m getting so much feedback from the public, but it’s all, pardon the expression… garbage! Help!”

“Getting frustrated with social media and all of the negative comments that are draining time and manpower.”

These have been so timely, relevant and helpful to us.

– Michele Beucler, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

The training offered by Hans and Annemarie is — hands down — the best training we’ve experienced in our 20+ years of providing communication services to public schools.

– Deborah Bush Suflita, Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services Albany, NY

Keep doing what [you’re] doing!

– Oregon Department of Transportation

The examples presented by Hans are integral to understanding the concepts.

– Jill Peterman, Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Quite informative and thought provoking.

– Carl Schueler, City of Colorado Springs Comprehensive Planning Division

I found the amount of information interesting and helpful.

– Jay Baxter, Alaska Department of Transportation

Excellent, thank you.

– Oregon Department of Transportation

You have a daunting task…You are so passionate about – not to mention GOOD at explaining – and in my opinion are right on the mark with your observations and process.

– Brian Amundson, City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin

I believe the [these] sessions are making a difference in [our] thinking about public involvement.

– Mark Parmelee, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities

We’re finding [the Clinics] very valuable, and appreciate your efforts!

– Lissa Willis, Oregon Department of Transportation

I like this way of getting a valuable amount of training from experts, in a short period of time without traveling.

– Oregon Department of Transportation

I actually have people driving 30 miles from another office to come in for these… My colleagues are finding them enjoyable and useful.

– Michele Beucler, Idaho Department of Game and Fish

I have long been hoping that Jennifer is working on recording your training on DVD or some other alternative, lasting format for the future.

– Beth Carlson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

[The] sessions are an affordable way to dig deeper into some of the most common — and frustrating — challenges we face…

– Deborah Bush-Suflita, Capital Region Board of Cooperative Education Services, Albany, NY

I use this info as I develop strategies to best communicate messages to the public.

– Employee from Oregon Department of Transportation

We have an audience that is 98% new to this series and never took the initial training, so tying back to the core mission was helpful.

– Jennifer Larsen, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

We appreciate the monthly topics, and look forward to more in this series. Thank you for providing the opportunity for us to continue our education in SDIC.

– Jill Peterman, Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Excellent training!

– Oregon Department of Transportation

Well organized, integrated and in logical sequence… Keep the discussion coming.

– George Nicolaus, Wisconsin Department of Transportation

This is a great series. Thanks for providing it.

– Oregon Department of Transportation

Keep up the excellent work.

– Michele Beucler, Idaho Department of Game and Fish

Thank you for making this available.

– Oregon Department of Transportation

Thank you so much!

– Ellen Simpson, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

It was an excellent refresher for me – and made me step back from the hectic day to day activities and reflect on my own use of SDIC – CPO.

– Brian Amundson, City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Enlightening!

– Oregon Department of Transportation

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130+ Consent-Building Clinics.

Clinic Categories

Click to a Category to See Related Titles

Anti-Government Attitudes

#37: When Some of Your Stakeholders Harbor Strong Anti-Government Attitudes
#46: The Key to Reversing Anti-Govt. Beliefs is Buried within the Beliefs Themselves
#68: “Our ‘public’ includes people who aren’t impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!”
#69: “As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don’t like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!”
#76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your “Public”?
#77: Why Your Outreach is Inadvertently Aggravating Anti-Government Attitudes
#78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL in a Democracy
#79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with a Diametrically Opposed Public
#80: You CAN Get Negatively Impacted Stakeholders to STOP Seeing You as “Them — Evil Government”
#81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You’ll Generate
#82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
#83: Credibility / Believability. How Do You Get It AND Keep It?
#84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project’s Pace? What if it’s “Pants-On Fire“, a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?
#85: You Seek the Public’s Input, but Why does it Aggravate Anti-Government Attitudes?
#86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
#90 Why You Hate Political Decision-Making as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen.
#91: What can you do when a political appointee intends to gut your agency? (Actually, a lot!)
#93: This is an advanced Consent-Building topic, based on American Values and what to do when opponents play dirty, malign, and personally attack you.
#106: Don’t Underestimate Your History’s Impact (Project, Agency, Profession History)

Common & Serious Errors

#4: Balancing Your Vociferous Opponents with Supporters
#21: Doing Citizen Participation for the Wrong Reasons
#22: Being Techniques-Driven instead of Objectives-Driven
#23: Confusing Advice-Giving with Decision-Making
#24: Overusing Meetings, Advisory Committees, and other Techniques
#25: Using Public Outreach as Substitute for Responsible Project Management
#26: Losing Sight of the Big Picture
#43: “Why did one of our ordinary Public Meetings turn into a nightmare?!?”
#44:“Even when nothing bad happens, why do our Public Meetings disappoint us and the public?”
#51: Why Your Public asks – “Why bother asking for public Input? You’ll do Whatever You Want Anyway!”
#53: Fear of Change 1.0 – “People’s fear of change makes them cling to the status quo”
#60: “Agency Leaders Fear Drawing the Public into our Process will Diminish their Decision-Making Authority”
#81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You’ll Generate
#92: Lines that Must NOT Be Crossed, No Matter What!
#103: Stakeholders who don’t care to get involved until it’s too late

Communication & Crisis Communication

#5: “Listening” to the Public when Your Hands are Tied
#6: Dealing with Ignorance, Misinformation & Dis-Information
#20: What to do when Your Process gets Derailed by Rumors, Accusations, Polarized Stakeholders, etc.
#30: “Why don’t people believe that we listen?!?”
#31: Why the Media – Instead of Helping, Makes Matters Worse
#33: “Our process will stretch over years, so our ‘public’ will change and shift. How do we cope with this flux?”
#38: Be Careful You’re Not (Unintentionally) Over-Promising
#41: What to do When You Start Your Outreach WAY Late in the Process
#42: How to Communicate the THREAT Posed by a Problem Over a Long Timeline
#47: When Communicating about Your Project isn’t Enough — You Need to Provide Leadership to the Public too
#49: Reaching a Demographic that’s Representative of Your Actual Public
#50: “What can we do when people convey opinions as facts?”
#52: “There’s no shortage of criticism from the public… But there is of Constructive Criticism. How do we change that?”
#54: What to do when Senior Administrators don’t Embrace Early Public Involvement
#57: “Our public involvement process is too structured. Help!”
#58: When Negative Past Experiences Influence Your Project (and Stakeholders)
#61: “People with minority viewpoints are too involved, and people with majority viewpoints don’t get involved. How can we change this?!?”
#63: When You’re Confronted at a Public Meeting with a Question You Didn’t Anticipate…
#65: How to Involve Stakeholders that Aren’t Local
#66: Don’t Hurt Yourself by Failing to Give Feedback on Solicited Input
#67: How to Debunk Phony “Facts” from an “Industry of Advocates”
#70:“Why does the public assume we’ve already made a decision and getting involved would be a ‘waste of their time’?!?”
#72: “When we involve stakeholders early in our process, many jump prematurely to a solution.”
#74: Your Website Needs a Makeover: Your Most Powerful Tool is likely Most Under-Utilized!
#75: Social Media is NOT What You Think it’s About!
#78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL
#80: You CAN Get Negatively Impacted Stakeholders to STOP Seeing You as “Them — Evil Government”
#84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project’s Pace? What if it’s “Pants-On Fire“, a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?
#85: You Seek the Public’s Input, but Why does it Aggravate Anti-Government Attitudes?
#86:Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups?
#87:Gain Credibility when Bad Things Happen (even when it’s your fault!)?
#100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the Public?
#106: Don’t Underestimate Your History’s Impact (Project, Agency, Profession History)

Communication & Crisis Management

#87: Gain Credibility when BAD Things Happen
#88: The REAL Difference between Public versus Private-Sector Work
#100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the Public?
#101: When Opponents are Uninformed or Clueless
#102: Use the Media, Don’t be Used by the Media
#103: Stakeholders who don’t care to get involved until it’s too late

Conflict Resolution

#1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
#32: Is the Silence of Your Supporters Deafening?
#79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with Diametrically Opposed Stakeholders
#104: Stakeholders who threaten “It’s My Way or Else!”
#105: Handling Opponents’ Media Stunts
#123: How to Deal with Both kinds of Polarized Stakeholders

Consent-Building Tactics

#1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
#9: Dealing with the Dilemma Public-Sector Professionals are Inevitably Caught In
#10: The Tactic of Transforming Adversarial, Divisive “Us vs. Them” Perceptions into a Collaborative “It’s Just Us” Attitude
#11: The Powerful, Versatile Tactic of ‘Public Hand-Wringing’: a Way of Educating the Public without Lecturing Them
#13:The Tactic of Using the Bleiker Life Preserver
#14: The Tactic of Maximizing Input, and Minimizing Pseudo-Input
#15: The Tactic of Fish-Bowl Planning
#16: The Tactic of Triggering Higher Values when Your Proposal is Bad News for some Stakeholders
#17: The Tactic of Stagehands who Operate the Stage-Lights
#18: The Tactic of Focusing on Consent rather than Consensus
#19: The Tactic of Nurturing and Protecting Your Credibility
#22: Being Techniques-Driven instead of Objectives-Driven is the 2nd Most Common Serious Outreach Error
#35: Why You Instinctively Avoid Your Most Ardent Opponents
#40: Has “Transparency” Lived Up to all the Hype?
#82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
#84: Does Your Outreach Reflect Your Project’s Pace? What if it’s “Pants-On Fire”, a Slow-Burn, or something in-between?

Dealing with Opponents’ Dirty Tactics

#1: Protect Yourself from being a Target of this (Dirty) Tactic
#7: The Double Standard You’re Under: Why Your Opponents Get Play Dirty — and You Can’t!
#17: The Tactic of Stagehands who Operate the Stage-Lights
#43: “Why did one of our ordinary Public Meetings turn into a nightmare?!?”
#68: “Our ‘public’ includes people who aren’t impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!”
#82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!
#105: Handling Opponents’ Media Stunts

Dealing with Stakeholder Emotions

#27: The “Fear of Change”
#28: “People can be so selfish! How can we get anyone to agree?”
#32: Is the Silence of Your Supporters Deafening?
#36: “How can we have a rational dialogue with overly emotional people?”
#53: Fear of Change 2.0: “People’s Fear of Change Makes them Cling to the Status Quo”
#104: Stakeholders who threaten “It’s My Way or Else!”

Getting Respect & Legitimacy

#12: You Don’t have to be Perfect (or Superman) to Get Your Public to Appreciate You
#34: “How can we explain why our plans cause some stakeholders to sacrifice more than others?”
#48: Why the SDIC: Systematic Development of Informed Consent Works
#60: “Agency Leaders Fear Drawing the Public into our Process will Diminish their Decision-Making Authority”
#62: “Our projects often raise Environmental Justice issues, this greatly complicates our public outreach.”
#68: “Our ‘public’ includes people who aren’t impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!”
#69: “As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don’t like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!”
#73: You Can’t Take Sides, but You Aren’t “Neutral” Either
#76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your “Public”?
#83: Credibility / Believability. How Do You Get It AND Keep It?
#87: Gain Credibility when BAD Things Happen
#100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the Public?
#101: When Opponents are Uninformed or Clueless
#106: Don’t Underestimate Your History’s Impact (Project, Agency, Profession History)

Higher Values & Democracy

#2: Why Science doesn’t hold up to “Politics” and what You Can Do about it
#7: The Double Standard You’re Under: Why Your Opponents Get Play Dirty — and You Can’t!
#16: The Tactic of Triggering Higher Values when Your Proposal is Bad News for some Stakeholders
#29: “The ‘feedback’ we get from our outreach is NOT representative of our public. Help!”
#39: Unfortunately, when it comes to Public Involvement, the saying “the Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions” is true
#49: Reaching a Demographic that’s Representative of Your Actual Public
#52: “There’s no shortage of criticism from the public… But there is of Constructive Criticism. How do we change that?”
#54: What to do when Senior Administrators don’t Embrace Early Public Involvement
#55: “People aren’t willing to help develop solutions. They only criticize ours.”
#56: “How can we keep people from bypassing our Public Involvement process and going straight to the political decision-makers?”
#61: “People with minority viewpoints are too involved, and people with majority viewpoints don’t get involved. How can we change this?!?”
#64: “How can we involve more people… As many as possible?”
#71: “How do we convince the public their Input matters?”
#73: You Can’t Take Sides, but You Aren’t “Neutral” Either
#76: Are You Making Matters Worse by How You Define Your “Public”
#78: Why Anti-Government Attitudes are NATURAL in a Democracy
#79: Unlocking the Role of Values in Dealing with a Diametrically Opposed Public
#86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
#89: Politics” Isn’t Holding You Back, It’s Part of the Process. Here’s Why…
#92: Lines that Must NOT Be Crossed, No Matter What!
#104: Stakeholders who threaten “It’s My Way or Else!
#105: Handling Opponents’ Media Stunts
#123: How to Deal with Both kinds of Polarized Stakeholders

Professional Ethics

#92: Lines that Must NOT Be Crossed, No Matter What!

Social Media

#59: Using Social Media: Should You Ask Stakeholders to “Like” You?
#74: Your Website Needs a Makeover: Your Most Powerful Tool is likely Most Under-Utilized!
#75: Social Media is NOT What You Think it’s About!
#82: Using Social Media in the Public-Sector: Why You Should Give a Twit!

Technical Rigor

#2: Why Science doesn’t hold up to “Politics” and what You Can Do about it
#3: Getting the Public and Policy Decision-Makers to Understand Your Process is Science-Driven
#8: Preventing “Paralysis by Analysis”
#34: “How can we explain why our plans cause some stakeholders to sacrifice more than others?”
#45: You Must Talk Senior Administrators Out of Unrealistic Expectations of Public Outreach
#50: “What can we do when people convey opinions as facts?”
#58: When Negative Past Experiences Influence Your Project (and Stakeholders)
#67: How to Debunk Phony “Facts” from an “Industry of Advocates”
#70: “Why does the public assume we’ve already made a decision and getting involved would be a ‘waste of their time’?!?”
#72: “When we involve stakeholders early in our process, many jump prematurely to a solution.”
#90: “Why You Hate Political Leadership as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen”
#91: What can you do when a political appointee intends to gut your agency? (Actually, a lot!)
#93: This is an advanced Consent-Building topic, based on American Values and what to do when opponents play dirty, malign, and personally attack you.
#101: When Opponents are Uninformed or Clueless

The Role of Politics

#88 The REAL Difference between Public versus Private-Sector Work
#89 Politics” Isn’t Holding You Back, It’s Part of the Process. Here’s Why…
#90 Why You Hate Political Decision-Making as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen.
#91: Is the Fox Guarding Your Henhouse?

Us vs. Them

#37: When Some of Your Stakeholders Harbor Strong Anti-Government Attitudes
#46: The Key to Reversing Anti-Govt. Beliefs is Buried within the Beliefs Themselves
#68: “Our ‘public’ includes people who aren’t impacted by our work at all, but are motivated by their hate for government. Help!”
#69: “As a regulatory agency, our relationship with the public suffers because people don’t like to be told what to do. Yet, this is the nature of our work. Help!”
#77: Why Your Outreach is Inadvertently Aggravating Anti-Government Attitudes
#81: Beware of Backfire! The More Support You Try to Gain, the More Anti-Government Attitudes You’ll Generate
#86: Get Your Proposals Implemented by Leveraging Common Ground among Anti-Government Groups
#89: Politics” Isn’t Holding You Back, It’s Part of the Process. Here’s Why…
#90: Why You Hate Political Decision-Making as a Technical Expert, but LOVE it as a Citizen.
#91: What can you do when a political appointee intends to gut your agency? (Actually, a lot!)
#93: This is an advanced Consent-Building topic, based on American Values and what to do when opponents play dirty, malign, and personally attack you.
#100: Do You Gain or Lose Power by Involving the Public?
#102: Use the Media, Don’t be Used by the Media
#123: How to Deal with Both kinds of Polarized Stakeholders

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