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Question:
Hi

I'm interested in making this my career--to create shared value by using the community toolbox to decide on a community solution and then apply it through a community partnership or buying a small business and applying that solution strategy to the current business strategy.

creating shared value
http://www.isc.hbs.edu/creating-shared-value/Pages/default.aspx

How do you recommend that I get started? Do you have suggestions for the ideal outcome or plan? I'm thinking it may be best to pick a community to start in and then find the problem and then find a business that would be a good fit to apply it.

Thanks,

Matt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattshark32
Answer:

Hi Matt,
 
Thank you for visiting the Community Tool Box (CTB) and Ask an Advisor, hopefully we're able to provide you with timely, useful, accurate, and directly applicable information that will help you in your community work. First, we heartily applaud you for wanting to make a difference in your community and for wanting to make this your life's work; kudos. That said, the CTB provides all the resources you need to make that difference. The resources you use will be determined, in part, by where the community is in terms of its development and the problem (s) to be solved. As I mentioned, the CTB has plenty of resources if you want to develop and implement an initiative in partnership with community members; the emphasis being on partnership. To be clear Matt, and not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but it is the community that will invite you to work with them, not the other way round. Before you begin, you must and I repeat you must talk with people in the community (i.e., find the key stakeholders and approach them with utmost humility) to determine whether you'll be accepted as a partner in their community building efforts, whether there are issues they're currently working on or issues yet to be resolved, and whether there are others already working with them. Before I get into the specifics of the CTB let me put you onto resources from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University that I've used in my own community development work and that continues to inform my thinking about community development: http://www.abcdinstitute.org/publications/downloadable/. I offer these not as replacement to the CTB, rather as an additional set of resources.
 
Okay, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the CTB and what we have to offer so I want you to start with a primer on the CTB to give you a better sense of what we do and what we have to offer, then you can decide what is most suitable. We'll take them in the order in which I think they should be reviewed.
 
1) Begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "About" button at the top right of the page. Click on "About the Tool Box" and review this section.
 
2) Begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "About" button at the top right of the page. Scroll down to "How to Use the Tool Box," click it on, and review this section.
 
3) Begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "Help Taking Action" button at the top left of the page. Scroll down to and click on "A Model for Getting Started" and review this section. If you review no other section, please review this one.
 
4) Begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "Help Taking Action" button at the top left of the page. Scroll down to and click on "Best Change Processes" and review this section.
 
5) Begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "Help Taking Action" button at the top left of the page. Scroll down to and click on "Troubleshooting Guide" and review those sections that make the most sense to you. From my perspective, sections: 1. We need to understand the community or situation better; 2. We don’t understand the problem or goal; and 3. We don't know what to do to solve the problem will be the best sections to review at this stage of your initiative.
 
6) Last, begin on the CTB home page. Click on the "Help Taking Action" button at the top left of the page. Scroll down to and click on "Online Courses." If you're unsure about how to effect community change then taking a sequence of free, online courses may be the way to go.
 
That said, in its essence and practical applications the CTB will take you through the community change process by helping you work your way through its 46 Chapters towards providing you with practical, step-by-step guidance in community-building skills. Associated with our chapters are 16 Toolkits, which offer short outlines for key community-building tasks. By starting on our home page, you can access all 46 chapters and 16 toolkits: click on the "Learn A Skill" button at the top left corner and then either click on the "Table of Contents" for the chapters or click on "Toolkits" for, well the toolkits. I will say that the toolkits are a good place to start as they are a more concise presentation of the material in the chapters, but also contain examples, tools, and links to other parts of the CTB that can be put to immediate use. Although it appears to be a rather daunting task to get through them all, if you take them one by one in the order in which they're presented I think this will provide you with the guidance you need to get your initiative going because they will help you get a quick start on key activities in community work. Accessing specific toolkits that are closest to what you are doing provides outlines of key tasks, examples, and links to more detailed instructional sections. For my money (ironically, CTB resources are free), toolkits are the best resources in the CTB.
 
Let me say Matt, that the answer to your question encompasses nearly the entirety of the CTB so to frame your thinking about implementing significant change requires a fairly comprehensive understanding of everything that it takes to bring change to a community; it is a tall order, but it can be done, it has been done, and it will continue to be done, and you can do it too. I won't lie to you and tell you it's easy, but at least the CTB makes it more manageable by breaking the process down into bite-size portions if you're willing to put in the time, persistence, work, and effort it takes to make change happen.
 
With that Matt, thank you for visiting the CTB and Ask an Advisor, we're really pleased you want to take on the hard work of community building; there should be more people like you. If you find that our response to your query doesn't quite hit the mark, please revisit us and we'll work together to find a more suitable alternative. We wish you the greatest of success in your endeavors. Take care, be well, do good work!
 
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Question Date: jeu, 06/30/2016