Be Engaged :: Working Together :: With Initative

What do you do if you see a huge need, but you don’t see any efforts to adequately meet that need?

Perhaps there’s a growing homeless problem in your city. Perhaps there’s a food desert in your neighborhood. Perhaps there’s a recent natural disaster that has impacted a lot of people in your community. There are many, many, many more examples of commonly under-met large scale needs.

You see it. You know something needs to be done.

So … do something.

I will only suggest a first step, but it’s a good one.

Get people together. Bring them into a room. Share your heart with them. Ask them to help.

Let’s walk through this by using a food desert as an example.

You’re going to need to recruit people. Who? Those who are impacted and those who can help.

You need a good grasp of the problem, so talk to people who understand it from multiple angles. Talk to those who live in the neighborhood. Ask them how they’re currently managing and what they would find helpful.

You also need people who have the passion, knowledge, experience and means to meet the need. Invite community leaders, business owners, elders and deacons from your church, known philanthropists, etc.

Aim big. Don’t be intimidated.

If you’re working on assembling a dream team, try to get at least one representative from each of these categories: medical, law enforcement, legal, insurance, finance, church, non-profit and government. Your particular endeavor may not need all these perspectives, but you don’t know what you don’t know.

Once you’ve got a list of people who you think can help, invite them to meet in person. You can reserve a classroom at a local school or church, but please don’t try to do this remotely or via email exchanges.

What do you share? The problem and your passion. Even if you’ve got some ideas about how to solve the problem, I’d recommend keeping those ideas to yourself (at least, at first).

Focus on the problem. Consider asking someone who is impacted by the problem to share their dilemma with your group.

After you’ve laid it out there, ask “what can be done?”

I recommend saying something like this: “I’m not asking anyone to make a long-term commitment. I invited each of you because I value your expertise, and I hope you can offer some insight towards a solution. If you’re unable to work with this project beyond this meeting, I understand. I do ask that you’ll brainstorm with us for the remainder of this meeting. Help me prepare to take the next step. If you are willing to continue working on this project, let me know after this meeting.”

Plan to go through this cycle multiple times. You’ll get tips on who else you can invite. Hopefully, each iteration brings you closer to a solution.

During these brainstorming sessions, deliberately lean on the expertise of others. When someone with special qualifications (such as a lawyer) raises a point, listen. Even when it feels like they’re creating unnecessary work or unduly impeding progress, you must consider the point being made.

For some of us, it is difficult to defer or delegate. It can be scary to let go, but it’s necessary. This is a powerful way to build consensus while simultaneously demonstrating competence, inspiring confidence and generating excitement.

As you make progress, regularly assess if your team has blind spots that need to be addressed.

Perhaps you will discover someone else who has already started to work on the problem. Are they available to discuss their journey with you? Can you work with them?

Also, be prepared to be disappointed. It’s not going to be easy or straightforward. You will face discouragement, skepticism and opposition. There will be people who you thought would support the endeavor, but they don’t. Don’t allow these setbacks to deter you.

Every successful endeavor was, at one time, a new endeavor. Stay the course. Press on. Pursue mercy.

Open Hands, page 232-234