The Keys to Step 5

The Keys to Step #5

Use Hopes to Focus Information Gathering

The process of resolving tough issues that confront business or community organizations requires focused information. Shared hopes can guide you to find the right information—the information that relates to your important objectives. (See Figure 11.)

Figure 11: Look through the lens of your hopes.

Focused information gathering can help you avoid the "paralysis of analysis" that comes from coping with a distracting fog of information. The typical approach to information gathering is to pull together all of the information that is available on the issue in question and then attempt to examine it. Such an "exhaustive" analysis may yield nothing more than that—exhaustion. Other groups give up before they start, in despair about not having enough time to analyze all of the information and reach a solution. However, if you filter your information through the core set of hopes—what's really important—you'll have the time for analysis and the process will be efficient.

Looking through the lens of your hopes also ensures that participants seek out critical information that they might otherwise miss. It shifts the focus from "What information do we have?" to "What information do we need?" Soft data on intangibles, such as how the options will affect educational quality or growth in the community, receive balanced consideration with more easily quantified and accessible information about capital investment and operating costs.

Present Information but Don't Present Conclusions

When you have gathered information for a group presentation, convey the information as accurately as possible without making conclusions or offering recommendations. If you interpret the facts or advocate a particular conclusion, others will think you are biased and discount your information.

For example, participants on the school task force (see Step #3) heard from all three groups and weighed the negatives and positives of each option (see Step #6) before they reached an informed point of view. This stepwise approach built credibility and established buy-in for their ultimate decision.

Gathering information without bias is also beneficial in another regard. Freed from advocacy roles, group members can efficiently gather facts without fretting over the implications of any particular fact. Because they know multiple factors will weigh into the conclusions, they can be inclusive in their data gathering without fear.

Encourage Shared Experiences

When group members work as a team, openly and sensitively, they're able to share the wider concerns of their colleagues and other stakeholders. For example, because the school task force members heard feedback from the broader community in Step #3, they knew what was of particular concern to people and were able to explore the broad issues on everyone's behalf.

Sharing hopes and experiences also brings people closer together. Although many participants had been involved on one side or the other of the school overcrowding issue for years, when they began using the ten-step process, it was the first time some of them had ever actually worked together. As they gathered facts about the different options, physically visiting potential school sites, poring over cost estimates, and examining growth issues together, they shared experiences and gained mutual understanding.

An added advantage is that open and balanced information gathering contributes to the overall credibility of the decision-making process. Participants trust that an unbiased process yields useful information without needing to explore every item themselves.

HOPES AID EFFECTIVE INFORMATION GATHERING BY:

• Efficiently focusing attention on what's important

• Clearly defining types of information to consider

• Maintaining balanced perspectives among participants

• Encouraging shared learning

• Building understanding and support for effective solutions