Building Bridges for Thriving Communities
A bridge in the literal sense is a structure that provides a pathway for passage that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to traverse.
Bridges between people, communities, and companies can provide similar access. Why the metaphor of a bridge in the context of business and personal relationships you might ask? In my experience, we need to consciously advance strategies to better hear and understand one another if we are to create positive impact and outcomes. Trust is the bridge we build to find common ground, shared values, and goals. In finding connections, organizations can be more effective and efficient, communities can activate and enhance their agency, and individuals can optimize their success and well-being. The question then is how do we build these bridges, particularly in a time when so much seems to separate us? Over my decades of work as an educator, policy analyst, banker, and researcher, I have found three strategic pillars that answer that query:
Build trust,
Share power and decision-making,
And advance mutually beneficial outcomes for sustainability.
Building trust requires forethought before engagement. For example, what is the history of interaction between your company and the target community?
History is not forgotten and if communities have had a bad experience that may impact your ability to interact in a meaningful way. If you can find a trusted voice in the community and ask about the indigenous priorities and challenges you can learn how your work might be compatible. Show up to public events and listen. These are clearly not the only strategies but a few to begin the process of building trust. Commitment to networking in this way takes time, however, in my experience, it is time well spent. When one knows the values and experiences of a target population one can fashion engagement, services, and products in ways that align with those priorities increasing the likelihood of effectiveness and efficiency.
Sharing power and decision-making may be unsettling at first. To be clear this strategy does not mean individuals and companies give away decision-making in ways that jeopardize autonomy. Rather, this pillar suggests seeking creative ways target populations can collaborate to enhance the quality of interactions. One way to do that is to identify assets and indigenous knowledge upon which advances can be built. For example, an understanding of the existing highly attended events in a community could inform advertisement roll-outs. Understanding who is trusted can inform who the messengers of those advertisements might be who resonate with the community. Another strategy is to be transparent about how much power and decision-making are possible to share for any particular project or interaction.
Respectful interaction leading to mutually advantageous results serves as the foundation for sustainability. Drawing insights from the preceding strategies harmonizes both organizational and community objectives and informs designs for engagement, products and services. Sustainability takes on various definitions and is a fluid rather than a static construct. With trust in place, adjustments are much easier to employ as needs arise. With a thoughtful approach, contributions from all parties involved can reap the direct and indirect benefits of collaboration.
(Richardson, JW & Kelly, KD. 2020. ISBN: 9781529740356)
