IST: Day Three

I'm not gonna lie. It's getting late and I'd rather read Twilight before going to bed than write about what I did today. Lame I know.

But here are some pictures to tide you over.

UPDATE: OK, the pictures above are from a session called "Strategic Collaboration." I was hoping it would give some good pointers about how to recognize potential partnerships in the city and then go about establishing them. But it was different than I was expecting and was probably the least interesting and helpful of the trip.

But there were still good things to glean from it.

We played a game with a balloon where we had to stand in a circle and join hands and use various body parts the leader called out to keep the balloon afloat. Our balloon wasn't very full of air, so it hit the ground alot.

Afterward we talked about how some members of the group had better balloon-handling skills and sometimes it was better to stay out of their way and let them do their thing. However, when that person lunged forward, the arm of the person next to them had to be pulled with them, symbolizing that the group was still connected but "giving" some leeway/flexibility for the person to do what needed to be done. Teamwork and communication was necessary.

Later, our groups had to come up with an arts and crafts representation of a partnership.

My group's was the interlocking pipecleaner circles, representing that each agency or person brings their unique talents to the table toward our central goal (the middle circle) and together we are stronger and more connected than alone.

I thought the other group's artwork pictured above had a good concept. Each person in the group made their own piece and then all the various pieces were loosely joined. And because they were loosely joined, the larger piece had the "flexibility" for each piece to come to the top and be the "lead piece" for a partiular project that played to that groupmemeber's strength.

Later, we all took a conflict styles survey that was supposed to show how we respond in a situation where your wishes differ from another person's. I ranked low in competitiveness, middle in collaborating and accomidating, and high in compromising and avoiding.

It was an interesting excercise, but I found the questions hard to answer sometimes because my answer would depend on who I am talking to (boss vs. colleague vs. friend) and the situation and even my mood that day.

Finally, we talked the three levels of collaboration: information sharing, resource sharing and joint ventures. I've been involved with all three types as a VISTA, but mostly the first two. We also talked about how fear and trust issues between agencies is one of the biggest barriers against collaboration.