Why Ownership-based Change?
At the most basic level we argue Ownership-based Change needs to be understood as a mindset which needs to replace the flawed mindset of “buy-in.”
Read time ~5 min.
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This is the first in a series on Ownership-based Change.
Ownership-based Change is a term we use to refer to a cluster of mindsets, principles, and processes for creating durable change in organizations, groups, communities, and even whole systems. To the best of our knowledge Tenacious Change was the first to use this term when Tom Klaus, our Founding Partner, incorporated it into the research and work he had been doing on community engagement, community mobilization, and, more generally, creating change movements.
Ownership-based Change is not a term that rolls off the tongue, for sure. It was, though, a deliberate choice to use it because of its juxtaposition with a popular, and flawed, idea that durable change happened by getting groups to “buy-in” to it. By using the term Ownership-based Change it nudged open the door for discussion of “buy-in” based change.
In this blog series we are going to unpack and examine some of the ideas contained in Ownership-based Change. We've been doing this for several years in workshops, training events, and in the context of our consultation services. What we have learned is that once understood, Ownership-based change resonates with people, often at an intuitive level. We’ve also heard from numerous people over the years that it has had influence on them as it has shifted their mindsets away from “buy-in” based change. Even more, it has been the foundation of more authentic engagement with people in change initiatives. In this series we aim to create a more comprehensive understanding of Ownership-based Change.
At the most basic level we argue Ownership-based Change needs to be understood as a mindset which needs to replace the flawed mindset of “buy-in.”
For many years “buy-in” based change has dominated in change management theories, whether at the group, organization, or community level. The term “buy-in” is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “acceptance of and willingness to actively support and participate in something (such as a proposed new plan or policy).” The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) traces the term back to the early 1600s when it was used to describe the purchase of a good from an external supplier for one’s own use or resale. This idea of purchasing something was associated with the term through about 1985 when the OED asserts the term came into a different popular use, chiefly in the United States. In the mid-1980s it began to be defined as “acceptance or agreement with a suggestion or proposition; cooperation.”
The denotative (plain, direct) meaning of a word is usually not at issue. It is the connotative (implied) meaning that can be problematic. That has happened with the term “buy-in.” It came to be associated more with the act of facilitating “buy-in” even if that meant manipulation and forced compliance, using funding and the assertion of expertise over others. The battle cry in many change initiatives became, “We’ve just got to get them to ‘buy-in’ to this!”
Within the world of health and human services, in which Tenacious Change has worked, the “this” came to refer to an external group’s, or stakeholder’s, interpretation of needs assessment data often coupled with its own ideas, purposes, and proposals for change. These external groups were often funders (state level, federal level, foundations, etc.) who represented themselves as knowing more about the groups and communities they were trying to help than the residents who lived in them. In the Tenacious Change vernacular, we refer to such external individuals and groups as “Content Experts” and those residents as “Context Experts.”
Our observation is that Content Experts rarely have bad intentions, only bad execution.
Bad execution, though, can create long-term mistrust and result in lasting damage to groups, organizations, and whole communities. We saw this over and over again in our work with grantee organizations which were trying to manage their relationships with funders and still have integrity with the communities they were trying to serve.
We are going to stop here for this week because we are trying to write these blogs so they can be read in 5 minutes. (That’s one of our New Year’s resolutions!) Next week, we’ll pick up here by offering a scenario we’ve encountered which illustrates what happens when organizations and communities are asked to “buy-in” to change initiatives. Stay tuned!
Now Streaming! Season 2 of Getting to Third Space with Lamar and Tom
The second season of Getting to Third Space with Lamar & Tom kicked off this week with Part 1 of our interview with Seth Kaplan. Seth is the author of a new book, "Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time." Watch the podcast now on the Tenacious Change YouTube Channel or listen on your favorite podcast platform. In "Fragile Neighborhoods" he focuses on how neighborhoods throughout the U.S. have become more fragile and what can be done to strengthen them and make them more resilient. As we enter a new year in which we may find community and neighborhood bonds tested like never before, this is a timely and important conversation. In this podcast Lamar & Tom will talk with Seth about his book and how civil conversation and dialogue contribute to strengthening neighborhoods, communities, and countries.
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All episodes of Season 1 are now streaming. Click here to listen now.
In each episode, Lamar and Tom carve out a Third Space where everything can be on the table for open, straightforward, honest, and, yet kind and respectful, inquiry. Getting to Third Space with Lamar & Tom is now available on multiple podcast platforms: Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube Podcasts (if you want to see Lamar & Tom do the podcast).
We hope you’ll listen in or watch, offer comments and suggestions, and share links with your friends and colleagues.
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