5) Description of initiative: We developed two relevant social innovations: 1) Dynamic Facilitation allows one facilitator to assure a creative mode of talking and thinking among conflicted people. With Dynamic Facilitation, conflicted parties do not face each other but face a seemingly impossible-to-solve issue. The dynamic facilitator helps people to become creative in addressing this issue together, seeking win/win breakthroughs. The thinking process is more creative than a back and forth discussion or 'decision-making'. We call it 'choice-creating'.

2) Building on this innovation is a large-system process we call the "Wisdom Council." Using a series of randomly selected small groups, one dynamic facilitator assures a public conversation that is creative and heartfelt about conflicted issues. This impacts many issues including prejudice, war, economic inequities, partisan bickering, etc. The Wisdom Council process is ongoing and builds We the People perspectives that honor all views and addresses the root causes of societal conflict.

The Wisdom Council works like this: Every 4 months twelve people from a community are randomly selected. They are "dynamically facilitated" to select key issues, creatively address them, and reach unanimous conclusions. Then the "Wisdom Council" presents its unanimous results and the story of how they got them to the people of the community in a ceremony. All are invited to dialogue about what they have heard. In practice three things happen: 1) the vast majority of people support Wisdom Council conclusions, which may be specific or general; 2) people feel empowered, recognizing that they can work together to solve the big problems; and 3) people express support for the process, chartering the next Wisdom Council.

At the Center for Wise Democracy we introduce communities to this new vision of democracy and support interested people to implement Wisdom Councils.

6) Description of innovation: Dynamic Facilitation is a small group process that helps people address conflict. It is different from traditional conflict resolution: 1) The process does not directly aim to improve individual communication skills. Instead the facilitator helps them be authentic. The Dynamic Facilitator works so that each person's uniqueness is a contribution to the group. 2) Shared values or ground rules are not used. Instead shared values naturally emerge from the "safe space" the facilitator assures. 3) It is not a step-by- step formula. The dynamic facilitator supports a self-organizing dynamic with a group, where a shared whole-system perspective emerges. The nature of the conflict changes and the group ultimately forms a "we," solving an issue together.

The Wisdom Council does this for a whole community of people. At one level the Wisdom Council creates a symbolic voice of We the People, which sparks more citizen involvement, includes more marginalized people, builds more of a political will for solutions in the public interest, and facilitates a high quality public dialogue. There are a number of processes, which support these aims like surveys, Citizens Juries, Citizen Assemblies, dialogue networks, and citizens deliberative panels. Beyond these benefits, however, the Wisdom Council also has the prospect of creating a legitimate voice of "We the People," which includes most everyone. Nothing else aims this high.

Key factors in how the Wisdom Council accomplishes this magic are: 1) assuring a quality of public conversation that is heartfelt and creative, where parties seek what's best for all. We call this quality of thinking "choice- creating" as distinct from "decision-making." 2) The Wisdom Council is ongoing while other processes are largely one-off events. 3) The Wisdom Council involves everyone in the system, not just a few. 4) The Wisdom Council determines the issues it addresses. 5) It addresses real issues and reaches unanimous conclusions.

7) Delivery model: The target population is everyone in a system. There are a number of ways that the Wisdom Council symbolically and actually does this. 1) Lottery - Each trimester, everyone in the community is part of a lottery 2) Invitation - Everyone is encouraged to participate in public face-to-face dialogues in a number of ways. For example, they are invited to attend a local presentation meeting. Also an online forum is established where people can share opinions, responses, information, etc. 3) Symbolic involvement - As a random sample that reaches unanimity the Wisdom Council is a legitimate symbol of all of the people in the system, whether or not elected officials approve. When it talks, "we have spoken. 4) Resonance - When people face a crisis creatively and overcome it. People are drawn to this kind of thinking, especially when the people are working on our crisis. 5) Ongoing - Before each presentation people are curious about what the Wisdom Council will talk about. Afterwards, they discuss the results. Each successive Wisdom Council takes on its topics and carries the conversation further. With each Wisdom Council there is growing interest.

8) Key operational partnerships: Our most important partners are the people in various cities and organizations who become inspired by the concept of the Wisdom Council. They form into "convening committees" seeking to stir interest. We support them to convene groups, build partnerships with the media, local funders, and community-based organizations.

Our organization is also building key relationships with organizations and individuals who are part of a growing movement to transform our paradigm of democracy, like the Co-Intelligence Institute and its founder Tom Atlee, Richard K Moore, author of "Escaping the Matrix", Sandy Heirbacher of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, Dick Spady of the Forum Foundation; John Messer of the Susquahanna Instittute, and Ned Crosby and Pat Benn originators of the Citizens Jury and Citizens Initiative Review. There are also two mediation centers in Washington and California researching the use of Dynamic Facilitation in group and community conflict resolution.

Future partnering opportunities are in the works with people like Joseph McCormick of Reuniting America and the organizer of many dialogues for high-profile people, who filmed our experiment with the Wisdom Council in the Rogue Valley; John Vasconcellos of "Politics of Trust"; America Speaks; and the Creative Problem Solving institute.

We also seek to build relationships with social investors willing to fund this new mode of social change.

9) Financial model: We make our services accessible at two levels. First we have sliding scale fees for the services we offer that make Dynamic Facilitation, training and the Wisdom Council accessible to anyone or group interested. This includes offering scholarships for people to attend Dyanmic Facilitation training and fees for facilitating and consulting starting at completely free.

Second, in delivering a Wisdom Council, we make the process as accessible as possible for all types of people to participate if they are randomly selected. This includes providing child care and meals, helping with transportation, offering a stipend when possible, and making necessary accommodations for people with disabilities or who speak English with difficulty.

          • Costs as percentage of income: 16%

          • Financing: Our annual budget has been growing since the organization's inception. The majority of our income has come from forward thinking individuals, earned income, volunteer time, board members, and in-kind contributions. We plan to continue building this individual donor base.

We plan to increase the percentage of earned income to help us break even in delivering our services to interested communities. Income is generated through the sales of our Wisdom Council Toolkit, supplying dynamic facilitators to the Wisdom Council meetings, providing facilitation services to nonprofit organizations and difficult community issues, delivering technical assistance and consulting to certified Wisdom Councils, generating speaking honoraria, and through Dynamic Facilitation skills training.

10) Effectiveness

          • Project outcomes: In recent experiments we gathered qualitative and quantitative feedback on the impact of the Wisdom Council on individuals and collectively. We have observed individual and collective behavior change - from adversarial communication to inclusive and trust-building communication; increased participation, activism, and engagement in community life; and individuals and groups realizing their ultimate authority over collective decision-making. Examples: From a one-time experiment in the Rogue Valley, there is now a large-scale citizen movement to re-write the town charter. In a large organization where people said, "I don't feel safe, there are now active safety committees, an ombudsman, less criticism of new ideas, a decrease in sexual harassment, and more feeling of community.

          • Number of clients in past year: The Wisdom Council is not designed to affect people person-by-person. It is a holographic process intended to affect the public conversation, all people at once. However, a number of people who were randomly selected to be on Wisdom Councils have said the experience changed their lives because they have an experience of democracy working, and the ability of diverse people to come to unanimity on difficult issues. Other people have become turned on to the Wisdom Council and have started organizing Wisdom Councils in their areas. One said he read the book about the Wisdom Council, "Society's Breakthrough," five or six times and that "It has given me a way of life!'

11) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Start Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: We have proven that Dynamic Facilitation works and many people are using it. There is a growing number of interested people in different locations increasingly ready to do Wisdom Councils. We aim to support all of theses communities, but in particular to find a place where we can conduct a long- term demonstration of the process for two to three years.

In the United States, there are interested people organizing conveners in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Portland, Seattle, Madison WI, New Orleans, and Chappaqua NY. There is also considerable interest in other countries in Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Canada and other places.

A long-term demonstration will allow us to generate publicity, provide a research opportunity, and allow us to build skill and the capacity to deliver the process on a larger scale.

12) Origin of the initiative: In the early 1980s as an internal consultant within a timber company I stumbled upon a new way to facilitate meetings now called "Dynamic Facilitation." For sixteen years I have taught Dynamic Facilitation Skills in public seminars as a consultant. (www.DynamicFacilitation.com) In the seminars attendees practice Dynamic Facilitation on high-care, impossible- to-solve issues from society, like healthcare, welfare, the environment, prejudice, materialism, and terrorism. No matter what issues the groups start with, they have breakthroughs. On the night of May 9, 1993 I experienced an insight on how these breakthroughs might be combined into one. The innovation is the "Wisdom Council."

Contact Information:
Jim  Rough
President
The Center for Wise Democracy
(non-profit)
1040 Taylor St.
United States
Tel: 360 385 7118
Email: jim@wisedemocracy.org
Website: www.WiseDemocracy.org