Seeking Fellows interested in balancing continuity and change in heritage and other non-profit organisations. RSA Fellow Perry Walker of Talk Shop wants to run an online workshop lasting around two hours to test out a practical way create this balance.
The challenge
Many third sector organisations face the challenge of balancing:
- The preservation of their founding aims and principles
- Staying relevant in our rapidly changing world
In any previous era, this would indeed be a challenge. But life in 2022 is even harder. Far more people get drawn into taking sides. This is exacerbated by the reach of social media for people with a desire to polarise, or provoke culture wars. The consequence is that many organisations are much more split down the middle – infinitely harder to manage.
A practical way forward
Talk Shop found this in the work of Polarity Partnerships in the USA. Their model is grounded in the insight that values tend to show up in pairs that look like opposites, but which are interdependent and interact over time. We may prefer the stability and familiarity which comes with continuity but we recognise that as circumstances change, we need new responses, and that sometimes we need new ideas to best maintain our past. Each of us will have a personal preference for continuity or change, but throughout our lives we will be drawing on both. The same is true for organisations.
The workshop
The workshop will be focused on heritage, where the culture wars are especially evident. We’re looking particularly for Fellows with experience and knowledge of this field, but Fellows from other sectors are also welcome.
This workshop is supported by the RSA: there is no charge.
If you are interested, or want to find out more, contact Perry: perryw@talkshop.org