What setting up a local Neighbourhood Watch scheme clarified for me about what’s possible …
As I open this blog, a question:
Have you ever considered how the interconnections between you, local police, neighbours, councillors, start-ups and those deep humanistic traits of listening, vulnerability, courage and fear could all leverage one another?
I can assure you I haven't weaved them all together in a mix until recently but what a powerful potentiality it offers.
Some context
Two frames of context:
- My good friend and Human Development Space co-host Jo Hompstead kindly bought me Seth Godin's The Icarus Deception book for my 46th birthday and she even went to the meaningful effort of hand-writing a range of quotes that moved her and she felt could do the same for me.
This below card and reflection is deeply relevant to this blog and my recent community-building experience. This scheme development really does touch on all 3 elements of the card below:
2. I have never considered being a local activist and contributor as I have always been on the move.
Now that is not a negative thing, for those that know me, I am an explorer, get curious, go deep, get lost, get overwhelmed, come back up for air and get on to the next thing with ease. They are indeed my ‘personal seasons’ that my systemic guide Samantha Suppiah invited me to explore some time ago.
Some may see that as flighty and non-committal, I see it as following my intuition, my curiosity and my desire not to be shoe-horned into systems and structures that result in loss of meaningful life and energy.
It also allows me to see and join dots in very creative ways, often in ways that others cannot.
Ever since I was a kid, I have seen these below iconic signs on a variety of street corners or stickers in peoples windows around the UK but I have never really fully understood how they were set up, nor organised…. until now!
Following a recommendation by Councillor Laura Edie and Green Party member in Dartford, my home town here in the UK, I investigated what was required to set it up and what has happened over the past three weeks has been nothing short of a flow-state, start-up scenario:
- Investigation as to current schemes, if any
- Research into local police and crime statistics
- Identify target area of approx 700 houses and 1600 residents
- Design, print and hand-delivery of an invitation join the proposed scheme to every single one of those 700 houses, even before scheme was formally approved
- Advertise the idea on NextDoor website
- Carry out first 5-person focus group with new local peers to identify areas of focus
- Laura offers amazing guidance all the way through including connection to NHW/Kent Police liaison
- New West Hill Neighbourhood Watch 1 scheme is applied for and launched
- Advertise the news on multiple Facebook groups
- Welcome pack using Neighbourhood Watch info created
- 29 people have signed up within the past 7 days with further interest from at least 20 more, with over 20 people showing a desire to take an ACTIVE role
- Already two members have taken upon themselves to create the Facebook group for the scheme, self-organised energy already kicking in
If you are curious to take a look at the new scheme that is now live you can find it as follows:
Is this an art project?
Is the creation and co-creation of a scheme like this from scratch a work of art?
Based on my own internal narratives previously fed by early stage school experiences that “I was not creative” and a workplace that stifles humanity and creativity as much as possible in favour of compliance and conformance, I would have said no, but today I can state it absolutely IS a work of art.
I share another quote from Godin’s book that Jo kindly offered to me to bring this to life:
With this new scheme:
- I and we see the potential to build closer community ties, to work towards PRVENTING and not just reporting crime and dysfunctional behaviour as a result over time. We see value in knowing one another more, in a light touch, highly impactful way (counter to the story of separation)
- This scheme whilst set up by myself is 100% a community, co-creatively made effort. As already evidenced by the insights and input from the first focus group and the range of feedback and focus areas suggested by scheme members current and future, this scheme will be successful based on a range of factors including 1) self-managed structure and 2) active participation across the network of roads that make up this scheme
- There were no schemes anywhere in the West Hill area, my area. There was clearly a desire from just some initial conversations for a meaningful scheme to exist, prompted by Laura, but no-one had taken the steps to set it up. This is the blank slate from which we can co-create the art project that is this scheme
Key personal learnings and reflections thus far that are relevant for us personally and our workplaces
- So far this project has touched a diversity of different people and contexts across councillors, police, neighbourhood watch, local residents and leveraged the diversity of thought and background that comes with that
How often do you and your organisation actively network and co-create beyond your competitive walls?
How seriously, as in REALLY, is your leadership about developing equitable and just organisation design/structures/business models?
- It is really scary putting an unsolicited letter through somebody's letterbox, even when you are bringing something of meaningful potential value
What is something in your life right now where you feel that deep, in your gut energetic fear of something, yet you know, you absolutely know, by taking the action you know you need to take, that will pass?
- People are far more willing to engage and put their energy into things that they believe matter. This may seem obvious, but how much in our current version of life doesn't ‘really’ matter i.e give life, yet gets so much time and energy spent on it?
What is one thing that you spend time and energy on today that does not serve you now, nor life more widely, that maybe needs to be let go of?
- This project is not about me. It is genuinely a community-based approach with continuity built in be design, that I get a lot of energy and value from as part of the collective
How could redesigning your workplace to be one based on true collective intelligence and self-organisation and not on who has power and control and all the goodness that is possible as a result?
Do you believe that you are artistic?
What stops or blocks you being creative today?
Shall we connect?
My name is Garry Turner and I am an:
- International business development and authentic relationship building human working within and across a Euro 3bn + corporation
- International speaker on topics around human-centered design, vulnerability and change is an inside job
- Support senior leaders and mission driven solopreneurs as a Thinking Partner
- Facilitator of people-centered workshops and organisational design
- The co-creator with Jo Hompstead of Human Development Space in-person gatherings which are an emergent and co-creative space for both businesses and open groups
Digital Business Card — https://link.v1ce.co.uk/GarryTurner
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerthinkingpartner
Linktree — https://linktr.ee/HexoChangeGarryTurner
