The Economic Immigration Lab — Social Lab in Action — Headwaters — Workshop 1

In response to the pressing need for a change around the process and expediency of a new wave of immigration to New Brunswick, a social lab was developed for building prototypes around attracting, welcoming and retaining newcomers. On September 11th 2017 over 30 participants gathered in Riverview, New Brunswick to begin working on building new approaches to the issue. This is a synopsis of the three day process.

There were great expectations on the behalf of the facilitation and leadership teams to begin the Economic Immigration Lab (EIL). A great deal of planning had gone into this day, when a selected group of experts arrived to discuss the future of immigration policy and action of the province of New Brunswick. As the crowd flowed into the Cocoa Room at the Chocolate River Station in Riverview on the banks of the Petitcodiac River, there was a collective relief. The people were there and they brought the intent to try something new.

To begin, members of the Leadership Council, Alex Leblanc, Executive Director, New Brunswick Multicultural Council and Adrienne O’Pray, CEO, NB Business Council presented opening remarks to welcome everyone into the space and set some context on the importance of this work to the future of the province. Emphasis was on the action that is encouraged through the lab process and creating that ripple effect to make change. The participants of the lab represent private sector, settlement agencies, newcomers, academics, student agencies, and all three levels of government. For a full bios of all participants click here. This opening was done in circle to demonstrate the equal importance of all the voices in the room.

The theme for the lab was chosen as water, and to introduce that Rose Mosse gave a rundown of the meaning of the names of the different workshop names. The initial workshop was titled ‘Headwaters’ in reference to the forming of the teams and the potential energy held within the group. The second workshop is called ‘The Rapids’ for the quickening pace and uncertainty that will be present at this point. The third workshop will be ‘Flow’ to represent the settling in that the teams will have accomplished. And the fourth workshop is called ‘Rising Tides’ in homage to the Bay of Fundy and to represent the readiness for the ideas to set sail and impact the world.

The first activity was a World Cafe, this allowed participants to get talking to each other as soon as possible and reconnect participants with the reason they were in attendance. In no time the room was full of chatter. This group was full of ideas and they wasted no time in expressing their thoughts on the issue to each other. The second question was an investigation into what we are inviting people into when they move to New Brunswick. This was to dive deeper into an understanding of what New Brunswick has to offer, what are our strengths?, weaknesses? The third question was to envision what New Brunswick might look like in 2030 that would make us the Canadian leader in attracting, welcoming and retaining newcomers. This was to spark ideas and aspiration early on in the process. These ideas could then transform and improve throughout the next three days.

The next portion of the day went to Nick Scott, Director of Innovation at the Government of New Brunswick. He framed the process and the underlying philosophy of innovation and prototyping that the teams would be building on throughout the entire 4 month cycle. Giving examples from pop culture and the world of flight he emphasised the importance of thinking differently about problems can lead to quicker, better solutions. Another important lesson was about systems thinking. We are part of the systems we are trying to change, making it very difficult and sometimes impossible to see the bigger picture. Reflection and sharing on a series of probing questions was then done to get people thinking about their preconceived ideas of what innovation is and what others around them think as well.

We then had our first lunch break, the room was full of voices, this group had lots to talk about. Some people had known each other from before and many new connections were happening in addition.

The afternoon sprang off with a compelling teach by Rose Mosse, Lab Manager, NouLAB on the MIT-developed U Theory of change. Going with the theme of you can’t change the system without changing yourself. This theory itemises and details the process that can lead to true systems change. It must start with the person and their journey through understanding their part in the system before larger impact will occur to shift the foundations of the entrenched institutions around immigration in New Brunswick.

To ground the entire process in solid data, New Brunswick’s former chief economist, David Campbell, gave a lecture on the state of immigration in relation to demographics and how that will affect the economy in the near and long term. The theme that resonated was that as New Brunswickers we can choose one of two futures, one to deal with issues of growth or one to deal with issues of decline in New Brunswick. Paying for healthcare for the retiring and ageing population is a big concern with a declining workforce. David is a captivating speaker and the weight of the numbers facing New Brunswick are a sobering reminder of the importance of this challenge. For example all of the labour market growth in Canada and New Brunswick between 2012 and 2016 was from landed immigrants.

Moving into thinking about the fieldwork component of the Lab process, the participants took part in an interview practice. They set up in groups of three to share stories about their respective journeys and what about the immigration issue compelled them to invest the time to be part of this lab. The notetaker in the group was sifting through the information to identify and record the systems and structures present and what challenges the storyteller faced in the journey. This process of sharing, listening and recording will be repeated again and again through the fieldwork component of the lab thus it was important to get participants comfortable with the process early in the lab.

To close the day, Nick Scott presented remarks to remind that this is a long-term process and there are no easy solutions or ‘silver-bullets.’ In circle the recognition of the connections made and the importance of harvest was re-emphasised and a tool for recording those important conversation was shared. People then took 5 minutes to note a compelling conversation and the person they shared that talk with. The richness of the conversations was revealed when people shared their conversations. The theme of what a newcomer is and when does a newcomer become a New Brunswicker arose and the weight of these issues was felt by the room. The culture of the province is being investigated by this lab and the topic carries such importance for all the participants.

A happy hour rounded out the evening and a collective inhale and relief was felt by the organising team. People arrived, they participated and they enjoyed. On to day two!

The round of sharing that finished day one prompted the opening of day two. Nick Scott and Rachel Derrah, both born and raised in New Brunswick, recognised the importance of place and the history of settlement on this land. Modern day immigration is a continuation of a process that started 400 years ago when the first europeans reached the shores of North America.

The morning was about learning how we interpret the system and how the process of the lab will flow. There was a system game where rules were set about movement around the room were set and then two participants who went into another room had to attempt understanding the rules. Amanda Hachey, Director, NouLAB then did a teach on the diverge, emerge, and converge patterns that would be occurring through the process to help participants understand the importance of going into the unknowing and learning space.

It was then time for open space. What was in the room? Who had those burning conversations waiting to happen? Who were interested in similar topics? Allowing people to coalesce around topics showed that there was such motivation for dialogue in this group. There was no hesitation and the time slots for sharing topics filled up so fast we had to add another meeting place. This process got people opening up and doing an initial probe into possibilities for group topics. To provide some relief and allow the learning of the workshop up to that point to settle in, the half hour block after lunch was provided for solo reflective time. Participants were encouraged to leave their phones, step outside to the banks for the Petitcodiac river and reflect on what they had learned so far and what gaps were arising for them.

Jumping right in after the reflection, a process for creating a powerful, guiding question was introduced. Beginning with ‘How might we…?’(HMW) and then identifying the user and the goal of what to provide that user, individuals formed questions about the issues they deemed most important to tackle. The next step was to see where the questions overlapped, to achieve this, a ‘How might we’ bingo was played, where people would read out their statements and anyone with a similar theme would exclaim ‘bingo!’ The questions were then grouped together. This process gave an immediate sense as to who would be potentially working together and as such the group formation could begin.

Forming groups for who you will be working with over the next three months is a potentially stressful process. Amanda brought the group into the circle and began the process without delay. Few parameters were set at this early stage, groups could be no bigger than seven and no smaller than three. Placements in the room were set and people went about moving to where they felt the topic fit their interest. Participants settled in their teams for the time being and sensing the energy in the room the facilitation team ended the day early to give a chance to rest for day three.

To begin day three and begin the discourse on teamwork, Greg Woolner, of Colab shared some research done by google on teamwork. Their multi-year, multi-million dollar research on 180 teams at google revealed very little commonalities between successful teams. It was only when the researchers isolated for a few variables did two consistent truths come out about the most successful teams. They were that everyone on the team at a relatively equal amount of time speaking and being heard and there was a high average social sensitivity across the team. Sharing this research was aimed at priming the culture of listening and being aware of the experience of your team members.

The activity to drive team work home was personal journaling on how they behaved under stress, when they’re awesome and what they need to work well in a team. Getting these things out and shared with the people they’re around opens these lines of communication early and makes further discussion on working styles a normal part of the process.

To further develop the ‘How Might We’ statements a round of feedback on the statements. Groups would read out their statement and then a ‘popcorn’ style feedback was done. The feedback was in the form of questions but the group being questioned cannot answer. They can either take the input or not, this process is just meant to spark thought on other opinions.

Crafting the HMW statements really was the participants first exposure to prototyping. There were to be many iterations and tweaks before there would be a working question at the end of the day. The next step was to frame the question around the needs of the user. The user is anyone who is at the centre of the problem they are creating a solution for, who will be using the potential product or service created.

Nearing the end of the day it was time to remind the teams of the fieldwork and get them setup for the user-interviews they were tasked with completing before a webinar in 3 weeks time. In addition there was some probing to ensure people were in the right group. At this point late in the day there was a major shift, with an entire group dissolving and forming another group that addressed a missing need of helping newcomer entrepreneurs.

To check out of the final day, the group met in circle and shared what they were grateful for about the process. Many shared their gratitude for the process and the people in the room. This topic touches on many issues close to the hearts of those in the room. Family and decisions to leave home were top of mind. The energy that came out during the three days was vibrant, many connections and conversations occurred amongst the participants. It’s the hope of the facilitation team that this energy will continue out into the world and carries into the the fieldwork. If each of the 41 participants shares the message the message and importance of this work will take of in the consciousness of many New Brunswickers.

Leaving the workshop 7 teams were formed. Their ‘How Might We…’ statements were as follows:

How might we help employers find the right fit? How might we match the newcomer skills to a suitable employer?

How might we help prospective and current newcomer immigrant entrepreneurs to fulfill their journey from pre-arrival to execution of business plan?

How might we help international francophone students find meaning and full employment to be able to contribute to the NB community?

How might we have a civil service that better reflects the society it serves through diversity? How might we help the government of NB’s civil service be a more culturally diverse and welcoming employer?

How might we smash the barriers to shape a collaborative social fabric through intentional exchange? How might we help each other to catapult into a vibrant NB where everyone has the support they need to self-actualize?

How might we help NB private sector employers to recruit an international workforce?

How might we share locals’ and newcomers’ stories of integration in NB to create community engagement?

Follow the Economic Immigration Lab at economicimmigrationlab.org/archive