Welcome to the 2nd edition of Listening to Change, a fortnightly digest from the Centre for Public Impact, Dusseldorp ForumandHands Up Mallee that shares what we are hearing as part of our Listening to Understand Sessions. We’ve been speaking to those using stories in government and philanthropy to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of storytelling as a lever for systems change.
Over the past fortnight, we’ve spoken to a variety of policy experts, philanthropists, and academics and some of the key insights include:
To listen well you need vulnerability and not everyone is comfortable with that.
“People often assume you need to put walls up and have professional distance. This gets in the way of genuinely hearing someone else’s story.”
There is a huge power imbalance that gets in the way of hearing stories. Indigenous populations have had data used as a weapon against them by governments. There is an element of rebalancing power in stories.
“Qualitative data meets the needs of Ministers or government departments but not necessarily the community’s need.”
There is a translation role for those wanting stories to be heard so that it lands and has an impact inside government. We need to start by celebrating what is working and investigating why things work well.
''To encourage government to listen you've also got to recognise what works in the system. Change doesn't happen with an approach of only pointing out what is broken.”
Frances Martin
We have two more weeks of listening sessions and look forward to sharing more insights in our next digest.
Until then you can read our latest blog and enjoy some of the resources below.
Thinking, Fast and Slow, takes us on a tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think and make choices. One system is fast, intuitive, and emotional; the other is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.
Stories can provide new insights into current policy challenges and problems but while listening to them could improve political decision making, how do we know which ones to trust?
The Centre for Public Impact is a global not-for-profit organisation founded by the Boston Consulting Group. We serve as a learning partner for governments, public servants and the diverse network of changemakers who are leading the charge to reimagine government. We work with them to hold space to collectively make sense of the complex challenges we face and drive meaningful change through learning and experimentation.
