The Thinking
Many like to think of New Zealand as a great place to live, but it is not great for everyone all of the time
The stories we hear from people who live in homes that are defective, sick and in some cases dangerous are heart breaking. Many of these people may end up with having nowhere to call home, failing health (physically and mentally) and no finances to back them up. Without intervention they will end up falling off the bottom of a social and economic cliff.
You can watch this video which explores inequality in New Zealand and the impact living in an unequal society can have on all of us. It was prepared for the MacroAuckland Forum and Launch (Auckland Communities Foundation) by Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett - authors of The Spirit Level. If we do nothing to riase the qualityof our housing stock in New Zealand this is the very far reaching, socially devastating trend that we and our children will be facing.
Our actions and thinking are informed by many sources (academic research, practical experience and lived experience). Here is a taster of some of the reading that has informed our approach. We will continue to build on this as we learn and grow.
We are about building healthy communities, not servicing social needs. Our beliefs and action focus lie on the right hand side of this table.
We adopt an adaptive leadership style which is suitable when our challenges are adaptive and complex (multi faceted, shifting over time, no one answer will be right nor serve all).
Properties of adaptive challenges:
- The challenge consists of a gap between aspirations and reality demanding responses outside the current repertoire. (ie. We do not have all of what we need)
- Adaptive work is inherently conservative (shift only what needs to shift) and innovative. We ask these quesitons - What is essential? What part of our practices and way of operating will serve us in the future? What is expendable?
- Adaptive challenges are value-laden because you surface different values and points of view. Progress involves making choices among the beliefs that guide our decisions and the competing commitments that exist which reinforce the status quo.
- Adaptive work requires learning, which can be difficult as you learn to refashion loyalties and develop new competencies.
- The people with the problem are the problem, and they are part of the solution.
- Problem solving responsibility shifts to the stakeholders.
- Adaptive challenges require a longer time frame to address – longer because it takes time to understand and frame the challenge, the work can’t be delegated, and it requires engaging all salient factions.
- Adaptive challenges require experimentation and innovation to make progress.
