Here are my personal reflections on the SPEC Class:

What I remember and appreciated most: It is no secret that I enjoyed the SPEC classroom conversation. I loved getting to know my colleagues and learning about their ideals and aspirations. In fact, I enjoyed every aspect of the course. I was stimulated by the course material, because it helped to put into easy to understand format so many of my values and beliefs. I enjoyed the presenters as they skillfully presented complex material in a way that made it accessible and easy to incorporate into our work. I was inspired by the fact that my colleagues at other organizations felt similarly. I was motivated to see if I could be a part of encouraging them and their organizations to go even further on the community change and empowerment dimensions. I was moved by the fact that we developed a tremendous openness, honesty and trust in the classroom, and anticipate it will carry forward into our cross organization collaboration which I eagerly await. And I loved the readings. Of course, I had already read some of the assigned books, in fact, recommended them. But spending more time with these materials was incredibly rewarding.

 

What I remember most about the class were the practice exercises when we would rate or reflect on our organizations or each other. These sessions were stimulating in putting theory into practice. I though that the exercises were skillfully drawn and important for deepening our understanding. I particularly enjoyed the organizational culture survey, which I found revealing and insightful. It helped to validate some of my impressions and put them in the context of organizational development everywhere. It gave a context for what I was observing in my own work and a springboard for constructive action. I enjoyed bringing some of these exercises to HSC and observing the differences in perspective expressed by the others.

 

Working through these things with Colleen was also extraordinarily valuable, and helped tremendously to establish a rapport and common purpose and vision between us, which we then used to carry the message and opportunities forward to staff.

 

And finally, what I believe was most rewarding and important in the long run, was definitely the T Team experience. While I sometimes felt that the classroom content could have been more squarely connected to the T Team, the T Team was the locus of action for putting all the theory into practice. Some of the theory is still lying in wait, perhaps, but the parts that have been deployed, have been catalytic and transformational, for the individuals and the organizational culture.

 

The entire class felt like a personal vindication for my aspirations. Many of the ideas we discussed were directly related to my practice, or to my intended practice. The class definitely gave me the means and language to put more of my aspirations into practice. The steady, calm and patient coaching and participation by Scot assured that we would stay on the path and gave us the confidence to proceed, even through rough patches of staff resistance or blind spots.

 

Challenges: Sometimes I felt impatient because moving towards real SPEC implementation seems so far off. Prevention, the component with the easiest to demonstrate results, is the most fully understood and practiced, even if funding constraints get in the way of implementation for many. But strengths, empowerment and community change are harder to implement. I think that the concept of strengths-based practice is broadly understood, although its true practice is limited in my experience, and I am not aware of much empowerment or direct focus on community change in the Miami Dade service sector. I sometimes felt that the UM team did not challenge us as much as they might, leaving some of these practices at a more theoretical level of understanding.

 

That having been said, I clearly understood that all of our organizations have great restraints in how they would implement the SPEC program. I see that all of us made real headway on “internal” SPEC but less on external. By virtue of having T Teams that addressed organizational issues, SPEC internal work was being accomplished. And I definitely believe that internal culture is critical to external results. Yet, for the length of time we spent in the program, I would have wished for more focus on external. It was challenging to me that the internal took so long, for HSC as well as for the others.

 

Overall, the fact that none of the groups judged each other and that the professors did not judge the organizations, was very liberating. So these few words of judgment on my part are quite out of the norm for the class experience, and I am somewhat embarrassed to reveal that I experienced them. I am grateful that others did not seem to judge us even when we fell below our aspirations, and in fact were tremendously affirming and encouraging of our intentions and actual practice results. I think overall that the appreciative attitude that was cultivated in class created the safe space for sharing, and so I reveal this challenge as a personal developmental challenge for me: to meet people where they are with appreciation and acceptance, rather than to focus on my own agenda for change. A delicate balance for me since my work is not only about my own practice, but to engage and encourage others along the path.

 

As HSC hopefully now enters into a period of greater partnership with UM about the dissemination of SPEC practices, this will be an area for us to explore together to help me and HSC deliver a message that invites expanded practices, without judging or berating others for sometimes slow progress. Time for me to go back to the Organizational Change book and remember the steps for gaining ownership and momentum for change!

 

Sometimes I was impatient with Isaac who has such a great way of presenting the data and theory. His talks were always so beautifully delivered and were so motivational for the practice. I felt that he could more explicitly use his bully pulpit for action. I know that academia and especially deanship place real constraints on advocacy, and that he has not been shy to tackle difficult topics. I am looking forward to discussing this delicate balance with him. I also felt that SPEC was a great way of packaging many of the concepts presented in other settings and disciplines, and I think that referencing that more would be helpful to acceptance and adoption.

 

Aha, insights: I loved the Fullan book. I found its recipe for organizational change elegant and compelling. It helped me to see just how challenging it was for HSC staff and others to implement the vision when the purpose for the organization was not clear. I deeply appreciated Scot. His gentle but insistent approach with me and Colleen and with our T Team was a critical component of our success. I felt personally very supported, respected and trusted as a result of his manner. He never judged, never put anyone or thing down, but was able to communicate a clarity about best practice in our civic and community change arena that was foundational. We do hope that as we proceed on the path that he will give us more of his opinion and suggestions, moving a bit more into a coaching role. As Colleen and I have expressed to him, it has sometimes felt like his academic observer hat dominated, while we know he has so much wisdom to impart.

 

Personal gain and take away: This program was incredibly empowering for me. I have had a difficult time creating the environment in my organization to support the kind of change that I knew was needed. I have been on a 15 year quest to establish the kind of organization that would walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Yet I lacked some of the tools to make this fully possible, and there was often a disconnect between my aspirations and the actual practice, sometimes leaving staff confused or unmotivated. This course and consultation (together with my own personal leadership coaching and the addition of a senior staff person with tremendous relationship and communications skills) gave me the insights and tools to get it done.

 

The T Team process was tremendously beneficial for me personally as I learned to let go of control in a setting with others who were committed and competent for the work at hand. It was very freeing to create the space where others’ leadership could flourish, always my intention but not fully realized. I was humbled when I realized I had sometimes not fully listened before, and inspired when I saw that allowing others to take responsibility would lead to the level of commitment from them that I was seeking (understanding that they too needed support to reach the level of competence and commitment needed for them to take responsibility for the work).

 

In summary, participation in SPEC has given me the means, the methods and the support needed to move forward on my larger organizational goals, to create a space for staff ownership and leadership development, to create an opportunity for meaningful staff input on challenges that I could not solve alone. I look forward to continuing to adopt and adapt what I have learned in the course to our organizational journey, and to incorporating the practices into our external work, as we provide capacity building support to other organizations in partnership with UM SPEC partners.

Dear Daniella,

Thanks for sharing your insights. I am also frustrated with myself that I have not always been as vocal as I would have liked to be on certain community issues. Part of this has to do with balancing political realities, and part of this has to do with my over extended schedule. I am not always happy about either constraint. It is a tension that I feel very strongly. I appreciate, however, your vote of confidence and will take into account your friendly nudge. Over the years I have had very good friends, like you, who have nudged me into corrective action :-)

I feel that we have built a strong foundation to move forward with a SPEC network. I look forward to building with you a sustainable network. I've learned a lot from you during this project. Your commitment to SPEC internal and external is remarkable and inspiring. I agree with your observations that we did not go as far in SPEC external as we would have liked, but I also agree with you that we are all in different places. The SPEC work is about living with tensions and dealing with them in non-judgmental yet responsible ways. I believe that there may not be an "ideal" resolution to the tension, but there is probably a good process to deal with it. A good outcome of this process is to call attention to distractions and drift. For calling attention to my own distractions and drift, I thank you. Isaac

HSC Folk,

Great videos! I really enjoyed the first person accounts and the symbolic illustration of leadership or lack thereof. I would like to import you into my classrooom to do some demonstrations! I really value very much the time and care you took to demonstrate some of the SPEC lessons for your organization.

Dear Daniellla:

Thank you for your wonderful reflections. You write as eloquently as you speak and your insights and expertise have been a true gift for me over the past two and half years. I have admired your passion, commitment, and ability to organize individuals and groups toward improving life in our community. I have especially valued the way in which you encourage others to join you in this mission. Your "critical comments" come from such a good place and are expressed with such caring, that they can only be seen constructively, as coming from a great critical friend. It's especilaly true when you do not hesitate to explore and share your own areas of growth. I am often frustrated by the fact that I get so bogged down with preparing classes and running a major, that I neglect to spend more time on community change work which I so value. I am currently exploring ways of shifting the balance and spending more time in community work. Interacting with you over the past few years have been an important source of inspiration for me in this struggle.

Ora