What if organisations and nations focused less on “satisfaction” or even trust among customers/employees/people, and more on building AGENCY?
I talked about this last week in front 800+ people at the New Local Stronger Things conference, at London’s magnificent Guildhall — and I wanted to share it here.
I define agency as “power to act on a scale commensurate with the task or challenge.” As such, true agency is almost always collective, not individual — Citizen, not Consumer.
Turning your washing machine to 30 degrees is not agency in relation to climate change. Even taking fewer flights isn’t really. They matter, and we should do them — but they don’t represent agency.
Changing the law to introduce a frequent flyer levy, or creating a community-owned local transport system — that’s agency.
(BTW a frequent flyer levy was a headline recommendation of the UK Climate Assembly — 108 randomly selected citizens, brought together to make recommendations to parliament. They have been ignored. That is the antithesis of agency. )
Companies and charities can do this. Ask your employees and your customers and your supporters for their ideas. Be a platform for them to act; don’t do it for them or to them.
Local and national government can do it too. Convene assemblies and open up for input, and listen. Don’t just “consult” once you’ve already decided what to do.
Maybe above all, measure something different: the extent to which people feel able to shape the organisation, the place, the nation.
At a local level, Kirklees Council is doing this. They now have a target outcome called “Shaped By People”, measuring and reporting the extent to which local people feel able to make their own places better.
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What if every nation measured Citizen Confidence, instead of Consumer Confidence?
What if companies and charities measured and reported employee and customer and supporter agency, not just satisfaction?
I reckon we might see a different world VERY fast.
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#CitizensNotConsumers #WhatIfWednesday #communitypower
Reference links below. 👇
For the Stronger Things conference:
https://www.newlocal.org.uk/events/strongerthings/
For the UK Climate Assembly:
https://www.climateassembly.uk
For Kirklees’ Shaped By People outcome:
https://ourstoriesourplaces.org/shaped-by-people/
For the concept of a Citizen Confidence Index:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/measuring-consumer-confidence-isn-t-useful-anymore-here-s-what-we-should-do-instead/
