Living Communities. Resilient towns.

The Power of Community

A community of people, brought together by common location and common experience has a power big business and government cannot match. It’s a strength forged like that from the blood ties of a family and something people in the country understand very well.  
However, it’s a power that in many cases has been hibernating for 30 years only appearing at times of extreme hardship and adversity, such as in a bushfire, flood or drought.
Our society has been increasingly caught up in busier lives, focused on consumption and somewhat neglectful of the inherent potential of our communities.  
This has led to a high level of dependence on government and big business to solve problems that we just don’t seem to have time for anymore. For the most part, government and big business have benefitted from this trend to dependence, so it wouldn’t make sense from their viewpoint, to want to encourage communities to be more independent.  
A few nights ago in Goomalling, over 120 local people and some outsiders, demonstrated that this 3 decade trend is changing. They attended the modest Living Communities™ launch event celebrating Goomalling’s small businesses, community groups and its community spirit.  
The turnout represented about 10 percent of the Shire’s population and included; seniors, baby boomers, Gen X, Y and Z, parents, local dignitaries, business people, farmers, teachers and artists, just to name a few.  
Strange, because Living Communities is an economic development program not a rock star! Something’s is afoot, if ten per cent of a Shire turnout for an event championing local economic development.  
Perhaps it was the free food, perhaps it was the band or perhaps it was something deeper than that. Although the food and band were brilliant I’m guessing it was something else.  
Personally I believe the turnout was indicative of citizens deciding that maybe, just maybe, all these well meaning bureaucrats with university degrees in economics don’t really know anything about the real world after all…all the ‘rational’ solutions and programs they have offered haven’t delivered on the promises over the years and like true country people, communities in places like the Wheatbelt are saying ‘thanks, but it’s our turn now, you’ve had a good go.’  
Perhaps is just a return to the natural order of things - local people generating local solutions.  
Goomalling residents realize that they are actually the people in charge. They proved that to themselves in 10 years ago when they lost their banks and became one of the first places in Western Australia to obtain a community bank. 
They did it again with their medical services.  
Now they are about to attempt to build resilience into their whole economy by first deciding what sort of community they want to be in 5 or 10 years, then discovering where the money is leaking out of town and what enterprises are missing that could keep that money in for longer so more businesses and more people get to benefit from it.  
The process of discovery and the decisions to plug certain financial leaks will all be down to Goomalling residents, not Living Town’s consultants, not the shire or even state and federal government bureaucrats.  
The work and actions required to turn ideas from discovery and decision into reality will be challenging but fulfilling and not every idea will work, but that is the nature of entrepreneurial activity.  
This enjoyable, challenging and lengthy task must be the responsibility of the residents of Goomalling because only their blood, sweat and tears will ensure they have full control and full ownership of their future. Of course it’s not easy and it takes maturity, dedication and a degree of risk. But as Loretta Johnston, the Goomalling telecentre manager said in a speech on Thursday night, “This community was founded by pioneers and we’ve always been pioneers. We’re pioneering again, it’s something we’re bloody good at.”

Our baby grows up in Goomalling

Thursday night was the launch of Living Communities Goomalling.  It was the birth of an idea that has been gestating for the best part of two years. But it’s growing quickly and nearly time for Martin and myself to let it run free. It is no longer just a dream of its creators, it is a friend for everyone to share and help shape.
As the co-founders, we know that the program will not survive if it is left to two guys with great ideas but no money. Our role now is to nurture it to the next stage by allowing others to take charge of various aspects.
Right now that means letting the practitioners do what they feel is required to make the program work. After a launch event that drew over 10% of the Shire's population and recruited 5 more members for the project's steering group we are extremely confident that the community is going to be fully involved in this process and because of that, chances of some great results are high.
Community led change is a sweet uplifting process. Watching a community fully participate in describing what their greatest wish and greatest fear was for their town had me a bit choked up. But what the community contributes to this pilot will of course do much for the development of the Living Communities program.
We're breaking new ground here. A living community like Goomalling can create solutions and solve problems that government simply can't, no matter how much money and how many experts they throw at it.  And communities can tackle things that big business won't touch, like providing a local solution to energy and food systems.
We’re not the only ones doing something like this in the world – we’re part of a movement of change and the people of Goomalling are leading rural Australia. Let’s watch and see if Australia follows.

Two responsibilities in one local economy

It’s easy for most of us to become caught up in individualist behavior. We’ve been taught at a very early age to ‘look after number one’. How many times have I been told over the years that you should ‘do what’s best for you.’ Whether it’s deciding to leave one employer for another or going to a friend’s party, we are encouraged to make the decision that’s ‘right for you’.

But what is actually ‘right for you’? What on the surface may seem ‘right for you’ may actually be to your detriment. Not going to your friend’s party because you just can’t be bothered could potentially mean the loss of that friend. Would losing that friend be ‘right for you’?

In the arena of local economics, what may feel ‘right for you’, such as buying something cheaper at a non-locally owned store, or sourcing products for your own business outside of town when local alternatives exist, may actually not be that ‘right for you’.

For example, when the local economy suffers because everyone has the same ‘right for you’ attitude, you may lose your job at the local hardware store or have to close down your service business.

Could it be that one reason your town doesn’t have the services you need or the interesting stores of neighboring towns is that many people in your town are doing what’s ‘right for them’?

The ‘right for you’ attitude is no doubt a very real contributor to the slow decline of rural communities. Because sometimes even though we’ve been encouraged to do what feels right for us, it isn’t actually that good for us.

However, the loyalty of local consumers shouldn’t be considered a right that local enterprises possess. If you’re a local business owner, you have a responsibility to ensure you make your customers purchasing decisions easier to make in your favor.

Talking to many people from small communities all over Western Australia, I understand the frustration they have as consumers at being taken for granted by some local business owners.

I have experienced this frustration myself.

Last weekend I took my 5 year old son and 4 year old daughter to the larger neighboring town to buy them a pet goldfish. With no in-town locally owned option, I ventured 24 km up the road to source a locally owned pet shop.

As a passionate advocate for buying locally the man that owned this shop quickly made even me, a passionate advocate of buying local, question the worth of spending my money in his business. It wasn’t hard to finally decide never to set foot inside it again.

The fact that the store was dirtier and smellier than most of the pet stores I have been in was one thing, but the grumpy, unfriendly attitude of the store owner was the almost Basil Fawlty like and made me feel like I was interrupting his day.

I have never run a pet store, but as a former marketer, I would think that children are an important demographic for pet stores and so a child friendly owner may actually help sure up some extra business. A grumbling, unsmiling incredibly unwelcoming man he was and he seemed especially appalled by the fact that there were young kids in his store (despite the fact that they were very much under the strict control of their father).

What started off as an exciting opportunity to support a locally owned store quickly became a bewildering experience as I watched a local business owner do his darndest to ensure this would be the only time I ever handed him some of my money and probably ensure the many others I talk to, never would either.

I did eventually purchase two goldfish and some sundry items. But the whole experience has left me disappointed because it means having to go against everything I stand for and shop away from my immediate area.

The point I am making is that local businesses shouldn’t expect local custom if they can’t make their businesses as exciting, satisfying and friendly as their non-locally owned competition. You have to earn loyalty and just being local won’t mean exclusive rights to local business.

Local economies can only succeed if local people are prepared to support local businesses. Shopping around for a cheaper price at the next town or online contributes to the decline of your community and this will eventually affect you too. However, local consumers should be rewarded for ignoring a chain or out of town shop in favor of the local alternative, not necessarily with cheaper prices, but with enjoyable experiences, high standard service and a respect from business owners who run their business like they aren’t the only one in town.

The Social Entrepreneur’s Guide to Naysayers

Naysayers. You’ve got to love them.

Starting anything new begets plenty of naysayers. It’s like when you plant a new crop of broccoli. You know for sure that at some point the bloody white cabbage moths are going to appear from nowhere. The naysayers are like this when you start an enterprise that proposes significant changes to the way things are.

In 2 years of trying something different, for this part of the world anyway, I have come across plenty of naysayers. Naysayers can easily kill a weak willed idea. However, it’s important not to confuse a naysayer with positive criticism, which is vital to your idea's success.

Naysayers come in three major forms in my book and if you can identify them you should be able to also identify those people who are providing sound advice that you may not like but may be necessary to your success.

The fearful naysayer: Probably a well paid person in a position of some status or power usually in an area that could be perceived by them as being in direct competition to you. Their position is really important to how they feel about themselves. These naysayers are likely to dismiss your idea because it threatens their own total lack of success. Their authority has been unquestioned and until you arrived, no proposed alternative but to accept accept what they were offering. However, like most organisms that don’t move or adapt, fearful naysayers usually end up extinct.

The negative naysayer: This type of naysayer was probably an optimist once but was either destroyed by other naysayers or took a failure or a series of failures badly and used it as a reason to give up and complain about how most things are actually impossible to achieve and therefore logically, even though they like your idea it must be impossible too.

The cynical naysayer: These people have lost the ability to trust others motives. They are usually the worst of the naysayers because they have become totally scornful of hope, passion and positivity in others. They won’t trust your idea because you’ve got to be in it for the money…how can you possibly be wanting to change things for the better? They can expect this from you simply because they wouldn’t contemplate doing it themselves.

Watch Jamie Oliver here take on a shock jock in the US. What type of naysayer is he?

 

Like the cabbage moths on my broccoli, I have come up with some ways of dealing with these naysayers.

The fearful naysayer is best ignored. Their decreasing relevancy will soon lead to their disappearance and, their fears realised, its probably you, getting on with your business, that will speed this process up! So be kind to these folk and put them out of their naysaying misery by discarding your own fear and not even getting involved in theirs.

The negative naysayer is actually curable. Underneath their grumbly negative exterior lurks a real optimist. Lead the way, prove your case and they will be your keenest supporters.

Sadly, the cynical naysayer can’t be cured. Like the fearful naysayer they are best avoided completely. You may need to ensure that the rest of your crop isn’t infected with their disease however, by giving cynics enough rope to hang themselves with. For instance, their cynical whingeing is usually fairly predictable. Watch these obvious attacks simply bounce off just by being honest, authentic, open and transparent in all your dealings with people.

I must also be clear here. Don’t confuse genuine due diligence with cynical naysaying. Expect people to question your motives at first and check you out. It’s what they should do. However, if after you have clearly demonstrated your authenticity by your actions, they still can’t allow themselves to be genuinely trusting or worse still, they create cynical rumours around your motives then they surely must be considered a naysaying cynic and exposed as such.

Naysayers can be a real threat to your fledgling social enterprise if you let them. Equally, confusing a naysayer with a positive critic can also be detrimental. If you know what is motivating the criticism you should be able to deal with it quite well.