Mar 05, 2024

Invitation to a “Futurecast” on March 13

By Matt Lehrman

Social Prosperity Partners


One of the great joys of working in the field of group facilitation and transformative decision-making is the opportunity to collaborate with incredibly insightful and inspiring people.


Brent Robertson is a founding partner at Fathom (fathom.net), a Connecticut-based consultancy firm that describes themselves as “facilitators, thinkers, and makers obsessed with leaving you with renewed enthusiasm for and a clearer path to your ideal future.” (He was also a guest in one of the most riveting episodes of my “Tell Me More…” podcast, from September 2021, on the topic “White Responsibility.”)

Brent has invited me to lead a virtual Sip Session, Fathom’s monthly roundtable for thought leaders. Please join us for this free (and sales pitch–free) exchange of ideas. There’s no speechifying - just a great exercise of sharing perspectives and sparking fresh thinking.


 REGISTER NOW to attend online Wednesday, March 13


Futurecast: A Collaborative Journey into Forward-Focused Leadership

The future is unknowable, but it’s incredibly malleable. So, let’s elevate our focus beyond today’s worries, distractions and constraints and embrace the possibilities of tomorrow. This exercise isn’t just about guessing what might happen, it’s a precious opportunity to collaborate in recognizing the skills, resources, and connections we can cultivate now to prepare for what lies ahead.



NEW EPISODE — “THE WELLNESS POLICE” (March 5, 2024)

Chief Rudy Mendoza wanted to make therapy mandatory for all police officers in Tolleson, Arizona — but cultural change doesn’t always follow a chain of command. 


Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast platforms

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Unite & conquer? Why disagreement is natural

By Matt Lehrman • 14 May, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners From campus protests to epic rapper beefs, we all know conflict drives headlines. But it’s pointless to criticize “the mainstream media” for a reality that’s equally true in alternative media and our own social media feeds, not to mention every bestselling novel and blockbuster movie ever. Conflict is the heart of all stories, and that’s why one of the founding principles of Social Prosperity Partners is this simple statement: Conflict isn’t only natural, it’s necessary. When I say conflict is natural, I don’t just mean it casually, as in, “Naturally, not everyone in the family loves musical theater (or football, or Star Trek )”. I’m talking about something more fundamental. Not just science fiction, but science.

What to Do in the Face of Incivility

By Matt Lehrman • 07 May, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners In the months before Election Day, the problem of incivility in public life isn’t going away . So, when you find yourself dealing with inappropriate, disruptive behavior, whether by members of the public or by your colleagues, there are three distinct approaches you can take to manage the situation. 1. MAKE THEM STOP — Same in preschool as on a governing board, there’s nothing like a good timeout when emotions get overheated. Take a breath. Walk out of the room. If necessary, temporarily suspend or adjourn a meeting completely. Clear, fair rules with consistent enforcement are key. Whatever the issue, remember your responsibility to your community or organization and its governance. This isn’t a time to “fight fire with fire,” but to deprive the fire of oxygen. 2. MEDIATE — When there is a necessary decision to be made and a mutual desire for dialogue, it can be useful for disagreeing parties to engage a trained facilitator. They can provide the structure, objectivity, and cool-headedness necessary to find a workable solution, although mediation works best when it’s voluntary, that is, not imposed in some way. Remember our mantra at Social Prosperity Partners: “Where people work together courageously, their potential is unlimited.”  3. MOVE FORWARD — At some point, you may simply need to “agree to disagree,” which means either calling the question or moving on to other important business. However, while it’s never good to let perfection be the enemy of progress, remember that issues left unresolved today likely will fester and erupt again later. So make a plan to address them as soon as possible.

Otis White on tapping into citizens’ expertise

By Matt Lehrman • 30 Apr, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners In the first nine episodes of the “Community Catalysts” podcast , I’ve interviewed 3 mayors, a city council member, 3 nonprofit executives, a police chief, and a police detective turned social media strategist. This week, I want to introduce a voice you’ll hear more from in future episodes. In his 22-year career as principal of Civic Strategies , an Atlanta-based consulting firm, Otis White became one of the country’s top strategic planning experts. When I asked him to describe the job for an 8-year-old, he said, “I tried to make cities better by trying to make some of the institutions in cities work a little better.” For four years, Otis hosted his own podcast, also called “Civic Strategies,” produced in cooperation with the Georgia Municipal Association . Those 39 interviews are no longer available anywhere, but Otis has generously gifted his audio archive to “Community Catalysts,” so I will be sharing some highlights from that series on a monthly basis, along with more of my interview with Otis. This week’s takeaway from an elder statesperson in civic planning facilitation? “We’re all experts, but we don’t recognize each other’s expertise,” he said. “ The citizens are experts in what kind of community they want. And they’re also experts, by the way, in fairness. But the experts we think of as experts — planners, city department leaders — are experts in something else. They’re experts not in the what but the how .” Listen now on Apple , Spotify and other podcast platforms .
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