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Policy&PracticeFebruary 2016 30
DIRECTOR’S MEMO continued from page 3
Fortunately, the new research from
Frameworks Institute1 offers tested
values and metaphors that show
great promise in changing mindsets.
By leading with the value of Human
Potential, Frameworks research
illustrates how we can help people
recognize that human services benefit
us all. Through the metaphor of
Construction, we can better explain
what “well-being” is and how it is
shaped for all of us. Effective framing
is not easy. It will take our collective
effort as a field to apply the tested
research and resist our old ways of
communicating. You can read more
about the latest Frameworks research
in this issue and at
North Stars and Roadmaps. With
Pathways2 continuing to set the desired
future state for human services, our
value proposition strategies have
evolved in ways that strengthen how
APHSA can support our members on
their transformation journey.
Most notably, the Human Services
Value Curve3 is a viable frame that
works as a developmental model
that can be built on without losing its
underlying simplicity or meaning. At
the local level, it has resonated par-
ticularly well with policymakers. In
state-supervised, county-run struc-
tures it is serving as a common frame
for accountability across jurisdictions.
State systems have also found the
Human Services Value Curve and our
associated self-assessment tool to be
valuable guides in grounding the work-
force in a common goal.
Our National Collaborative and
Organizational Effectiveness teams
will continue to work closely with
leaders who are applying the Human
Services Value Curve in a multitude
of ways. As the field applies the Value
Curve, there is a growing apprecia-
tion that the “regulative stage” is one
that must be intentionally planned
and deployed. Just as a house requires
a good foundation, the Value Curve’s
regulative level must be strong in
order to effectively progress to the
other stages.
Check our web site to learn more
about this framing model and to utilize
our self-assessment tools.
Pacing and Patience. Renowned
leadership expert Professor Ron
Heifetz of Harvard’s Kennedy School
has taught us that there is a pacing
to this work that requires constant
evaluation of the opportunities that
are most ripe for action and those that
need cultivation. Heifetz explains that
innovation takes patience and is, at
its root, the result of creating differ-
ences. Too often we talk more than
we listen. We must be willing to bring
different voices and sources together
to generate ideas. We must also be
disciplined enough to fully embrace
the diagnostic process so that we do
not end up spending time in secondary
repair processes. At the same time,
we must be constantly scanning for
windows of opportunity and be ready
to take action on them before those
windows close.
Learning Environments. Another
common theme among health and
human service leaders is the need
to create an environment where it
really is okay to learn. Heifetz stresses
that developing new competencies
actually requires that, at some point in
the process, we feel incompetent. As
leaders, one of our jobs is to help our
staff “be able to stomach” that feeling
of incompetence. Similarly, we need
to create work environments where
“failing” is a part of learning.
Authenticity in Partnership. Most
important, we must work in authentic
partnership with families. Bobby
Cagle, commissioner of the Georgia
Division of Family and Children
Services, reminds us that: “Families
are the CEOs of their lives.” As human
service leaders, we must shift from
historically paternalistic approaches
to ones that honor families’ role in
achieving their potential and giving
fully to their community. To do so
requires us to let go of past practices
and recognize that well-being is built
and strengthened by the opportunities
human service organizations provide
that allow families to tap into that
potential.
To learn more, join us on May 22–25
in Washington, D.C. for the first APHSA
National Health and Human Services
Summit. We are excited to utilize
this newly structured conference to
continue leveraging opportunities
to shape our collective path forward
through our Pathways initiative and
the Human Services Value Curve.
For more information visit
.
Reference Notes
1. FrameWorks Institute’s mission is
to advance the nonprofit sector’s
communications capacity by identifying,
translating, and modeling relevant
scholarly research for framing the public
discourse about social problems.
2. For background on Pathways: the
Opportunities for Human Services, see
pathways.html.
3. To help human service leaders make
progress on their capacity-building
journey, Leadership for a Networked
World reviewed best practices and worked
with practitioners as part of the Human
Services Summit at Harvard University to
develop the Human Services Value Curve
framework. See
sites/default/files/HSVC%20Guide.pdf for
more information.
As human service leaders, wemust shift from
historically paternalistic approaches to ones
that honor families’ role inachieving their
potential and giving fully to their community.