Happy Holidays fellow ACR-Hawai‘i members!
On behalf of the Board of Directors, a hearty mahalo nui loa to all who joined us at the Annual Meeting on November 30th. We enjoyed connecting with you and trust you all enjoyed your time as well. The meeting gave each one of us a chance to “stand on the shoulders” of our local conflict resolving giant, Peter Adler, as he shared his thoughts on the future of alternative conflict resolution in Hawai‘i. Remember his Ten Ideas for moving into areas outside our usual “narrow and now mainstreamed world of ADR”?
The Ten Ideas:
- Prepare a 10-year strategic “vision” statement that describes as precisely as possible where you want to be in 2029.
- Write a “Getting To Yes” field manual on cooperation strategies for leaders who have no choice but to be in charge.
- Create a short, impeccably well-done executive training workshop on cooperation strategies for local leaders.
- Identify specific research needs and send your list to UH and HPU.
- Assemble and publish a list of free and low cost cooperation resources around the State and counties.
- Write and run a very challenging simulation for cooperative leaders who want to learn and organize it as a “Leadership Lab”.
- Create a quarterly public lecture series and find sponsors who will help bring in the best national and international thinkers on cooperation to us, people like Daniel Kahneman, Franz de Waal, and Robert Mnookin.
- Provide annual awards to the best local “Beacons” around: one for usable research, one for organizational leadership, and one for innovative new practices.
- Organize 1-day “Devising Seminars” for stubborn problems: energy independence; climate resilience; Hawaiian/non-Hawaiian relationships.
- Make podcasts, TED talks, and short movies on how leaders can work together.
There you have it, ten great ideas. What shall be the 2029 BIHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) for ACR- Hawai‘i? One of the Ten Ideas, or some variant or combination of them? Something else? Do we even dare, or should we even try, to have BIHAGs? Will we be better off having tried and failed than never trying at all? What do you think?
The ACR-Hawai‘i Board will be pondering some of these questions at a retreat on March 23 and 30, 2019. Peter Adler has graciously agreed to facilitate. Some of you may recall that we already have a 2016 Strategic Plan. Three years have since passed, and we now have seven Board members who did not take part in formulating that plan. Plus, our world, our country, and our local communities seem in some ways vastly different than they were just three years ago. In my sometimes humble opinion, the time is ripe for another retreat. The 2016 Strategic Plan can be used as a springboard for an updated plan as we move along our conflict resolution journey. We do not seek a plan that will collect dust on a shelf for the next ten years. We want a plan that will guide our actions until the time comes for another update.
We also intend to address a question that often arises in our Board meetings: should ACR-Hawai‘i continue its existence as a chapter of the national ACR, or should we head in a different direction? We will be seeking your input. In January a questionnaire will be sent to you by email. Please use the questionnaire to express your thoughts. We will be discussing the pros and cons during the retreat. We intend to come up with a recommendation to the membership after the retreat. A decision that changes the existence of ACR-Hawai‘i as we know it would require membership approval.
We can write lofty BIHAGs and elegant strategic plans. So what? Ideas don’t go anywhere unless somebody does something. We need each one of you. ACR-Hawai‘i cannot exist without you, our fellow members. At the end of each year we find ourselves at a crossroads, when more than half of our memberships expire. If you have any doubt about whether your membership will expire soon, click on this link and renew anyway. We will confirm your membership and tell you how many years you have remaining. In fact, sign up for more than a year. Sign up for five years if there is even a small chance you might live that long! Commit yourself to a sustained journey with us. In case you can’t hear my tone, I’m begging. Yes, begging. Please, please, please renew your memberships!
We look forward to many fun times as we build a better Hawai‘i together. Wishing you the best…Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!
A hui hou,
Owen Tamamoto
President
ACR-Hawai‘i
