1 Partnership and Evolution

In this and the next three posts I shall explore some theoretical arguments about partnership.

In the very earliest written documents and the verbal traditions before them, the powerful have sought to justify their violence. Any argument will do to justify their violence.

Some people blame Darwin for this although I don’t think it was entirely his fault. I understand the term “survival of the fittest” did not appear in the first edition of “On The Origins of the Species”. Whenever it appeared, people misinterpreted these words and used them in two ways that have had unfortunate consequences.

The problem is we understand the word “fittest” in two ways, the healthiest or the one who fits best. Darwin meant the latter, most people seem to think he meant the former. Foxes kill rabbits. The mistake is to think this makes foxes fitter than rabbits. Actually they kill weaker rabbits who can’t run away as fast as stronger rabbits. The mistake would be to think faster rabbits are fitter. Look at this way, if rabbits evolved machine guns and could kill every fox, this would not make them fitter. Indeed the rabbit population would die out as well as the foxes.

The problem is our fixation with conflict or competition blinds us to seeing what is actually going on. Foxes and rabbits are part of a much bigger system. That system also includes grass. Rabbits eat grass. What happens to the grass when the rabbit population increases?

Consequences of Misunderstanding Evolution

This basic misunderstanding has led in two unfortunate directions.

First and obviously: fascism. The idea that the gene pool can be manipulated to breed a better population underlies much far right rhetoric. By being strong, we are told, we can solve all our problems.

One reaction to this on the left was creationism. By thinking Darwinism glorified violence, many Christians reacted by rejecting Darwinism. The 1925 Scopes trial in the States was not conducted by modern fundamentalists. Many had a left perspective and believed Darwinism justified violence.

Creationism evolved during the 1950s into a covert movement called creation science, claiming to be a science and not based upon theology.

When we approach partnership as a topic, we need to understand the entrenched views of many that partnership is somehow not natural. Ultimately human nature will win out and our competitive animal nature will show its real claws.

Obviously this can happen; there are plenty of stories of betrayals but betrayals work because there is trust. In a world without trust it is impossible to betray.

Fitness implies collaboration, innovation and problem solving.  Animals and plants do not evolve in splendid isolation.  It is actually ecosystems that evolve.  Nothing can survive without collaboration.

Next time I will discuss some of the consequences of the competitive world view, and after that I shall look at alternatives to it in real life and online.

0 Case Study 3: Sheffield Interfaith

Sheffield Interfaith approached me with the question: how do you set up a viable site with a limited budget?

How We Designed the Site

Three members of the group were willing to work on the site. So we set up a WordPress site, using the Genesis Streamline Pro theme.  Genesis designed this theme for mobile phones and tablets and this imposes constraints on the header.  Streamline Pro enables Sheffield Interfaith display information about its three constituent groups on the home page.

We were able to include the image intended for the header in the sidebar, so it is visible alongside every post and page.

The site is very simple although it has potential to expand as the group develops.  The two main  features are the blog and email list.

The home page is the main blog archive page on this site.  If you scroll down past the three information pages, the latest post is visible with earlier posts beneath it.  The Sheffield Interfaith site is mainly concerned with publicity for events and so this is a helpful way to showcase future events.  The primary navigation allows visitors to view posts about current or archived events.  Currently anything that is not an event is news but more categories can be added in the future.

Communication Through the Site

Members of the email list receive notice of new posts the day following their appearance.  They also receive occasional newsletters.  Existing members were added to the list and anyone who visits the site can subscribe.  This means anyone interested can keep in touch.  The group relies mainly on word of mouth and printed publicity to spread the word and so does not have to worry about search engines.

The organisation’s name is likely to be Googled and when it is their site is at the top.  It has a domain authority of 10 and a page authority 23.  This is not bad for a new site.  It is impressive for a site that has only one inbound link!

Feedback from Sheffield Interfaith

So far I have had a little feedback from the group.  One of them wrote:

I will prepare a testimonial but there was something that I wanted to say to you about the need to go at the pace of the customer. It has felt to me that the pace has been too fast and that there was not adequate space to ask questions and go back on things just to make sure that I understood how the website works, and how to maintain it. For me it is not just about design but about learning a new process.

I have felt that I have always been behind the curve and have been trying to catch up. Part of it no doubt is a matter of language – it has been complex for me to learn and I have been taken completely out of my comfort zone (beyond my knowledge base) and have had to grapple with something new. All this may be a result of the quote and the level of service that we agreed. I am having to do a lot of back filling just to make it easier for me to understand the whole thing. There is not a great deal of relevant IT literacy in the group.

Maybe as well as designing the website there was a hands on session on how to make posts, upload, maintain and deal with the likely issues that were to arise. This could be a need for others and I am not sure where we can go to in order to keep on top of things. This aspect is not part of the design process but it is something that needs to complement it. Maybe it is not something that is required to design a website but it is a need, especially as personnel change within organizations.

We do however have a clear and attractive website that is up and running and one that we can add to. It will be useful tool for SIF to use and to publicize.

Implications

I’ve shared this because it illustrates some of the issues working on this approach to websites.  I offer a time limited service (3 – 6 months) where my clients can contact me by email, phone or Skype, to discuss issues.  They also have a few short workshops, about 4 hours.  One thing I shall do, as a result of this feedback, is to be clearer to future clients how they can use this service.  Let’s be clear.  No website can work properly if those responsible for it are unable to maintain it.  The people development is as important, perhaps more important than the technology.

I’m also hoping to develop more material on this website to help past clients and any group working on their website.  I’m hoping Sheffield Interfaith will tell me what information would help them and the same applies to anybody.

What do you need to know?  If you would like to see specific “how to” posts on this blog, comment below and sign up to my list so that you can see when I respond!

0 The Case for Site Maintenance

With access to content management systems with increasing functionality, content is your main preoccupation. These days it is relatively straightforward to install any function into your website.  So, content is more important.  How do you set things up to focus on content?  A well-designed website will minimise the need for site maintenance.

Consultancy

I finished a sequence a few weeks ago about how to work with a designer or consultant to set up a WordPress site. You can do it yourself and there are plenty of how-to-do-it sites around. However, planning the purpose of your site and how best to put it together may be where you need consultancy support.  Constructing a site that doesn’t work for you by doing the tasks you need doing with minimal maintenance, can result in wasted time and lost opportunities.

… for Groups Planning a Site

Many voluntary groups don’t have members with the time or knowledge to set up a site on their own. They may be able to add content to a site and so pursue their aims through their site but they need help to get started.

This is why web consultancy is a better bet than design for many voluntary groups. Whilst groups may think they need help with the technical side, in fact the main thing they need  is help with their site maintenance and development systems.  They need to start with a site that supports their current aims and has potential to develop as the group’s needs evolve.  Getting this right from the outset is a major advantage.

… for Groups with a Site

Website owners need to be clear about what their site is for and focus on how to meet their aims.  A small group with limited budget may need help in building on what for them has been a massive investment. They’ve paid a designer or consultant for help setting up their site.  Now they are seeking ways they can keep on top of their website’s demands. They need to find ways to do this that are not prohibitively expensive or time-consuming.  If the site is well-designed from the outset, that is an advantage.  If the site design works against the group’s aims then the site needs to be re-designed.

Site Maintenance

Often people have ideas about site maintenance that are inappropriate for their group.  For example, many believe a blog needs to be updated regularly. This might mean weekly or even daily! This is true where you want your site to be found by search engines in a competitive market but not necessary for many voluntary groups.

Voluntary groups have a local market and so their website might have a two-fold modest aim of keeping their members up-to-date and informing locals of what they do. Often they have no competitors because they’re the only group doing their thing in their area.

So long as the group is active and remembers to post about its activities, they might not need to add much more on the site.

A client asked me for a static site. They meant a no-maintenance site and I had to ask them to think very carefully about this. Such sites have limited use. The main use is as a brochure site, where you have a business card that refers the recipient to a site that acts as a paper brochure would.

This might work for an individual or group that offers a service that doesn’t change much and handles most of its publicity offline. But even then it is better to have basic functionality, such as a blog. No-one knows how their work will change in the future. A brochure site that can grow a blog sometime in the future has to be a better investment.

If your group is active it needs more than a brochure site. The question is not whether you have an active site but how to keep it active with limited resources.

0 Conversations Online: Blogs

If you are seeking conversations through your website, blogs are an essential tool. Many people do not realise the many uses to which a blog can be put. Here is a summary of the properties of blog posts:

1 Two Essentials for Your Avatar

Last Tuesday I wrote about the market as people engaged in many activities. The marketplace is not solely or even mainly buying and selling. Maybe online marketing would give you that impression but look closer at what is happening.

Online marketers are right. A website that doesn’t sell is a waste of time. But what does it mean to sell? The early retail co-ops not only sold quality food but also education, campaigning against adulteration of food and financial support for families. These co-ops were social institutions first and that is why they succeeded.

Buying and selling is about building relationships and so is everything else worth doing online, just as in real life. Without building relationships, nothing will sell. So, if your website is in support of a cause or educational, you still need to build those essential relationships.  Without them no-one will visit your site or rate it as worth a visit.

I have written about avatars and how to develop at least one avatar for your business or cause. Your avatar is a typical customer. The idea is if you address your avatar when you write for your website, your customers will respond positively to your message. The aim is to get away from jargon and to reach your audience through the words they use.

Your avatar helps and the more detailed and real it is in your mind the better. However, there are two things all avatars should have in common.

Capacity

They must be able to respond to your offer. So, if you’re selling something for £500 your avatar must have at least £500 disposable income. Money is the most obvious but there are other ways in which an avatar may need capacity, for example:

Sympathy

The second thing they must have is a positive view of your offer. You are not delivering a website for people who disagree with you. They might visit but they are not likely to respond positively. If they do respond positively it will be because your site is particularly persuasive and that will be because you have made the case to your positively inclined avatar.

However, your avatar need not know anything about your offer or even the problem your offer addresses. If your avatar is a middle-aged employed woman and a socialist, you might be able to persuade her to donate towards a campaign against modern slavery, even if she is ignorant of the facts before she encounters your site. A similar avatar with a more extremist political view, might be less sympathetic.

The point is: run with an avatar who is sympathetic. If you’re building a following for your website, you need to speak to the people who are likely to follow.

4 Non-Directive Consultancy

George Lovell developed Non-directive consultancy, by providing training for church and community workers. He ran his organisation, called AVEC (the French for “with”), at Chelsea Methodist Church in London. (The link takes you to my sequence about non-directive consultancy.)  It ran from the 1970s through to the 1990s. After AVEC closed, George Lovell, with a few others, developed a course about consultancy, mission and ministry. George has retired but the course continues at York St John’s College. Consultancy for Mission and Ministry is an excellent course for anyone interested in non-directive consultancy.

What is Non-directive Consultancy?

Consultancy has something of a bad name primarily because of out-sourcing, where specialist consultancy organisations carry out tasks instead of employees. We all know where that’s led.

Non-directive consultancy does the opposite. It is a mutual method, aiming to empower the people who are doing the work. It starts with the assumption that the consultor knows their job. They may need help in thinking things through. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes they need help to see where they went wrong and how to move on from where they’ve ended up!

George Lovell’s two books, “Analysis and Design” and “Consultancy, Ministry and Mission” are the best introduction to the approach, although the course is essential if you want to learn the method.

1 Welcome to My Website!

There is a small stylistic point about the word “welcome”.  It appears on many home pages and should be taken out.  Why?

1 Owning Your Website

Last time I wrote about content management systems (cms) where the designer sets up a website so that their client has little control over it.

Maybe this made sense in the past but the big change is, these days maximum functionality is available to anyone who wants it. No-one needs a designer and they can set up and run their own site. (I’m not saying there is no need for designers, just that they’re not essential.)  I strongly recommend to my clients they steer clear of any arrangement that ties them into one designer or consultant in perpetuity. It is better to own and control your own site.

There are still many advantages to engaging someone to set up your site. It saves time and helps you make the right decisions.  A simple basic site should be relatively inexpensive. You might also pay a small retainer to a designer or consultant to look after the site, make sure the cms is up to date and deal with technical problems. If you own your site you can choose to end this arrangement at any time.

In the past website design was a technical and creative issue for the designer. Their creative flair was just as important as their technical know-how.

The creative side is something you may still wish to pay for; a custom-designed header or  website theme is likely to increase your costs and may be desirable if you can afford it. However, for most voluntary organisations whilst it might make sense to pay someone to help you make decisions, set things up and provide some initial support, an off-the-shelf theme and a basic design is all you need.

Behind these concerns there is another result of the massive increase in functionality. These days the focus is not so much on design as content. Design is costly and often not crucial for the success of a website. If you are providing unique content you will find your followers or members without the need to pay for an eye-catching design.  Some very successful sites are not much to look at but combine excellent content with the right site structure so that visitors can easily find what they are looking for.

So, what makes for good content?

This depends upon the nature of the site. A site devoted to icing cupcakes might have a lot of images, whilst a site devoted to classical Greek might have relatively few images. The copy on the cupcake site may be fairly routine, recipes and instructions. The Greek site might depend on exposition of texts from new and exciting perspectives.  Both may be successful sites.

However, there are a few things worth considering as pointers to good copy. Is it:

In short, these days you can do anything and in future posts I’ll show you how to do it!  What’s your experience of owning your own site?

5 Conversations Online: Websites

In this and next few Wednesday posts I continue the theme of conversations online and explore how conversations happen online. There are differences between online and offline conversations although perhaps they are more apparent than real.

Nothing possible in real life is impossible online, although some things are more difficult. If we don’t pay attention, we miss a lot of the value of online relationships.

Websites may seem to be an odd place to start. They are after all a one-way medium. I put stuff on my website for visitors to read. Ok that’s true but I need to know what my visitors want to read. Or rather I need to know which visitors I want to build relationships with by placing content on my site they want to read.  (I’ve just started a new Tuesday sequence about how a website can be written by and for its visitors.)

Many organisations design websites without a target visitor in mind. It cab be difficult to work out exactly who is the ideal visitor!

Many sites are about the site owner or their organisation. Why do so many voluntary organisations write at great length about their governance structures? Sometimes on the home page! It helps to take a step back and think about who you want to reach and what might interest them.  Who benefits from what your organisation does and how?

Things to Consider

To be part of a conversation the site needs to be designed so each page has one message leading to a call to action. The call to action is how you know there is a conversation happening at all! Too many sites don’t explain properly their call to action or it is an afterthought. For example, beginning the home page with a request to download a newsletter is not a good idea. The visitor needs to know something about the newsletter before they download it. Help them make their decision!

Also think about the exchange you want. Do you want them to download your newsletter or to subscribe to it? The former is hardly a conversation at all. The latter may be the start of a relationship.

All this is fairly limited. In future posts I’ll explore how you can enhance your website and online presence so that you can take part in conversations. How does your website engage with its visitors?

2 Who is Your Market?

Yesterday someone on BBC Radio 4’s “You and Yours” defined a market as small businesses providing a particular product or service. I suspect this is a common mistake. Businesses are evidence of a market but they are not themselves the market.

When we talk of the market as somewhere we visit, we mean the marketplace. Economists when they refer to the market, do not mean a place but rather the people who buy things or potentially buy things.

They are right. It is people who make up the market, not the businesses or the market stalls.

Another problem is how we think of the market. These days the collective noun for the people who take part in the market is “consumers”. This illustrates how the pressures of capitalism have distorted our thinking.

The purpose of the market is not consumption, it is community. We have moved a long way from understanding community as something that grows out of trade. These days we expect community groups to hold everyone together. They are entertainment for a few but can’t compete with the marketplace, the local economy, for building community.  Global interests have wrecked the local economy, leaving many people with no work and no marketplace.

In a world where multinational business extracts money from our pockets and transports it to off-shore tax havens, it is hard to remember or imagine the market as the hub of community life.

The market depends upon trust. Even corrupt practices need trust. If someone is flogging something substandard, I am not likely to buy it twice. I might buy it the first time out of trust, but I will know better in the future.

Traditional markets are places where people meet friends, buy and sell, worship, exchange news, hold courts of law, take a bath, relax …

We have separated buying and selling from the rest of life. Instead of seeing my business as something that enables me to enjoy life, it is normal to work for someone else to finance my debts. The idea of the freedom of the entrepreneur is not readily understood. There are major problems, especially if there are debts to be paid but  many self-employed people’s experience is their place in the market brings them freedom and enjoyment of life.