Purposeful Activities

1. For: Foundations of Community Vitality Workshop and/or Resource Packet Presented By: Steve Grabow, Professor and Community Development Educator UW-Extension, Jefferson County Office Nathan Sandwick, Instructor and Community Development Educator UW-Extension, Portage County Office Purposeful Activities Resource: Catherine Neiswender, Professor and Community Development Educator UW-Extension, Winnebago County Office Connie Abert, Associate Professor and Youth Development Educator UW-Extension, Waupaca County Office DRAFT 7/31/14

2. “For every action there is a purpose”

3. Purpose means intent, Activities are the behaviors connected with the intent…

4. Why? • Lets face it…. People call you when they have problems. • One role we can play is to help them focus on the ‘right’ problem • Understanding the 5 purposeful activities as a useful framework for problem solving

5. What is a problem?

6. What is a problem? • Something that causes a concern • Substantive aspect and a values aspect • A problem is not objective. It has a substantive aspect (type of problem) and a values aspect • Example: • Q: What is the issue? • A: Vegetation; water levels; childhood obesity, no money etc etc etc

7. Problem taxonomy • Problem typology – e.g. finance, personnel, marketing, manufacturing, product development etc. • Solution-finding method – e.g. management by objectives, systems approach, XYZ process • Analytical Technique – e.g. linear programming, cost-benefit analysis, statistical inferences

8. Problem-solving options • Do nothing • Chance • Affective • Rational • Positivism • Reductionism • Cult of the expert • Determinism • Total approach

9. Purposeful Activities • Each Purposeful Activity has a unique approach • Approach means • Each Purposeful Activity may relate to a type of system • No Purposeful Activity is better than another Purposeful Activity • appropriateness of use is the issue

10. 5 purposeful activities • Operating and Supervising - manage and lead solutions or systems • Planning and Design -create or restructure a situations through specific solutions or systems • Research - search for generalizations, causes and hypothesis • Evaluation - evaluate performance of solutions and activities • Learn - gain skills and knowledge (other activities Nadler mentions -survival and experience leisure)

11. Learning as a Purposeful Activity • The process of acquiring: • knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values, • How • through study, experiencing, or teaching, • Results that are persistent, measurable and specified • change of behavior or • formulate a new mental construct or • revise a prior mental construct • conceptual knowledge such as attitudes or values 23

12. Research as a Purposeful Activity • Basic research • fundamental or pure research • primary purpose the advancement of knowledge • theoretical understanding of the relations among variables. • exploratory • driven by curiosity, interest or hunch • without a practical end in mind • can have unexpected results that point to practical applications “basic” or “fundamental” research indicate that, through theory generation, basic research provides the foundation for further, often applied research. • Applied research • solves specific, practical questions • not to gain knowledge for its own sake • often descriptive, but can be exploratory • almost always on a basis of basic research. 24

13. Planning & Design as a Purposeful Activity • Creating or modifying any system • Plans or designs that focus on a desired end state • Implementation or action plans • intended methods of getting from one set of circumstances to another (objectives or goals) • Present situation • New opportunities 25

14. Evaluation as a Purposeful Activity • The process of examining one or more activities • Assessment plus value judgments • statistics • merit and worth. • Examples • Program evaluation • fulfill its purpose • meet its objectives and goals • expected outcomes achieved • unexpected consequences • System process performance • performing according to expectations and • Performing according to specifications • Problem areas • Uses: accountability, testing, continuing change & improvement, etc. 26

15. Operating and Supervising as a Purposeful Activity • The process of leading and guiding • formal or informal • carrying out the day-to-day functions • enable the fulfillment of purpose • examples - Department head, Government committee chair, Non-Profit Organization executive director, Project director/coordinator, Small business owner, Farm manager, Extension administrator • Major factors • leadership development and • organizational development 27

16. How do the purposeful activities fit in with what we do? • Break into small groups • In envelope are a variety of task • Match them with purposeful activity headings on the handout • Fill in other spaces as time allows

17. Familiar/common tools, skills, and approaches

18. Factors to a total approach

19. Identify and pursue a strategy Pursuing a Strategy • Method of operations • Principles • Course of action • Process

20. Pursuing strategies for each Purposeful Activity • Learning • Research • Planning and Design • Operating and Supervising • Evaluating

21. Learning Strategy • Determine, awareness levels, learning objectives desired • Plan sequence of learning • Plan delivery of learning • Implement learning plan

22. Research Strategy • Identify phenomena of interest • Assimilate information • Formulate hypothesis • Conduct tests • Determine implications

23. Planning & Design Strategy • Clarify purpose • Design the planning structure • Generate solution ideas • Synthesis solution options • Flesh out ideas • Gain approval

24. Operating and Supervising Strategy • Become familiar with norms, values and objectives of the system • Obtain needed resources to manage the system • Establish performance measures • Operate the system…. Control, delegate, lead, motivate etc

25. Evaluating Strategy • Identify intended use of evaluation data • Identify relevant questions and measures • Develop methods for obtaining data • Obtain, analyze data and use it for intended purpose

26. Primary and Supporting Strategies

27. Specifying Solutions Specify the solution • Prescribing a format for results • Details to be understood by all • Framework • Factors, properties, attributes and interrelationships • System Concept • Structures are different for purposeful activities

28. Involving People • Stakeholder buy-in • Informed • Creativity • various alternatives • Subjective feedback • Variety of opportunities • Participants • Particular step Involve people

29. Using information • Sources-Professional literature studies, raw data past experiences and experts • Research and learning – current and past info • Planning and design predict the future status or consequences of changes Using information and knowledge

30. Arranging for Continual Change Arrange for continual change • Change is inevitable with any solution • Prepare for future change • Improvement for long term growth • Structure • Periodic review – audit • Environmental opportunities • Evaluation – adjustments • Implementable solutions - challenges

31. Skills and Tools • Skills –knowledge, experience & behavior • What to do, why, how, when and where to do it • Tools – something used in performing an operation (eg Quality Toolkit)

32. Skills and Tools

33. Roles • Competent professional • Understand start to finish • Utilize skills and tools • Ready with alternative • Expected and connected behaviors associated with our positions • Agreed upon roles – planner, leader, evaluator