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Recognizing Assets And Talents In Your Groups

Individually write down your assets on the papers. One asset/talent in big, clear words per page, so that it can be seen from far away. You can use as many pieces of paper as you want. But it is very important that there is only one asset per page.

It is a good idea to remind people of what kind of assets/talents there are. Remember, talents are our skills and our knowledge, our relationships to others and our belongings like land, houses, and money.

GATHER IN YOUR SMALL GROUP:

 Read each asset out, loud and clear, and stick it on the wall, so that everyone in your group can see.

 DO NOT: Categorize them, put them in order, put them together with other similar talents or group them.

 Spend some time reading the identified assets and talents.

THESE CAN BE:

• Physical assets

• Institutions

• Individual assets

• Economic assets

• Associations

Connect The Dots

As a group, brainstorm actions that connect two or more of these assets. How can we connect different assets? It is tempting to put similar assets together: don’t. That is not the point of the exercise. Think about how they can build on each other.

Cluster together the assets that could lead to an action. If an asset needs to be used more than once, just re-write it on a new piece of paper.

THINK ABOUT ACTIONS LIKE:

• Projects

• Events • Performances

• Campaigns • Celebrations

• Making, growing, or fixing things

Some examples of putting assets together:

> If we put Maria’s broken car together with Padma’s mechanical skills and the youth group, we would have a car repair clinic.

> If you have an empty church building and retired teachers, you could start an after-school homework club.

> If you have vacant land, and Sunitra knows how to grow vegetables and Bintang has a surplus of fertilizer from her chicken coop, you could start a small vegetable patch.

 Tell people why you have clustered assets together, what action could be carried out?

 Look at the other clusters and see if you can add assets. Think about new actions.

 If you think of a new asset not previously shared, add it.

 You can offer suggestions, but do not correct people – it is okay to dream big.

 Talk to each other as you do this.

Vote With Your Feet

 Finally, give each group of assets a name – an action name. Then write it on a piece of paper and add it to the cluster.

 Each group briefly introduces to the whole room all their action groups. Everyone listens. People can ask clarifying questions, but no criticism.

 Think about which action you would be most interested in participating in.

 Go stand by that action.

THIS MEANS THAT YOU GET AN INSTANT WORK PLAN:

 The job before you

 The people with you who have an interest in the same idea

 The assets you can connect to get things done

YOU HAVE FINISHED!

Record the final voting by taking photos or writing it down.

If you have time and it is appropriate, it is a good idea to finish the session by getting people’s impressions of the activity.

Ask them:

 Look around the room, does anything surprise you?

 How did it feel to do this?

 How did it feel to identify your talents?

 How did it feel to connect the dots?

 How did it feel to vote with your feet?

 How do you feel about the future?