Our society faces seemingly impossible problems, like burgeoning government debt, global warming, money dominating politics, partisan paralysis, etc. One approach is to work on each of these separately. Also there is the holistic approach. At the Center for Wise Democracy we think we have a holistic solution, a simple strategy to achieve the foundation for breakthrough progress for all these issues.

We have developed a set of social innovations that can facilitate the necessary thoughtful conversation of all, where "We the People" take charge of our system, which is currently in charge of us. These social innovations are still largely unknown, but are starting to tip in certain regions and applications. They can be set in motion by citizen groups, organizations, or governments. At the Center for Wise Democracy we want to help you learn about these social innovations and, if you are interested, support you in experimenting with them.

The first social innovation is (1) the "Wisdom Council," where a small group of randomly selected citizens is gathered to address issues they care about. (2) Dynamic Facilitation is used to assure that the Wisdom Council achieves a shared perspective of the issue and win/win answers. Dynamic Facilitation accomplishes this magical-seeming result by establishing a particular quality of conversation, which is (3) "choice-creating." Choice-creating is the heartfelt, creative, collaborative quality of thinking where people face tough issues and seek answers that work for everyone. It's distinct from decision-making, dialogue, deliberation, or problem-solving. Then the Wisdom Council presents its shared perspective back to the whole community and disbands.

Since most people support the Wisdom Council conclusions, this is a way to generate a real voice of the people and break out of partisan gridlock. It's a way to spark a new calibre of public conversation that transcends the usual power struggle, raise the level of collective intelligence and build the spirit of community throughout large systems of people, like communities, organizations, or the nation. … What issue wouldn't benefit from this higher level of thinking and working together? ... What person wouldn't benefit? … What institution? … The benefits are immense and the costs and risks are small. Where's the risk in convening a random group that makes a speech and goes away?

Most people imagine that it is impossible to spark "Wise Democracy." They know how difficult it is to have a creative meeting with just a few people, so it's natural for them to ask, "How can a whole nation of people talk together creatively and determine near-unanimous choices?" But experiments in six different countries are proving that this strategy really can work. Also people imagine that this approach will be resisted by the powerful elite, especially those in power. We don't know yet really, but it doesn't seem that way. In Vorarlberg Austria for instance, the Westernmost state, legislators from all parties asked for the Wisdom Council after seeing it work in different cities. They essentially said, "We want to work more effectively together too!" Now, after two state-wide experiments they have chosen to use it every six months.

So the Wisdom Council is a strategy to achieve what we all know is needed … where all of us come together in the spirit of community, face the really big issues creatively and achieve breakthrough answers. And this Wise Democracy strategy is something a few of us can set in motion. With enough resources (money) and turned on people, we just invite people into a new public conversation. Let's bring Wise Democracy into your community, state, nation and world.

Video interview: Jim Rough describes Dynamic Facilitation and the Wisdom Council
(Thanks to Hemma Spreitzhofer and the people at KOMUNARIKO. Filmed Feb. 13, 2012 in Salzburg, Austria )


Center for Wise Democracy PMB 578 1122 East Pike Street Seattle, WA 98122
206.459.8429 or 360.385.7118 info@wisedemocracy.org www.wisedemocracy.org