Another New Year is here! One of the most popular things to do before a new year rushes in is to conjure many new beginnings—or to make a list of New Year’s resolutions—or, in other words, to set some personal goals to be achieved within a year. If you are like...
What does it mean to develop a policy possibility? And why do we spend so much time doing it in our sanctuary projects? Most IF projects follow the same discussion process: the panelists first develop concerns that Americans may have about the issue; they then...
Our Interactivity Foundation project discussions focus on developing contrasting conceptual policy possibilities as different ways that our society might approach an area of emerging social and political concern. At first blush this sounds a bit too technical for...
One of the things that the Interactivity Foundation does is to teach people how to think about public policy possibilities. This will sound patronizing only if you misunderstand why, what, and how we do it. I heard an interview with former Supreme Court Justice...
I recently had a helpful reminder of the role that exploring consequences can play in the shaping panelists’ thinking about the policy possibilities they are developing. Exploring consequences is something that IF project panelists do near the final stage of their...
As exploratory discussion, IF discussions thrive on (or even presuppose) contrast. If you haven't covered new ground, you haven't explored. (The contrasting individual conceptual possibilities that are at the core of IF discussions are actually intended not just...
One of the most important features of Interactivity Foundation discussion projects is the emphasis on exploring contrasting perspectives and developing contrasting policy possibilities. Along the way to doing this, panelists need to practice being open to...
‘What should we do?’ seems to be a fulcrum of our public discussions today. This is a question that is raised in the streets of Madison and Washington alike. The question—‘What should we do?’—is a precursor to action. It recognizes certain problems and wants to do...
I recently participated in a conference on immigration policy in Washington DC. One of the speakers forestalled criticism by saying that his recommendations were neither new nor original, and that that none of the ideas in the current discussion of immigration...
When IF project panels are beginning the transition to generating public policy ideas, I’ve found it helpful to have the panelists explore different metaphors for thinking about the policy area. Metaphors can capture a distinct vision of what the policy area, or...