When people land in “meet-space” together, the synergy amplifies impact.
Grand Challenges are driven inexorably forward by events large and small. Every meeting provides a surge of progress, energized by people as they bond, commit to shared goals, and choose how they’ll carry the work forward.
In this space, I’ve been writing about my Grand Challenge methodology, of which Touchstone Events are one part. Grand Challenges begin with specific events: the Design Studio, followed by the Design Summit, which together set the trajectory for creating a social movement. Subsequent Touchstone Events serve various purposes designed to produce specific results. The Stop Stigma Together June Summit is one such event, designed to drive forward our work to end the stigma surrounding mental health and substance use disorders through legislation, policy reform, and creating new norms in every part of society. I’ll report on it soon.
Meanwhile, here’s a look behind the scenes at what it takes to plan and conduct a successful Touchstone Event.
Goal: Eliminate Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness and SUDs
Stop Stigma Together was launched officially in 2021 by David and Christena Huntsman, when they decided that a primary goal of their newly established Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) at the University of Utah would be to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use disorders across the nation. This came out of their personal experience, for Christena and her family had lost their sister, a young mother of eight who had battled mental health issues since high school, to a drug overdose over a decade earlier. Their commitment led to the creation of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, backed by a gift of $150 million, to the University of Utah, where HMHI would work to establish a program to embrace the task of banishing stigma head-on as a complement to other mental health programs.
At our very first small-scale Design Studio in April 2022, we convened about 30 leaders. Among them were key partner volunteers like Anita Everett, Director of the Center for Mental Health Service, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Gary Mendell, CEO, Shatterproof; Saul Levin, CEO, American Psychiatric Association; Arthur Evans, CEO, American Psychological Association, John MacPhee, CEO, Jed Foundation; Eve Byrd, Director, Mental Health Program, the Carter Center, as well as representatives from care groups, universities including both professors and students, and nonprofits like the Human Rights Campaign.
From previous Design Studios with movers and shakers–CEOs of companies and organizations leading their respective fields–I was expecting doubt, head-scratching, and hard questions. Is this a publicity stunt? Are you looking for money? Who are you exactly and how would this work?
This time around, after a scant half hour of discussion and just after hearing David Huntsman’s offer to commit $150 million over decades to coordinate and administer a national effort, the APA’s Saul Levin, stood up to adamantly encourage all the organizations in the room saying, "Let’s do this! We have a unique opportunity with the Huntsman Mental Health Institute willing to fund the coordination and administration of a national initiative across all organizations. Now with the advances in treatment and recovery, we should leave the old language of stigma and instead talk about parity and equity in funding and resources to take care of all those with a mental health or substance use disorder.”
I have never seen so much excitement and passion bubble up so quickly in one room. We went from zero to sixty by the end of the first session, and the rest of our time together passed in a whirlwind of plans, collaborations, and fresh ideas flowing from the tap of our shared creativity.
This is the power of getting the right people in the right room at the right time–things that define a Touchstone Event.
Why Touchstone Events?
Touchstone Events can have specific purposes, like the Design Studio and Design Summits I’ve written about earlier. The Touchstone Event pattern can be adapted to many intentions, including:
- Welcomes for newcomers to a Grand Challenge
- Celebrations designed to fuel spirits, lift hearts, and create bonds
- Reinforcement to address individual uncertainties and forge shared passion
- Rallying the Champions to spread the momentum
- Working sessions to align the actions of task groups
- Forums for action reviews and committing to new tactics
If we look at the SST Summit agenda, we find all of the above in one form or another. The event began with a welcome speech by “the Bipolar General” Gregg Martin, a major general in the US Army whose memoir, My Forever War with Mental Health, served as both an education and a source of inspiration. Specific seminars and events addressed perceived pain points in the overall program: including serving rural populations, helping mental health journalists and TV and film writers recraft their approach, addressing youth mental health stigma, and many others.
Touchstone Events: Too Important to Get Wrong
Events can propel the work forward but can also stymie progress if not handled well. I always start with a basic ritual format that includes The Calling, The Threshold, Liminal Space, and Reincorporation, described in this post. (Links to other articles I’ve written about Touchstone Events appear at the end of this article.)
Here are some general principles for your events:
- Think of each event as its own ritual. Include the four elements of the basic ritual format.
- At the outset, frame the crisis. Restate the Grand Challenge, including the what, why, and how. Be explicit about what is at stake.
- Welcome participation. Never forget Grand Challenges run on passionate participation. For every presentation, include opportunities to add to or challenge what has been delivered. Engage participants in discussion. All these events rely on gathering multiple perspectives to understand the nature of the problem and craft robust solutions.
- Inclusion plays a significant role and power dynamics need to be explicitly addressed.
- Make the most of the participants’ presence. Involve them in the event, from the preparation to the follow-up. Don’t fill your event with content you can deliver through other means.
- Generate enthusiasm by addressing the tough topics that people feel constrained by as well as the exciting topics they are eager to address.
Participant energy has the potential to take off after the event if those in the room get support once they are out of the room and back to the daily grind. Without support, that precious energy drops precipitously. Just when the participants have energy and enthusiasm to act on what they have learned, the people who put on the event are crashing. The result is that most meetings end up squandering their potential. In everyone’s minds, it fades into the past becoming a memory of enthusiastic convergence, and not much more. This is what gives rise to the experience, “Oh, we never do anything other than talk.”
However, knowing this and preparing, you can get ready to whip into action at the conclusion of your event. Provide the support that your attendees will utilize to fuel their follow-up actions.
Key elements of support include:
- Providing all participants with ways to be in contact with each other as soon as possible following the event. For example, distributing contact information that includes names and emails. This enables collaboration without having to go through you.
- Being available to answer questions, and continue the experience for those who are fired up.
- Setting specific future expectations with measurable results, goals, and outcomes so various participants have something tangible and defined to aim at.
Structure, support, and boundless enthusiasm==that’s how you launch your Touchstone Event for maximum impact!
Links
2-part article. Part 1:
In Grand Challenges, Touchstone Events Drive Progress
https://medium.com/@SethKahan/in-grand-challenges-touchstone-events-drive-progress-211d06b36173
Part 2:
Unlock the Power of Events to Drive Dramatic Forward Progress
https://medium.com/@SethKahan/unlock-the-power-of-events-to-drive-dramatic-forward-progress-e0e31dbc3b29
More in the “Landings” pattern:
Galvanize Your Grand Challenge Leadership with a Design Studio
https://medium.com/@SethKahan/galvanize-your-grand-challenge-leadership-with-a-design-studio-fbc5eec887da
A Grand Challenge Design Summit Unites Participants, Catalyzes Thrust
https://medium.com/@SethKahan/a-grand-challenge-design-summit-unites-participants-catalyzes-thrust-f8ecb9dac491
Solving social problems is inherently SOCIAL-it happens in community. I’m looking for researchers, academicians, and those on the front lines who are battling overwhelming issues. The community will include leaders in all aspects of society: nonprofits, corporations, government agencies, independent agents, and thought leaders.
If you’re passionate about Grand Challenges or would like to be, visit my Medium account, where I am publishing on Grand Challenges. Let’s work together to address these sticky, systemic, complex, and wicked issues once and for all, for the sake of future generations of life on Earth.
Do you want to know more?
Email me – seth@visionaryleadership.com.
