P&P April Issue 2018

PRESIDENT'S MEMO continued from page 3

deliver effectively on our value proposi- tion we must be acutely aware of and adapt to the context in which we are operating at all levels—from individual to community to county to state to national. As one of our staff noted: like a quarterback in football, we need to be able to call an “audible” (i.e., a different play than planned), when unexpected opportunities arise in the middle of the play. Hence, a key strategy for our work is to keep our finger on the pulse of converging opportunities, which we see as being pulled through six key levers (see above). We also recognize that the answers to today’s adaptive challenges are rarely in the rearviewmirror—they require fresh perspectives that consider new approaches and often lead to alternative routes than those travelled before. Our collective work requires us to constantly “zoom in” on an issue and then “zoom out” to assess the view frommultiple vantage points in order for us to see the full landscape. Take the opioid crisis, for example. It is necessary to zoom in to support recovery for an impacted family while zooming out to understand the context of the place and circumstances in which they live. Then we have to broaden the lens even more to find out how the epidemic is impacting the com- munity or region as a whole and what policymakers and practitioners across sectors must do to get underneath what is driving opioid misuse and prevent it.

One reason we call our strategic plan a “playbook” is because we under- stand that context matters. The pace of change today and the accompanying uncertainty that comes with that change impacts our members’ wants and needs. We understand that to

We believe partners are essential to our Theory of Action and are com- mitted to build strategic partnerships that help all of us advance through the value curve stages. We are mindful that effective partnerships take time, relationship building, and shared wins to be impactful and lasting. A key strategy for us is to foster strategic partnerships that generate solutions and resources through collective dis- covery. Our Collaborative Centers are a key platform for broadening our lens by tapping the expertise and capacity of partners across sectors and systems. We look forward to working with all of you in bringing this Theory of Action from concept to reality. We are also committed to being data driven and measuring our progress along the way. Through the Playbook, we have identified key markers for doing so— both as a membership body impacting the field and as an organization opti- mizing its impact for members. We will highlight these in your next issue of Policy & Practice , so stay tuned! In the meantime, we hope you join us for the Strategic Playbook unveiling at our annual National Health and Human Services Summit and through our website and social media feeds.

What Guides Our Work?

• We are data driven and focused on identifying root causes • We are nonpartisan and committed to outcomes rather than ideologies • We are committed to tackling generative partnerships and are committed to working within and across sectors and systems to optimize our impact • We strive to produce high-quality work in a teaming environment by communicating proactively, intentionally coordinating our actions, listening to other viewpoints, and enabling shared decisions • We promote collective learning, structural inequities and bias • We believe in the power of always considering how to do our work even better, making mid-course adjustments when necessary, and constantly keeping a finger on the pulse of our members to ensure we are effectively delivering on our value proposition

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