Policy and Practice February 2019

PRESIDENT'S MEMO continued from page 3

Adaptive leaders aren’t constrained by traditional organizational boundaries. Rather, they embrace strategic partnerships, especially through cross- systemand cross-sector engagement, as an essential

public-sector and community-based organizations—to optimize data, inform individual- and population- level decisions, and move service delivery upstream n Use cross-system data and analytics to surface disparities by popula- tion, allowing for systemic changes to eliminate inequitable delivery of programs n Embrace modern research and evaluation by helping “bake” rapid- cycle evaluation and other modern continuous learning approaches into on-the-ground service delivery n Support the development of the next generation of leaders through a multisector and systems mindset. Over the course of 2019, through our various communication platforms— including this magazine—we’ll continue to showcase what members and partners are doing to achieve these aims in their local communities and states. We encourage all of our readers to share their own leadership journeys and stories of impact and innovation with us by contacting our editorial team at pandp@aphsa.org. Reference Notes 1. We have written a great deal about adaptive leadership over the years, and its relevance to the field, including developing tools for use by members and partners. You can access those resources at https://aphsa.org/APHSA/Policy_and_ Resources/guidance_toolkits.aspx 2. The termGenerative refers to the Generative state of the Human Services Value Curve, a tool adopted by many H/HS leaders across the nation. You can access the tool and additional resources about the Value Curve at https://aphsa.org/APHSA/ Policy_and_Resources/Guidance_and_ Toolkits/Toolkit__Moving_through_the_ Value_Curve_Stage.aspx 3. The APHSA Strategic Playbook is the guidebook for our members’ action plan for the next five years. You can access it from our home page at https://aphsa.org/ About/default.aspx

reality that includes a shifting economy and elimination of jobs in entire industries, as well as tech- nologies that are widely outpacing the sectors’ ability to keep apace. Adaptive leaders aren’t stymied or overwhelmed by this accelerated pace of change. Rather, they see an unparalleled opportunity for har- nessing new knowledge in order to advance the well-being of all people. Adaptive leaders aren’t constrained by traditional organizational bound- aries. Rather, they embrace strategic partnerships, especially through cross- system and cross-sector engagement, as an essential element of achieving improved social and economic mobility. Adaptive leaders appreciate the interdependence of the public sector, community-based organizations, and local businesses, and leverage all of their strengths and assets. Adaptive leaders constantly ask where and when partnerships can be strategically reshaped or significantly amplified in order to generate new resources and drive improved outcomes. Over the past few years, we have witnessed many examples of our members exemplifying adaptive lead- ership—both at local and state levels. Traditional silos have been bridged and leaders in communities on the ground have come together to forge more impactful partnerships for their com- munities, creating movements like Live Well San Diego and Jeffco Prosperity; and embracing statewide whole family approaches like those advanced in Colorado, Connecticut, Mississippi, and Utah, among many others. It is for these reasons that, despite the many challenges before us, I have never been more hopeful about the future. Collectively, we have the knowledge, science, and technologies we need to make big leaps as a nation in realizing the potential of all people and places. To actualize those gains, however, requires us to be strategically disruptive, especially in ways that can create major paradigm shifts in both business and practice models on the ground. As adaptive leaders, we must constantly ask:

element of achieving improved social and economicmobility.

n What is it that can spark the enabling conditions that are so important for fueling and sustaining innovation, especially conditions at the most localized level? n At the same time, how can we influ- ence the necessary policy, fiscal, and practice advancements needed to advance system change at local, state, national, and even global, levels? n How can we, through APHSA and in partnership with other national organizations, amplify our col- lective impact on a much more expansive scale than the current trajectory—in other words, what can we do collectively to move all of us further and faster? As we move into the second year of our Strategic Playbook, 3 advancing toward a generative future requires that all of us, as leaders, strive to: n Accelerate a more productive national narrative n Amplify opportunities to co-design on the ground and generate field learning by bringing together high- performing organizations across multiple sectors through common tools and frameworks n Generate adoption of truly person- and family-centered services by leveraging the authentic engagement of families, especially in partnership with trusted community-based organizations n Build the capacity of the health and human services field—both

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