5 Inspiring TEDx Talks on Community
Loving them, building them, cultivating them-- here are our five TED/TEDx picks about community.
TED Talks are fantastic. What better way to shake up your mojo and get a little inspired? We're all about community here, and this week we wanted to share three TED Talks about community in hopes that it will spark a little magic in you as a community member, builder, or leader. Let's dive in.
1. The secret to great opportunities? The person you haven't met yet
Tanya Menon is a collaboration expert. She's an organizational psychologist whose research focuses on how people think about their relationships and how they build good connections with others. In this talk, Tanya speaks to how we can expand our social reach more intentionally and how we can find new ideas and new opportunities in doing so.
"What you are doing with this exercise is you are forcing yourself to see what you don't want to see, to connect with who you don't want to connect with, to widen your social world. To truly widen, what we have to do is, we've got to fight our sense of choice. We've got to fight our choices."
2. Questions change everything in community engagement
Asking a good question can lead to a world of incredible outcomes. Max Hardy talks about how community engagement questions have the power to damage and polarize. But, they also have the power to transform, connect, and deliver smart outcomes. If you want to become a more thoughtful asker, Max Hardy has a wealth of knowledge on this topic and a little over 15 minutes to share it with you.
"I believe that community engagement can do a lot more than just influence decisions; it has the potential to strengthen democracy. It has the ability also to build community, build connections and do a whole lot more than just provide some input to decisions."
3. The power of community
Dontae Latson, the President and CEO of YWCA McLean County, is a visionary. He is skilled at giving organizations road maps to create change to deliver social justice programming and community service. Grab your mug and settle in because you're about to learn about the role we can play in creating a sense of belonging and how everybody's effort counts.
"When we are in community with one another, when we are truly in community with one another-- we are family."
4. The beauty and complexity of finding common ground
Making change happen in the community doesn't come without its rough spots. Conflict is inevitable, but you have a choice about how to respond to it. In this talk, Matt Trombley takes viewers on a journey to learn how to respectfully disagree while taking steps to find common ground and places of agreement. Will you choose relationships over agonism?
"When you can find even the smallest bit of common ground with somebody, it allows you to understand the beautiful wonder and complexity and majesty of the other person,"
5. How gratitude accidentally connected a community
It's good to say "thank you." We've discussed this earlier on the blog with our Cultivator profile with Calvin McKee and his way of showing gratitude to candidates interviewing at Shopify. In this example, we listen to Geoff Welch recant his experience with a simple project that grew deeper roots of a community connection than he could have ever dreamed about-- all through simple thank you cards.
"When you change, when you begin to express your gratitude, you have the opportunity to change everybody that you are sharing that message with. You don't have to be an advocate and stand up on a stage and do it-- you just have to say thank you."
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