1. Asset-based Thinking and Doing
Session 1
Introducing the Idea

2. What’s the Plan? Session 1 – Introducing the Idea
Session 2 – From the Old to the New
Session 3 – What Did We do?
Session 4 – Sharing the Story
Session 1
All about you
Asset based approaches
Asset based thinking
Planning

3. Tell us three things about yourself
Your name and role
The name and role of a person you link with at work, outside of your own team and why
The one thing you would change at work without working any extra hours

4. The 90/10 Rule

5. Consider the following statements, which one do you think you are:
You cannot find a parking space in the work car park!
You drive off and send a message to your boss complaining about the parking and that you will not be at the meeting because of it.
You sit and wait and curse at all the parked cars, if only every damn light was not on red this morning!
You sit and wait for a space making a couple of telephone calls to use the time
This would never happen because you found a space on a quiet road round the corner and there is always a space!
Your date for an operation is changed to a week later!
You phone customer services and proceed to tell them how incredibly terrible it is and what are they going to do about it!
You phone customer services, explain the situation and the difficulties that changing the date presents you
You read the letter, think you cannot change it and over a cup of coffee start to make alternative plans
You anticipated that a date change could happen and had a range of fall back options so it was already sorted.

6. The asset approach: a glass half-full
“We can’t do well serving communities… if we believe that we, the givers, are the only ones that are half-full, and that everybody we’re serving is half-empty… there are assets
and gifts out there in communities, and our job as good servants and as good leaders… [is] having the ability to recognise those gifts in others, and help them put those
gifts into action.”
First Lady Michelle Obama

7. (Leicestershire Communities Strategy 2017-21)
What is an asset?
“A health asset is any factor or resource which enhances the ability of individuals and communities to maintain and sustain health and wellbeing.”
(Health Foundation 2010)
“local assets – the skills, knowledge, connections and potential that exists within a community…..the strengths that exist in people and places (Personal, Social, Community, Neighbourhood).)”
(Leicestershire Communities Strategy )

8. Positive Thinking Deficit focused approaches Asset based approaches
Start with deficiencies and needs in the community
Start with the assets in the community
Respond to problems
Identify Opportunities and strengths
Provide services to users
Invest in people as citizens
Emphasise the role of agencies
Emphasise the role of civil society
Focus on individuals
Focus on communities and the common good
See people as clients and consumers receiving services
See people as citizens and co- producers with somethings to offer
Treat people as passive and done – to
Help people take control of their lives
Fix people
Support people to develop their potential
Implement programmes as the answer
See people as the answer

9. Identifying Assets… Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 asset based conversations
community asset mapping
Step 3
connecting assets

10. How do I approach the world?
Consider the following:
The first thing we did was to introduce ourselves.
You each told us about one thing you would change at work.
Now we want you to plan how to start making that change.

14. See you next time Sarah Carter: sarah.carter@leics.gov.uk
Teresa Spilsbury: