River Roots Redevelopment: Thinking, Talking, Taking Action

Selina Pedi-Smith,

Founder, Pellere Foundation

Tell me if this sounds familiar. People are talking. It’s going well. The conversation is thoughtful; folks are asking good questions, considering different angles, making sure they understand the full picture. And then it…just sort of…keeps going. One more perspective. One more possibility. One more thing to take into account before anyone actually does…anything.

Or how about this? People are talking…ish. A lot of words are being said, but it’s not entirely clear what they mean. Questions don’t get answered. Differing perspectives get ignored or ridiculed. Outcomes seem decided before the “conversation” has even occurred. And then it…just sort of…keeps going. Action after action. Regardless of intent. Regardless of impact. With little willingness to take responsibility.

Those are two ends of the same spectrum, of course. Thinking and thinking and never moving, and moving and moving without ever thinking.

I’ve been in both of those proverbial rooms at one point or another…and, quite frankly, up and left. Neither extreme fits the way my brain works. And I don’t think I’m alone in that. Most of us, I reckon, would rather be somewhere in the middle, where thought and action can coexist.

But why in the hooey is that so hard?

As someone more prone to overthinking than overacting, I understand the pull of “consideration stagnation.” After all, who wants to be wrong? Who wants to make a decision that needs to be undone?

And now that I say that out loud, I guess I can see the flip side, too. Some folks probably act fast for the same reason – to avoid the discomfort of being questioned or having to revisit a decision. So they just…keep going.

The trap, I think, is that both extremes start to feel like progress after a while. In the Never-ending Discussion Room, the conversation keeps moving, so that’s progress, right? In the Never-ending Action Room, things keep happening, so that’s progress, right?

And the rest of us are left standing in the middle, wondering why the folks in their far corners look so satisfied while we feel…stuck.

Here in the middle, well…I can’t say what works for everyone. But I can say what seems to work a lot of the time. Thinking really does matter, for one. Consideration matters. Healthy doses of realism and skepticism matter.

But at some point, we have to try something, and that’s where action matters, too. Pick a direction that seems, based on available information, like it might work, and…see what happens. Because that’s where the real information shows up.

What’s hard, of course, is that we can’t be sure of everything. Some things will surprise us. Some will have unintended consequences. Some might even be flat-out wrong.

And we need to be able to handle that. Review. Revise if needed. Try again.

That’s the bit that neither of those extremes really makes space for: in the Never-ending Discussion Room, nothing gets tested, so nothing gets learned; in the Never-ending Action Room, things happen, but no one slows down long enough to ask whether they worked.

When what really seems to create benefit is the ability to think, try, test, observe, adjust, and…keep trying. Not in some perfect, universal “right direction.” Just…toward something better than where we were a minute ago, and with the follow-through to make that effort mean something.

Wouldn’t it be great if that sounded familiar?

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Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. Want to help us rethink what redevelopment can look like—together? Follow the conversation and share your thoughts with us on Facebook and LinkedIn, or reach out directly to rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org. We’d love to hear from you!