Strength in Communication

We’ve gone through a number of number of ‘catchphrases’ over the past few years.   Online Neighborhood Watch, Neighborhood Watch 2.0, Real-Time Community Networking…

I’ve always struggled with boiling down the idea behind Nation of Neighbors (formerly Watch Jefferson) into a single, succinct sentence.  Sure it’s about Neighborhood Watch.  However, as anyone who’s been part of a successful watch group knows, the real benefits extend far beyond reducing crime.  The real benefit is often an improved sense of community because you get to know your neighbors.  That’s also  the idea behind Nation of Neighbors.

I struggled with this again this morning when I created a short 20 second video in response to a request for videos to support News Challenge grant applications. I ended up describing Nation of Neighbors in under 20 seconds (and anyone who knows me knows that’s a big deal…) by skipping technology and talking about neighbors getting to know each other.  Which brings me back to my original point – my favorite catchphrase.

Strength in Communication

My most vivid memory of learning something in grade school is from the second or third grade.  I attended a small Amish school at the time.  One day a man visited our class carrying a small bundle of sticks.  He asked us, a class of approximately 25 students between first and eighth grade, who could break the bundle of sticks.  I think we all tried.  Finally, an older boy had the idea to untie the bundle and began breaking the sticks one by one.  The basic lesson, of course, is that there is strength in numbers.  Or that in order to solve a big problem, it can be helpful to break it up into a series of smaller problems.  For some reason, that small demonstration had a profound effect on me and I have never forgotten it.  I also apply this lesson to how I think about communities and my aspirations for Nation of Neighbors.  As we become more and more entangled in the virtual modern world we have created we become less and less involved in the actual communities where we live.  Most of us don’t know our neighbors very well, if we’ve ever met them at all.  As that social fabric unravels, each individual member of the community becomes more susceptible to failure.  To reverse this process, we need to reconnect the individuals – to get them communicating.  Whether you do that on your front porch, over the back fence, on Facebook or Nation of Neighbors, it will be a good thing and it will make your community stronger and a better place to live.  Communication is vital to our success as humans, whether it’s a pack of hunters, your marriage, government or your community.  My hope for Nation of Neighbors is that we can help you have that conversation with your Neighbors – even if it’s about something difficult and sensitive like crime or other community problems.  That technology and innovation, while perhaps responsible for the unraveling of our communities, can also be our salvation.