Chris Arnold supports collaboration over complaining

I am not a fan of that last word, ‘activist’, and while my friend was using it in a positive way - I am highly active - we do associate it with extremism. 

We see extremists as disruptive, radical, aggressive, and always complaining. They shout about the problem, but rarely strategise a solution. They have a negative image. Think Extinction Rebellion, while most of us agree with the key message they promote, most of us do not agree with their methodology. 

“There are always two ways forward,” my dad used to say, “brains or brawn. Use brains, it wins most of the time.”

Martin Luther King said to Bobby Seale, founder of the Black Panthers, “We have the same objective, just different ways of trying to achieve it.”

The Panthers used aggression, radicalism and even guns and became seen as an enemy of the state. Yet ironically, they had a strong sense of community – did you know they invented the concept of the breakfast club for poor families?

Chris Arnold does not like being called a 'community activist' (Image: Chris Arnold) Martin Luther King, like Ghandi, took a non-aggressive approach, by uniting communities to create change.

In Stationers Park (I chair the Friends) we are celebrating a number of refurbishments – our tennis courts and our MUGA (multi user games area). While the tennis courts have been on the cards for years, getting the council to resurface the MUGA was initially a challenge, budgets are tight, so we collaborated and agreed to raise half the money (big thanks to Alex Lyons).

Working together we got what we wanted without compromises, a new five-a-side pitch, and new goals. As they say, TEAM means Together Everyone Achieves More.

Yet it seems we live in an age of anger, from aggressive social media to protests. As one LBC presenter said to another, “So what’s the protest about this week?” “God knows, “replied the other, “people are always complaining about something.”

And there lies the elephant in the room - we have been cultivating a culture of complaining, especially across social media, rather than a culture of co-operation, which is essential in building positive communities.

It seems every group starts by complaining, lobbying and threatening, and causing disruption, in the deluded idea someone will listen to them. In my opinion this does not make friends, influence people or achieve anything other than negative PR coverage. 

The alternative approach is collaborative - working together, understanding each other’s values, goals and processes. Understanding that sometimes the person on the other side of the table wants exactly what you want, but they have to manage a bureaucratic machine that moves slowly. You don’t.

It is this approach that has helped us make several significant transformations in our local park.

As a Social Impact Strategist I help companies and organisations achieve positive social impacts through positive actions, and always through co-operation. It’s a win, win approach.

From our point of view, Haringey Council have been excellent, responsive and very collaborative because we approach them as friends, not foes.

So next time you want to create a change, start with C for Collaboration, not C for Complaining – you may be surprised how effective it is.

• Chris Arnold is co-founder and director of the Crouch End Festival (crouchendfestival.org).