Building Ideas Together - Everyone Doing What They Can

By moving discussions forward and
layering our opinions, we often create synergy and chemical reactions,
leading to truly wonderful results.

It is a great joy to encounter and be involved in such settings.
This is because it depends on how the process is facilitated, the atmosphere of the room, and the individual opinions of the participants.

Last Friday night,
I called for a meeting of the parents' association at our after-school care club,
and we decided, "Let's discuss the year-end party!"

We have been holding seasonal events through the parents' association.
Participation by each family is voluntary.
Through the activities of the parents' association, we aim to provide experiential activities for the children, create seasonal memories together, and deepen friendships among both children and parents.

A year-end party!
It is the final event of the year.
We plan to hold it on a Sunday, borrowing the school gymnasium.

Now then,
as the president of the parents' association, I made a call to everyone!
"Do this, do that"—I had no instructions at all!! (laughs)
In other words, a blank slate!! (laughs)

We will work together from the point of creating the plan as a group.
We place the task in the center and build it up together.

Despite their busy weekends, and of course without any coercion,
parents from 13 households voluntarily gathered.

First, we decided on the overall direction,
and then moved on to detailed discussions.

We started with a general discussion to clarify our purpose and set a theme!

Among the various opinions expressed,
we confirmed it would be a "Christmas Party,"
and when you think of a Christmas party, you think of a gift exchange!

Since buying or making something beforehand might be a high hurdle,
we decided to make something on the spot, so that what you make is given to someone else as a gift.
You also receive a gift from someone else.

You don't know who it will be, but you put your heart into making a gift for someone. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
I hope it becomes that kind of experiential activity.

And another thing, since we are all part of an after-school care club, we have to play energetically!
Without this, it wouldn't feel complete!? (laughs)

With that, as a concept,
we decided to plan around the two pillars of a gift exchange and playing games.

Thinking that some people might find it hard to speak up in a large group, I had them sit around tables in small groups of 4 to 5 people to discuss the detailed plans.

I felt that the discussion was lively in every group.
About 10 minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and we shared our ideas with the whole group.

It is interesting that even though we started from the same topic, each group developed the conversation in completely different directions.

I am gathering everyone's opinions and writing them down.
They are all interesting!!

Ideas that I never could have come up with on my own are coming out one after another!
Everyone's perspectives and points of focus are interesting, and I can feel how various elements are blending together.

This is why discussions are so interesting!!

In the end, we landed on a plan that incorporated everyone's ideas—a sort of combined technique, or perhaps focusing on common ground—and with everyone's agreement, the outline of the project was decided.

Everyone's little opinions and ideas were assembled, fused, and took shape like this. I really felt that story unfold.

I think various meetings, PTA activities, and parent association activities would be a lot of fun if we started by building them up together like this.

If you're just told the final decisions and asked to 'do this,' you're just labor. If a project has even a little bit of your own heart put into it, I think you can engage with it proactively.

Amazing!!
What a very interesting-looking project!!!
I'm looking forward to it!!!

We've reached that point.
Everyone is a busy parent.
We'll finalize how to make it happen, including the preparations.

We'll make a to-do list and assign people in charge of preparations and coordination.

As we write it down, we realize we need this and that.
People keep speaking up about the parts that are still missing.

We have to prepare all of this.
Who will be in charge of what?

'I'll do this!'
'I think I can do this one.'
Everyone is raising their hands and speaking up.

It was never forced; everyone chose what they could do based on their own initiative.

When you bring everyone's opinions together, people with surprising special skills and experiences appear (laughs).

Someone who is good at drawing cute pictures for flyers.
Someone who has practical experience from previous activities.
Someone who is extremely knowledgeable about various events and party goods (laughs).
Someone who calculates the volume and quantity of ingredients with incredible formulas (laughs).

Seriously, that's amazing (laughs).

If I had kept all of this to myself, this kind of chemical reaction wouldn't have happened (laughs).
There are many different people, and they have many different abilities and experiences.

Also, even if you don't have any special abilities, you can do what you can little by little. I think the feeling of wanting to do it is what's important.

Finally, let's confirm the timeline moving forward.
We need to call for participants from all families and tally the results.
Procedures for activity insurance will also be necessary.
We cannot purchase the various materials and gifts until the number of people is finalized.

Working backward, we need to get the word out as soon as possible!
Now that the plan has been set through this discussion, we will rush to create the flyers and announce it.
Who will take on this high-pressure role?

With recommendations from those around her, we decided to entrust it to one of the mothers.
Let's work out the details while keeping in touch.
She said, "I'll try making a draft for now."

I wonder if I put too much pressure on her...
I hope she's okay...

I was worried, but
immediately! This flyer draft was sent to us!!

It's amazing, isn't it?
I'm just so moved.
Applause and high praise!!
Wonderful.

Making the most of everyone's special skills.
Layering our opinions, and using our many perspectives, thoughts, and experiences to create something even better.
Doing what we can together, even if it's just a little bit at a time.

I truly felt that kind of moment.

Well, just as we were about to close the meeting,
someone asked, "Don't we need a place for our next discussion? What should we do if we get anxious about the preparations or need to consult with each other?"
From that suggestion, we gradually started exchanging contact information (laughs).
In the blink of an eye, a LINE group called "Team Christmas" was created.

Connecting like this while we work.
Parents living in the same town, raising children of the same generation.
That is the real thrill of the PTA.

It turned out to be a truly wonderful meeting.

I'm looking forward to the Christmas party at the end of the year.

Thank you for reading today as well.

<Article from 'today' one year ago★>

This article is like that too, isn't it?
Trusting and delegating.
Not just letting go completely, but supporting and watching over them while wishing for their growth.

<Article from 'today' two years ago★>

(lol)
Have I grown at least a little? (lol)