This concept of social capital is important because it explains why
the empowerment model seems so satisfying to those involved. It
puts a name on the intangible camaraderie created by community-
based projects.
Social capital can help justify the large amount of technical as-
sistance that a rural practitioner may need to invest in a community
group to help them get organized and moving. This is important
when agencies are asked to evaluate the outcomes from their pro-
grams. Many of the outcomes of community-based programs are
process-achievements, such as organizations formed or new part-
ners involved, that do not have measurable results. Yet they are
important for creating social capital. Many of the activities of the
IRDC have to do with creating social capital within the rural devel-
opment community of Idaho. IRDC meetings are designed with the
idea of building social capital within the IRDC itself.
Lesson 3. Not Everyone Shares the Collaborative Spirit
Our culture is steeped in the autocratic model. We are taught
early on that successful leaders are hard-chargers who accumulate
power. Agencies are embued with formal planning processes that
derive from a central authority. The notion of finding success in
shared decision making can be foreign. In the Americorps applica-
tion example referred to earlier, we experienced that paradigm con-
flict. Our attempts to collaborate with the state commission in order
to develop a more competitive application to serve rural Idaho were
misunderstood as an attempt to exert influence over the commission
and subvert their process. Their paradigm required an arms-length
relationship and formal procedures.
Some people have sampled IRDC activities but have not seen the
potential of a persistent investment in network building. This is es-
pecially hard for advocacy groups accustomed to working in the po-
litical arena. Yet there are some individuals who are capable of
more than one operating style. They know the IRDC offers a chance
to approach policymakers in a patient, nonjudgmental way. Even-
tually, the pay-off is incremental change from the inside, based on
personal trust, even while they push as outsiders to change policy in
the political realm.
Lesson 4. Collaboration Is Based on Personal Trust
No one will commit resources or authority to a group they do not
know. Each group member must trust that the others will rise above
their personal agendas to address the common good in a responsible
manner. There also needs to be trust to share knowledge and opin-
ions openly. It is this trust building that requires so much investment
of time. This is why time spent socializing together is time well
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