Enablers of Change

Extension has evolved a great deal over time and has moved from a profession to a recognised discipline with its own frameworks, research, and methodologies.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We're exploring phone calls and their role in our work as enablers of change. As Shakespeare might say, “to phone, or not to phone, that is the question”. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Today we're highlighting the differences between risk and uncertainty, and we'll discuss their significance in the decision-making processes of farmers.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We'll explore how we can pilot potential solutions to foster on-farm innovation and create lasting impact, as a bridge between ideas and real-world application. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're diving into one of the most underrated tools we have as extension practitioners: asking questions. It's easy to get caught up in sharing our technical expertise with farmers, but research shows that the simple act of asking questions—especially follow-up questions—can actually make us more effective at helping farmers improve their practices. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're exploring design thinking—a methodology that helps us tackle complex challenges in a structured yet flexible way.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into the double diamond process and how it can be used effectively by extension practitioners to enhance on-farm innovation and impact.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We're diving into a project we recently wrapped up, the Australian Extension Capacity and Capability–A Map and a Gap Analysis, funded by AgriFutures Australia. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

As enablers of change, we need to understand the different stages that groups move through. So let's explore Tuckman's stages of group development. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into the concept of the Technology Readiness Level and expanding it to explore the Balanced Readiness Level approach. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We've covered lots of content this year and 2024 has been another great year! And we're also celebrating five years of Enablers of Change! See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

What's the difference between best and good practice, which one should we refer to, and why is that important? We then share our top ten good practices. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're diving into how ChatGPT can help us as enablers of change to boost both our productivity and the impact of our work. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We explore a paper that delves into understanding the different changes farmers can make to their systems to adapt to environmental pressures and climate change. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the most well-known personality tests in the world. Let's see why it may not be as reliable as many believe.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

Understanding the spectrum of feelings can significantly enhance our effectiveness as enablers of change. Sometimes we're not very good at this, and by “we”, we could mean Australian and New Zealand males in particular! In this episode, we're going to explore the spectrum of feelings, so we can better describe and understand feelings, and the impact they have in our day-to-day work. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Perhaps like us, you've occasionally wondered about whether there are better ways to make decisions. We've often done a quick pros and cons list for example! That's a pretty straightforward decision making model. But there are others. So in this episode we're exploring one of these, the Cynefin decision making model. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

In this episode we're going to explore infographics and how we can easily create them in six simple steps. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

The 70:20:10 learning framework has gained significant traction in the corporate and educational sectors. Let's delve into the myths and realities of this framework and understand why it might not be the best approach to learning and development. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

There's not a lot of practical suggestions on how to apply adult learning principles as enablers of change, so here are seven practical ways to apply them.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We recently talked about asking better questions, and shared the idea of a pyramid of question types from Will Wise and Chad Littlefield. Well, we've now come across another article about asking questions and thought you might like to hear about its five types of questions. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Here are some simple work hacks that we hope will save you time. We'll share our ideas about easy ways to schedule meetings. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

The ability to ask better questions is crucial, particularly in our work as enablers of change. By focusing on the types of questions we ask, we can better explore issues, uncover valuable information and understand the range of options available to us.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We've recently been hearing how hard it is to get a decent number of responses to a survey. So we wondered whether survey fatigue is really true and what we might do to overcome it.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode we're going to explore some of the alternatives to Jamboard as an online collaboration tool, what we've tried and what we've decided to keep using. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Kotter's eight steps provide a framework for groups and organisations to navigate and implement change effectively. As enablers of change, extension practitioners often play a key role in guiding farmers and other stakeholders through these steps. Let's delve into each step and explore its relevance in our field. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're going to discuss AI… not Artificial Intelligence, or even Artificial Insemination, but the other AI, Appreciative Inquiry! We want to unpack what Appreciative Inquiry is and how might we use it in our role as enablers of change. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

What's the best online platform for workshops? Especially with farmers? Is there any data on this and what's it telling us? In this episode, we're going to compare Teams and Zoom, as well as a couple of other platforms that might be worth checking out for online workshops. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, let's dive into something exciting and unconventional that can truly shake up the way we do things – the unconference approach.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Usually when we start a project, we start at the beginning and move forward, but here's an interesting approach used by Amazon that turns that on its head. In this episode, we're exploring the Working backwards approach. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

How can we design and deliver learning activities that are effective, engaging and relevant? Let's look at how learning science can help us improve our impact.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

We explore how we can use one of the oldest tools in the marketing arsenal—the AIDA principle: attention, interest, desire, and action.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

As enablers of change, we sometimes find ourselves navigating the interesting landscape of evaluation and data analysis. Within this space, two foundational concepts emerge: causation and correlation. In this episode, we explore the subtle yet critical difference between these concepts. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

When we started out four years ago, we had no idea how this adventure was going to play out. In this episode, we're wrapping up another successful and rather eventful year.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We recently came across the ADKAR model of change, so we're going to unpack what this model is all about and how we can use it as enablers of change. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

Some of us may have heard about double-loop learning, and wondered what it meant beyond the jargon phrase, and others may not have heard of it at all! In this episode, we're going to unravel double-loop learning and explain how we might use it as enablers of change. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

In this episode, we'll explain how Theories of change and logframes differ and how they can be used effectively in different contexts. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we'll dive into the exciting world of co-design and explore seven tips to ensure a successful and inclusive collaborative design process.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we'll share some tips from actor and science communicator, Alan Alda, on how to express our thoughts and ideas so that everyone will understand us. We'll also give some practical examples of how to use these tips in our work with farmers and other stakeholders. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog. 

As enablers of change, we know that effective communication is a vital skill in our work. We need to communicate clearly and persuasively with farmers, colleagues, partners, and stakeholders. In this episode, we'll show how it's not just the words we use that are important, but it's how we frame our message. 

Would you like to hear about a simple way to improve how we solve problems, especially moral dilemmas? It's as simple as changing the words we use! In this episode, we're going to introduce you to the big difference between saying ‘could' and ‘would'. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode, we're going deeper, and we're sharing our top seven suggestions for making better use of ChatGPT to improve our efficiency and impact. We'll dive into some effective tips on how to use prompts with ChatGPT, and discuss how it can be a valuable asset in our agricultural extension efforts.

Many disciplines (such as nursing and teaching) have a model of practice to guide how their work should be undertaken. So isn't it about time that agricultural extension had one? In this episode, we're going to share with you a recently co-developed model of practice for extension.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We've covered several change models in recent episodes, and now we're going to discuss a model that was designed to unite them all: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

We've been exploring various change models and in this episode we're going to look at the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and see how it can help us understand why people adopt or resist new technologies. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Hello and welcome to this special episode where we are celebrating the 100th episode of Enablers of Change! We're so excited to have reached this milestone and we want to thank you for being part of our journey. Whether you've been with us from the start or you've just joined us recently, we appreciate your support and feedback. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

As enablers of change, attending conferences is an important way to keep up with the latest research, trends, and practices in our field. However, for some of us, the idea of networking at these events can be daunting, if not nauseating. It can be difficult to strike a balance between making valuable connections and coming across as awkward or unprofessional. In this episode, we'll share some tips and examples on how to network effectively at a conference without feeling foolish. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

As enablers of change, we're always looking for new ways to understand and promote positive change in the behaviour of farmers and other key stakeholders. One theory that has been particularly useful in this regard is the Theory of Planned Behavior. In this episode, we'll explore its key concepts and provide examples of how it can be applied to agricultural extension. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

Are you looking for some quick tips to improve your life as an enabler of change? In this episode, we're sharing our top seven simple life hacks that you might find handy! See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

In this episode we're going to further explore what Participatory Action Learning is and how we might use it as enablers of change. See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.

As enablers of change, it's helpful to understand the different ways people have characterised change. In this episode we're exploring one of the early models of change, the Theory of Reasoned Action.  See all the details and contribute to the discussion over at our blog.