As the unions say, don’t get mad – get organised
It’s a bit of a sad time in the MOD household. After living in the rural community of Ohariu Valley for the past eight years, we’re moving back into the city.
The reasons are various. Young daughters become teenagers. A lack of public transport. Marriage dissolved. New partner in life. The start of a new life chapter.
And while I’ve found a great little spot to move to, it’s a wrench leaving the rolling hills of Ohariu and finding new guardians for a group of llamas, ducks, horses and one dyslexic pheasant.
One of the ironies of living in the country is that you tend to get to know your neighbours a lot
better than in the city, even though they are spread across 25 square kilometres. There’s a vibrant community group here, regular social occasions at the local hall, a guitar-playing vicar and a good bugger who runs a valley email group.
It’s opened my eyes to the oldfashioned sense of community and the things they can achieve. The latest one is all the property owners agreeing to locate around 300 Capital Kiwi stoat and rat traps across their land.
There was an even better example of that recently in the neighbouring community of Pahautanui and Whitby. It’s a great example of the power of a community which decides to say ‘‘no’’. Business-wise, it’s an example of asset owners who failed to recognise the potential of an asset.
Well-respected Samuel Marsden Collegiate School for girls has been running in Karori for 140 years. Ten years ago it bought Whitby Independent College, situated at the old Duck Creek golf course and set up Marsden Whitby as a satellite school.
In early July parents were sent an email from the Samuel Marsden (Karori) Trust Board saying the school would close at the end of the year. No warning, no review period, no consultation. It was pretty devastating for the students and parents of the 200-pupil school, which is known for its warm style of teaching.
It took about 24 hours for the first parents to start challenging the decision and standing up against the fait accompli. After some pretty confronting ‘‘information meetings’’ with the board, the board agreed to negotiate with a parent-backed entity for the right to purchase the school.
Local MP Kris Faafoi reminded the group of the old union catchphrase ‘‘don’t get mad, get organised’’. They did just that.
There’s nothing like a crisis to bring people together, realising their own power and collection of skills and contacts.
A disparate group of parents and friends came together, including sparkies, project managers, a writer, a community lawyer, a bloke who works at the council, a woman who used to be an Israeli tank commander and a guy at the forefront of using tech to bring dispersed communities together. And they got very organised indeed.
The board didn’t know what hit them.
One of the mums provided an intro to John Fiso – Officer of the NZ Order of Merit, ex-teacher, and founder of NZ Institute of Sport, who they thought potentially might be interested in buying the school. Five parents hastily pulled together a pitch deck, smartened themselves up and headed down to the deep south to pitch to Fiso.
It worked. They signed a heads of agreement, granting Fiso their exclusive right to negotiate to buy the school. A three-week negotiation commenced with the Karori board.
Then a few weeks ago it was announced that Fiso had agreed terms with the board and was buying the school. The speed and agility of this rag-tag but organised group of parents would put many private-equity vultures to shame.
Against the odds, and ingrained institutional lack of interest from the Ministry of Education and Anglican Church, they pulled it off.
Now there’s a mobilised community who collaborated with Fiso to build an exciting new school – to be called Whitby Collegiate – a genuinely joint effort between the community and the proprietors. Something that could not have happened previously.
Apart from this being a great yarn, there are also a couple of useful commercial learnings.
Business – like education – is ultimately all about humans. If you fail to treat people as the humans they are, at some point it’s going to come back and bite you on the bum.
Likewise, in finding the secret sauce to galvanising a diverse group of humans – you’ve found real power to make a difference.
Meanwhile, I’m told the school’s role is tracking north. People have taken notice. New parents are saying ‘‘I’ve been watching what’s happening here, I like what I’ve seen, and I want my kids to be a part of it – how do I enrol?’’
I can’t help but think the previous owners didn’t realise what a gem they were sitting on.
Meanwhile, those in a similar position could do worse than take Faafoi’s advice. Don’t get mad, get organised.
The board didn’t know what hit them.
Mike ‘‘MOD’’ O’Donnell is a professional director, writer and facilitator. His Twitter handle is @modsta and he’s going to miss Ohariu Valley