Where is Patrick?

Futures Planning

Governments must operate in a legacy world, meaning that you must be able to keep doing the nuts-and-bolts work at the core of the mission. But you also must be ready to succeed in a fast-changing environment, one that is difficult to predict.

Click here to access the “Blueprint for Reimagining Your Community” as you reconsider your approach to building a stronger, more vibrant community.

The next chapter for your community is how it reimagines itself. The value of the Futures Planning approach is that it’s less of a focus on identifying projects or getting to the “right” scenario, and more about discussing purpose and helping leadership understand that the future can be dramatically different from the present, while fostering a deeper understanding of the forces driving potential changes and uncertainties. The approach gives leaders the ability to reperceive reality. The dividend is to sharpen their capability to toggle between present reality and future possibility.

The following is our approach to help you and your elected and appointed officials reimagine your community’s future:

 

Futures Planning Cycle

 The outcome of these Futures Planning discussions is to help you construct and evaluate an array of options that offer a broader view of the landscape and possibilities for success. Exploring your community through various lenses helps build your capacity to be agile — possessing the balance and capability that enable you to shift focus, priorities, and resources to meeting changing circumstances.

Selection of a facilitator is a key to continued effectiveness for your organization. Patrick Ibarra is extremely effective as a guide and catalyst partnering with groups by utilizing his in-depth understanding about government operations with a highly interactive, thought-provoking, and practical approach to group facilitation. Strong on the process of facilitation with a certification in facilitation from Development Dimensions International, one of the leaders in the marketplace, we refer to group meetings that we design and facilitate as an Advance as opposed to a Retreat, the commonly referred term applied to these types of meetings. We also provide substantive content to the discussions to help groups “breakthrough” challenges. Our approach enables a group to focus on future conditions and generate forward-looking strategies and innovative tactics to effectively anticipate and respond to those often-changing circumstances. This results in a proactive and dynamic approach to sustaining a high-quality, high-performance organization.

Our group has facilitated groups in cities of all size including Alhambra (CA), Bainbridge Island (WA), Bismarck (ND), Brookings (SD), Carrollton (TX), Dallas (TX), Florence (OR), Hilton Head Island (SC), Indio (CA), Kennewick (WA), Littleton (CO), McKinney (TX), Missouri City (TX), Norwalk (CA), Osage Beach (MO), Pittsburg (CA), Queen Creek (AZ), Roswell (NM), San Antonio (TX) and Yankton (SD).

Success Stories

City of Durango, Colorado

The Mejorando Group was retained to design and facilitate a Strategic Planning process.  The result was a forward-looking Strategic Plan to enable a rapidly growing community to sharpen its focus and proactively plan for its future.

City of Minnetonka

City of Norwalk, California

In 2021, designed and facilitated a strategic planning update process.  Patrick was responsible for a majority of the design process for agendas, as well as facilitating the meetings. The outcome was an update to the City’s approach to building a stronger, more vibrant community with the adoption of the Strategic Plan,

Pinal County

City of Bartlesville, Oklahoma

In 2022, designed and facilitated the City’s inaugural Strategic Plan.  Activities included gathering extensive public input, both online and in-person, and facilitating the Task Force resulting in a modern approach to building a stronger Bartlesville community.

“After I was elected I was surprised to find out that the City of Bismarck never had a comprehensive strategic plan. The Mayor and all the other commissioners agreed that we should have a roadmap in place for what we want the city to look like in five to ten years, especially because we’re experiencing rapid growth in the current oil boom. Patrick Ibarra had a clear vision for making the project work so we could discover our own answers, and he made effective use of Facebook and other social media tools to promote the project and gather public input. The response has been tremendous…We have a real sense of ownership of the strategic plan, and we’re looking forward to using it to build a stronger community.”

 

Josh Askvig

City Commissioner, City of Bismarck, North Dakota

“Once again, Patrick Ibarra and the Mejorando Group brought a fresh new outlook to our City Council strategic planning process. Many of the structural areas and specific projects we brought to the table last year when Patrick worked with us have now been addressed and are in the process of refinement and realignment. It’s difficult to not be affected by recent occurrences, issues, or current affairs when walking into a council session, but Patrick understands the dynamics and scope a council would deem conducive to developing a strategic direction that has a clear eye on the big picture. His knowledge base and experience are a formidable combination and provided a wide range of city related dynamics. This allows him to create an atmosphere of strategic thinking for our “Advance” meeting. Patrick helped us develop a consensus as a council and create a vision for future.”

 

Roger Harris

Councilmember, City of McKinney, Texas

As consultants to government organizations, the members of the Mejorando Group provide expertise in all aspects of performance improvement and organizational effectiveness services, including government succession planning, leadership and management development and training, strategic planning, performance coaching and group/development/team building.