How to maintain your momentum as you engage?

The sigmoid curve is a way of understanding the life cycle of a project or an organisation. When a new endeavour starts it often provokes an initial rush of success and enthusiasm. This then dips and settles for an unspecified period into a level “catch your breath” period.

Then if conditions are right and decisions are sensible, the project or organisation experiences a period of rapid change and growth. In this stage it is easy to believe the press and believe that success is guaranteed and growth secure. However, again after an unspecified period growth begins to slow and plateau and if nothing is done to address this will eventually lead to decline.

Breaking out of the routine

The theory goes if you can identify the moment/period just before growth slows and introduce innovation at that point, you stand a chance of breaking out of the routine and establishing a new curve that will take the project or organisation on a further journey into progress, success and growth. In this way one can move from one sigmoid curve to the next.

This can be a helpful way to think about community engagement. It encourages us to analyse how we are doing. It challenges us to ask where on the curve we are and what we need to do keep growing/improving? It also reminds us that progress will slow, and to begin to think of ways to kick-start the project into a new period of growth.

It also recognises that as one changes from one curve to the next there will be a period of decline and chaos as people let go of the former things and lay hold of the new way. It can seem at first sight as though the change has simply accelerated the progress towards decline. Since every curve starts in this way requiring hard work to gain momentum this should not come as a surprise but sadly often does.

As you begin to think about your community engagement and what you are going to do, it is helpful to think ahead of time about these phases. This will help you avoid making mistaken assumptions about growth and also spot the opportunity to take the next step to make your project even more effective.

Last Updated 05 February 2010