Practical, relational, strengths-based actions councils and community builders can take immediately.
Real ABCD is not a checklist; it’s a mindset, a way of seeing, and a practice of deep noticing.
These tools work because they are small, accessible, and relational.
They help councils shift from service delivery to community partnership, from transactions to relationships, and from problems to possibilities.
1. The 5H’s Gift Conversation.
Gifts become visible when we create space to see them.
The 5H’s invite a person to share their:
- Head— ideas, knowledge, lived understanding, expertise
- Hands— practical skills, crafts, abilities, things they can “do”
- Heart— passions, cares, values, what lights them up
- Heel/Heal— challenges, struggles, or lived experiences that have become wisdom
- Human Connection— relationships, networks, people who trust them, people they naturally gather
“Start with gifts, not gaps and watch relationships transform.”
“When we ask about gifts, people remember they have them.”
Use it with staff, councillors, community members and watch the energy shift.
2. The “Who Do You Know?” Connector Question.
Every community has connectors. The people who hold the relational fabric together.
Instead of asking:
“What do you need?”
Ask:
“Who do you know who might care about this too?”
This question does three things:
✔ Reveals informal networks
✔ Builds momentum naturally
✔ Moves the conversation from individual fixes to collective action
Connectors often unlock whole neighbourhoods.
3. The 15-Minute Asset Map (Across the Six ABCD Asset Types)
You don’t need a workshop, consultant, or project plan to start mapping assets.
You need 15 minutes, a pen, and curiosity.
Map the six key asset types:
- Individuals— gifts, skills, talents, lived experience (use the 5H’s)
- Associations— sports clubs, mums’ groups, choirs, youth collectives, informal networks
- Local Institutions— council teams, libraries, schools, early years centres, health services, businesses
- Physical Assets— community halls, parks, verandahs, natural spaces, sheds, quiet spaces
- Economic/Exchange— local businesses, micro-enterprises, swap groups, informal economies
- Culture & Stories— identity, history, traditions, language, shared narratives, humour
This asset map becomes a compass for possibility, not a census of needs.
“Communities are full of assets. Most have simply gone unnoticed.”
4. Start With Five Stories (“Data With Soul”)
Stories aren’t “nice extras”, they are evidence.
Ask your team:
“What five stories have we seen recently where people led, connected, or acted on something they care about?”
Stories help councils:
- see what’s already working
- challenge assumptions
- build confidence that communitiescan lead
- show leaders the “invisible work”
- shift culture from deficits to strengths
Stories reveal the living strengths of a place.
5. The Coffee Conversation (The Original ABCD Method)
ABCD is built on intentional, relational conversations, not surveys or workshops.
A coffee conversation creates the conditions for:
✔ Trust
✔ Curiosity
✔ Shared power
✔ Possibility thinking
Ask:
- What do you care about?
- What’s already strong here?
- What possibilities do you see?
- Who else should we talk to?
- How might we support what’s already emerging?
Sometimes this is the moment where councils rediscover the simple power of showing up human-to-human.
6. The Tiny Spark Approach
Many councils think change requires a strategy, a framework, or a budget.
But ABCD teaches us that big change often starts with tiny sparks.
A tiny spark might be:
- two neighbours deciding to run something together
- a teacher wanting to open the school garden
- an elder sharing local history
- a young person hosting a mural jam
- a parent trialling a walking school bus
Ask weekly:
“What’s one tiny spark of possibility we can fan gently this week?”
“Start small. Go slow. Build deep.”
7. The Partnership Flip
Councils often ask:
“What can we deliver?”
ABCD flips this to:
“What’s already happening and how can we support it?”
Support might look like:
- unlocking a hall key
- offering a small grant
- connecting two groups
- removing a barrier
- celebrating what’s working
- stepping back so others can step forward
Partnership is not a program, it’s a posture.
8. The Strengths Audit (Instead of a Needs Analysis)
Needs analyses unintentionally reinforce deficit thinking.
A Strengths Audit highlights:
- the gifts of people
- local leadership
- active associations
- cultural depth
- strong relationships
- emerging possibilities
- community energy
- places where people already gather
- shared hopes
This gives councils a very different foundation for planning, engagement, and strategy.
Strengths don’t erase challenges, they give communities the capacity to address them.
9. Invitation First, Agenda Second
ABCD gatherings work because they are relational first, functional second.
Try opening with:
“We’d love to explore what’s strong here and what’s possible when we work together.”
Not:
“We’re here to consult on…”
Invitation creates:
- safety
- inclusion
- belonging
- curiosity
- readiness
The agenda can come later, after people feel welcomed.
10. The Monday Morning Reflection (The Cultural Anchor)
ABCD shifts culture when it becomes a weekly practice.
Every Monday, ask your team:
- Who showed leadership last week?
- What strengths did we notice?
- Who surprised us?
- What relationships deepened?
- What tiny spark appeared?
- What’s one small step this week?
Reflection makes the invisible visible and the possible actionable.
ABCD in Action: Start Small. Notice Deeply. Move Together.
These 10 tools reflect the heart of ABCD: starting with gifts, building relationships, honouring culture, and enabling community leadership to flourish.
They are small in size but transformative in impact and help councils move from programs toward partnership, from engagement toward belonging, and from delivery toward shared power.
📘 Explore ABCD & Beyond
For deeper tools, stories, provocations, case studies, and frameworks, explore the full book:
Australia
ABCD & Beyond: A Practical Guide for Local Government
https://booksonlineaustralia.com.au/shop/abcd_and_beyond/
International
Amazon (Paperback & Kindle)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FW9X97D3?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_EEQ5Y4459RVWZQ20NX20_4&bestFormat=true
Free 200+ Page Guidebook
Explore even more tools, practices, and community-building approaches in the
Participatory Community Building Guidebook:
https://www.jeder.com.au/participatory-community-building-guidebook/
