Module 6 - Think Tanks

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Think tanks are established to consider important problems from many different points of view. Important problems have many different components. Among these are philosophical concerns, measurable "facts," and projections of what happens under different scenarios.

Different stakeholders have different expertise, philosophies, and desired outcomes. This means that they bring different issue concerns "to the table."

Slide 3

In a think tank, the members make contributions according to their abilities. They also respond to other contributors.

Think tanks examine issues from many points of view. They process information to provide strategies to reach desirable outcomes. Once they have developed the best possible strategy, given the information inputs, they communicate their point of view through white papers or position statements.

Different think tanks frequently recommend different actions because they use information differently or because they have different desired outcomes.

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Position papers are formal documents. They describe areas of agreement among members of a group. They explain the rationale for providing the statement, policies and actions supported by the statement, and explanations of why these policies and actions were selected instead of others. Position papers are heavily referenced to show information sources and rationales for extrapolating any original data to meet the needs of the issue under consideration.

Slide 5

The three parts of the issues assignments lead toward developing a group position statement. The assignment is a group assignment. Even though the group can make specific assignments for portions of the issues worksheets, every group member is responsible for reviewing the components of the assignment and contributing to the decisions made by the group.

To be successful, the group needs to organize. While no single organizational structure is required, it is important that each group member understand his/her responsibility to the group, including the timelines for making contributions (original, responses, integration of responses and original, review of final). The best positions come from full discussion of potential scenarios, selection of the most promising scenario, and development of the promising scenario to optimize its potential.