Preparing to Set Sail

Summary

This chapter explores what is needed to ensure a journey on which “all hands” are able to contribute, using technologies suited to their abilities and skill sets. The chapter shows—in the time‐honored form of a six‐stage maturity model counting Stage 0—the key stages in the evolution of citizen development. The stages include awareness, acceptance and focused exploration, formal adoption, industrialization and absorption. Cast of Characters are the “hands” called on deck to ensure that tapping into a broad set of experiences, capabilities, and perspectives. We divide this manifest into three main categories: leading roles, supporting roles, and stakeholders. The 4G approach is designed to help streamline decision‐making so that citizen development can meet its full potential. In the order that organizations will encounter them, these sequential parts are genesis, governance, guidance, and guardrails.