Parry's Approach
Lived reality has a way of dispelling assumptions.
From Cybersecurity to Food Security
The arena changed, but the work did not.
In both arenas, Parry uses the same approach. She looks at the whole system, identifies risks and gaps, brings together people who are rarely connected and builds practical ways forward. The subject matter may change, but the process doesn't: understand the need, examine what is working and what is not, determine what is required to make the system work better and apply it.
Strong systems are built on what already works. Existing strengths provide the foundation for improving connections, filling gaps and designing new pieces where they are needed. Rejecting existing systems as a whole will lead to failure. Change cannot succeed without buy-in. Stakeholders must see the need, believe improvement is possible and understand their role in shaping it.
Parry expects some resistance. And understanding the resistance matters. People who question change may be concerned about cost, added work or uncertain results. Their concerns should not be ignored or worked around. Listening to them often reveals weaknesses in the system design that others have missed. Addressing those weaknesses leads to a refined design that is more cohesive, practical and likely to succeed. One that is more worthy of buy-in.
From Complex Challenges to Practical Solutions
There is an old saying about eating an elephant: you begin with a single bite. Complex challenges are no different.
Parry starts simply. She identifies the stakeholders, recognizing that the loudest voices are not always the most important. She approaches people within each group, asks questions and listens closely to those nearest the issue.
Parry breaks the challenge into manageable parts. She separates assumptions from reality, identifies what already works and begins developing solutions people can understand, adopt and use. Step by step, patterns emerge and gaps become visible. She identifies who is affected and who understands the issue first-hand.
The work does not begin with a major announcement, media campaign or flood of advertising. It begins person to person, finding the people others trust, learning from them and bringing them to the table. Those trusted voices help shape the solution, test it and build confidence in what comes next.
Community at the Core
Community is where it starts.
When things are working, people let you know. When they are not, they let you know louder and more often.
Many strategists treat community merely as an audience. They market to it, sell to it and measure its response. What they often miss is its real power.
Community is your ear to the ground. It reveals what people value, what frustrates them, what they trust and what they reject. When people are genuinely engaged, community becomes a live focus group, research and development team, early-warning system and source of volunteers, expertise and leadership.
People identify unmet needs, test assumptions, spot trends and recognize opportunities. (They also spot so-called experts who aren't real experts.)They compare what is being planned with what already exists and help shape solutions that are more relevant, practical and likely to succeed.
Parry has built major initiatives around that principle. She created the world’s first online cybersafety and help organization, growing it to 16,000 volunteers in 76 countries. Professional auditors later estimated that the time and expertise contributed by those volunteers would have cost more than $3 million a year.
Her Cybersafety India program was also built through online community-building. Using LinkedIn, she identified experts and trusted voices across India and brought them together to create a program designed for Indian families and grounded in their needs and culture.
The same approach shaped PEI Cooks at Home, already among the top selling cookbooks published on PEI. Through her 21,000-member PEI Good Eats Facebook community, 79 home cooks contributed 150 recipes, photographs, memories and practical knowledge. They improved one another’s recipes, helped promote the book and introduced it to potential vendors. Members of that same community are now helping shape Preserving PEI, Parry's next cookbook.
Building, supporting and continually learning from community is what distinguishes Parry from many other strategists.
She does not treat community as the last step in the process. She begins there.
PEI Food Strong: Our More Resilient System Mission
PEI Food Strong applies this systems design approach to Prince Edward Island’s food sector, connecting people and organizations across the system to identify gaps, strengthen relationships and build greater local resilience.
For more about PEI Food Strong and its mission visit our Projects & Focus page