Online Conversation: COMMUNITY - The Structure of Belonging

[Randy Weeks]

You're invited to an online conversation about Peter Block's book: COMMUNITY -The Structure of Belonging.

This space is open for your stories, reflections, questions and other contributions associated with the ideas and processes presented in the book and as related to how you are experiencing life in your own communities.

BOOK AT A GLANCE (PDF): This forum also includes a link to the "Book at a Glance" overview of COMMUNITY - a useful reference to context and main ideas, a summary of the questions and a quick look at designing the physical space.

"Community offers the promise of belonging and calls for us to acknowledge our interdependence. To belong is to act as an investor, owner, and creator of this place. To be welcome, even if we are strangers. As if we came to the right place and are affirmed for that choice.

To feel a sense of belonging is important because it will lead us from conversations about safety and comfort to other conversations, such as our relatedness and willingness to provide hospitality and generosity. Hospitality is the welcoming of strangers, and generosity is an offer with no expectation of return. These are two elements that we want to nurture as we work to create, strengthen, and restore our communities. This will not occur in a culture dominated by isolation, and its correlate, fear."

- From the Introduction

[Joan + Michael Hoxsey]

For those of you who have read the book may remember that Michael, Geralyn and Tom Sparough and I have been working with a group of young men from the West End on a movie project called "The Last Shot" for over a year. The movie is done and we are in need of assistance in putting a premier for the film together. This will be a short term commitment that will mean a lot to these young guys who have worked so hard to put the film together. If you could be of assistance in planning the premier please get in touch with us at [e-mail]. Thanks so much

[Randy Weeks]

"The Power of the Small Group:
Each gathering needs to become an example of the future we want to create.
The small group is the unit of transformation.
Large-scale transformation occurs when enough small groups shift in harmony toward the larger change.
Small groups have the most leverage when they meet as part of a larger gathering.
The small group produces power when diversity of thinking and dissent are given space, commitments are made without barter, and the gifts of each person and our community are acknowledged and valued."
- From the Book at a Glance - COMMUNITY: The Structure of Belonging, By Peter Block.

In COMMUNITY - The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block provides an articulation of community feelings, wants and beliefs many of us have felt inside but haven't always had words to express.

The book provides an antidote to the typical conversations about community that focus on fears, poor leadership, lack of funding, crime, safety, joblessness and other issues familiar to every city, village and neighborhood. It presents a methodology for convening powerful conversations about possibility, ownership and gifts, replacing the familiar conversations of problem solving, blame and deficiency that leave citizens feeling powerless, cynical and disengaged.

It may well be Peter's best work, in that it provides not only an overview of the challenges to community, but also tells stories of many who are changing the world today, then offers concrete and practical ways to practice and engage the structure of belonging that he describes. The sections that describe each of the six conversations (Invitation, Possibility, Ownership, Dissent, Commitment and Gifts) are just wonderful, providing insights, set-ups and examples that capture the power and flow of these ideas many of us have experienced in conversations led by Peter, but have never seen in a simple, printed format.

No matter what your place or role in a neighborhood or organization, regardless of your vocation, education or political positions, this book will have value to you. Even if you've never thought about being active in your community, this book has value for you. In its practical presentation of the power of questions over answers and depth over speed, it offers a practice that can transform every conversation we choose to have, whether at work, at a town meeting or at home -- even in becoming more aware of the quiet conversations we have with ourselves.

Recognizing the difference between a powerless conversation and a powerful one is alone worth the price of this book and the time invested in reading it.

Learning how the spaces and context in which we gather and the importance of getting connected before expecting our agendas to produce anything is another worthwhile insight that can be gleaned from the book, regardless of occupation.

One more thing among many I love about this book: It includes a section called BOOK AT A GLANCE, which provides a quick summary and reference guide for the entire message. The Book at a Glance starts with context and main ideas, then offers a summary of the kinds of questions that matter -- those that open the door to the future and are more powerful than answers in that they demand engagement. It ends with a quick look at designing the physical space for engagement.

[Dan Joyner]

I’m looking forward to comments and discussions regarding this book. I’m honored to have been closely associated with Peter and many of the people he has mentioned, in this body of work. He often says “we created this work together” Peter is an amazingly talented, generous and humble member of this community whose gifts are freely offered to everybody… All the people closely associated with the creation of this work are unbelievably skillful and caring practitioners and community members. They long for the creation of “belonging” in communities and organizations. Like me, many have an undying faith in people. That faith in people enters the room with them every time they show up.

I worked 30 years in a bureaucracy, 25 of them as a leader. I’ve since had hundreds of ah-ha! moments relative to those experiences, as I’ve engaged in this work. For example, for years I was amazed at the behavior of cynics in the organization. The venomous discord spewed from their mouths toward “the hands of those who seemingly cared for them” didn’t make sense to me. Conversely, how could the hearts of good people be hardened by a system so committed to its purpose and mission? Patriarchy breeds cynicism… Living out the processes (boxes) and responsibilities (lines) of a pyramid shaped organizational chart created the fertile soil where cynicism thrived. Efforts to flatten, re-engineer or inverse the chart had little effect. Efforts to flatten, re-engineer or inverse the people didn’t work either…

In the book, Peter looks at the work of Werner Erhard and illustrates three keys to thinking about authentic transformation. These three keys have given me a simple framework from which to start designing my work with clients:

1.) Power of Language – Erhard asserts that “all transformation is linguistic” The work is to change the conversation – to have a conversation that we haven’t had before.

2.) Power of Context – Our mental models or context impacts our world view. These basic beliefs are what lie underneath our actions. Rather than living the past over and over, a shift in context changes our relationship with the past. It creates an opening for a new future to occur.

3.) Power of Possibility – Possibility is a declaration of what we stand for each time we show up. It’s a value or condition we want to occur in the world. When a possibility is declared in the presence of your peers, it gains power.

[Lisa Haneberg]

The message that has stuck with me from this book is that we must align our context with our intentions. the room, the size and structure of the conversation, the type of participation and controls all communicate an intent - but often, we set up conversations in ways that do not match our desired outcomes from the discourse. I think Peter shared an example from one of his keynotes and how it hit him that the design/structure/set up was so contrary to the message he was sharing.

[Morgen Peers]

I just finished the book, passed on to me by a well-read, well-informed friend who knew it was just what I was looking for. I'm in Ottawa but I know Peter's work was circulating well through the leadership community in Toronto as well. While respecting the civic nature of the book and its aims (something I appreciate fully and am attempting to implement in my area through a monthly event) I am equally fascinated about the shift/transformation in language relating to leadership and how it can help organizational structures stuck in top-down conceptions to re-invent themselves through supporting and encouraging the dynamism of "staff", associates, etc.

hope to join in as the discussion grows. :)

[Andrew MacDonald]

Loving the book . . . which has substantially changed the local conversation I'm already involved in - we call it the Futures Conversation - once a month in a small town 100 miles west of Ottawa, Canada. (Looking forward to meeting Morgen of A Small Group who's in Ottawa!)
Group members are local people who are feeling real change coming down the pike. I'm the host, am wanting to move the group more into possibilities. We've created some real community ripples already I think AND there's been a bit of blowback with people feeling over organized. Could be me being unskillful, others wanting to stay comfortable, me wanting to stay comfortable, or some combination of all the above.
All that to say, if anyone (especially if you have experience with possibility meetings) is willing to be an ear for me to design the next meeting,phone or email, I'd love it.
Blessings!