by Peter Block
journalism, 42
as messenger of context, 46–47
social, 2–3, 46
meetings. See gatherings
mental health programs, 51–53
mind-set(s)
ambivalence of, 134–135
associational versus system, 43
changing what we value, 57
for controlling alternate future, 108–109
corporate, 78
disconfirmation of, 43
programming/problem-solving into a vision, 77–78
retributive, 177
See also worldview/belief systems
mission, 10, 81
Murphy, Ken, 120–121
N
The Nature of Order (Alexander), 18–20
needs, 67–68, 80
neighborhood economy, 44
neighborhoods/communities, 14
broken-down, 62
Center for Great Neighborhoods, 3
crime rates, 18
design aesthetic of, 167–169
development of, 177–179
distressed, 174
faith community in, 186
fragmentation of, 2
microeconomies of, 178
poorer, 178
pride of, 8
public safety in, 176–177
stuck (See stuck communities)
support of, 14
urban, 125
networks/networking, 79
Northcliffe, Alfred Lord, 46
not for profit services, 44
O
open questions, 110–111
optimism/pessimism, 43
ordinance example, 39–40
organizational growth, lack of, 26
“the other” mind-set, 62–63
outcomes, changing, 44, 47
oversight, 39–40
Over the Rhine, 125
ownership
blame versus, 129, 134, 194
conversations of, 116
denials of, 134
in health care context, 183
ownership conversations, 129–130
accountability in, 133
distinctions for, 134–135
questions for, 135–137, 150, 194–195, 197
P
paradox, appreciating, 20–21
parenting, 71–72
partnership model, 96
past, changing our relationship with, 16–17
Patchett, Ray, 153–154
patriarchal worldview, 120, 137
pattern language, 87–88
personal questions, 110
person versus disease example, 184–185
pessimism/optimism, 43
philanthropic organizations, 44
Philip Morris, 120–121
Phoenix Place, 52–53, 54
physical space design
amplifying the whole room example, 163
art and aesthetics, 165–166, 171
auditoriums, 159
cafeterias, 161
chair choice, 164
citizen-driven design example, 168–171
citizen engagement in, 159
conference rooms, 159
construction or rehabilitation opportunities, 166–168
cost and time issues, 171–172
expressing quality of aliveness, 162–163
platform height, 164–165
reception areas, 161
for supporting belonging, 198
types of rooms/spaces, 160–161
welcoming nature in, 163
pioneer path, 59
point of view, 80
police and citizens example, 138–139, 140
political suffering, 174–175
politics of economy, 180
Portland, Oregon, 55
possibility
choosing, over problem solving, 80–84
Clermont Counseling Center example, 51–53
communal, 50–51, 102
declaring the possibility example, 124–125
Erhard on power of, 16–17
as future condition beyond reach, 129
health care example, 184–185
marginalizing, 42–43
over problem solving, 114
versus problem solving, 131
possibility conversations
choosing, 55
distinctions for, 131–132
“just-talk,” 116
process of, 132
questions for, 133, 150, 194, 197
use of, 129
possibility of a safe Cincinnati example, 124–125
poverty, 62
power
acts of, 14
citizens’, 100
of citizens to convene other citizens, 31
in creating our experiences, 70
of declarations, 131
insights on, 14–17
powerful questions, 109–111
powerlessness, 142
prejudice, 61
problem solving
acts of power for, 14
barriers to, 189
classic steps for, 80–81
community as problems to be solved, 32–34
versus creating a future, 22
elements of traditional, 80–81
versus possibility, 131
possibility over, 114
purpose of problems, 84
reinforcing model of, 109
retributive versus restorative conversations for, 55–56
searching for solutions, 80
for vision creation, 77–78
projection, 61–63, 64–65
promise(ing), 130, 143, 144–146
prosperity, 43–44
public benefit sector, 44
public policy, 98
public safety, 138, 176–177
Putnam, Robert, 6–7, 17–18, 82
Q
questions
advice-free zones for asking, 113–114
answers versus, 192–193
asking lower-risk, 114
asking the wrong, 181–182
for commitment conversations, 144–145
for connecting citizens to each other, 154
for considering action, 84
construction of, 107–108
dissent conversations, 142–143, 195
elements of, 193–194
gift conversations, 130, 148, 150, 196–197
hidden agendas of, 109
importance of, 79
less powerful, 108–109
name distinctions in, 112
ownership conversations, 134, 135–137, 194–195
possibility conversations, 133
powerful, 109–111
summary of core questions for conversations, 150–151, 197–198
unpopular answers, 112–113
valuing, over answers, 106
See also conversations
R
reality, 43, 46
rebellion, 130, 141, 142. See also dissent
reception area design, 161
reconciliation of community, 173–174
development of local economy, 177–179
family issues, 179–181
health care, 181–186
Job and Family Services example, 180–181
public safety, 176–177
youth, 175–176
reconnection. See connection/reconnection
reframing for change, 21
refusals
allowing, 126, 146
lip service as, 144
saying “no,” 139–140, 142
relatedness, 29, 102, 191. See also connection/reconnection
relationships
abusive, 51
boss/peer, 71
building, 103
changing, 121
citizens to neighborhood, 168
communication and, 162
finding new, 15
learning about, 93
neighborhood/police, 140
networks of, 123
oppresso
r/oppressed, 113
quality of, 7, 18
shifts in, 10
steps for impacting, 27
strengthening, 126
reservations/doubts, 137–139
resignation, 142
responsibility. See accountability/responsibility
restoration
creating, 20
faith in, 69
opening the way for, 34
possibility of, 36
sources of, 49, 105–106
restorative community
action for creating, 138–139
activation of, 50–53
Clermont Counseling Center example, 51–53
context for, 96, 190–191
conversations for, 56, 102, 106
curriculum for, 151
design of places for, 171
effects of, 49
essence of, 118
guarantee of, 68
inversion of thinking for, 74
leader support for, 89, 92
meaning of, 132
questions for creating, 150
versus retributive, 59–61
shifting from retributive to, 32, 56–57, 59–60
restorative future, 180
restorative justice, 54
retribution, 29, 30, 31–32, 34
retributive agenda, 61
retributive community
acceptance of, 40–41
alienation through, 168
alternatives to, 54
beneficiaries of, 69
claims of, 50
conditioning by, 149
context of, 45–46, 47, 56, 64
conversations that sustain, 34
cost of, 74–75
effects of, 177
force as end product of, 76
forms of, 35
helplessness due to, 68
justification of, 38, 42
marginalization through, 132
versus restorative, 59–61
shifting to restorative from, 49, 56–57, 59, 109, 191
Robert’s Rules of Order, 98
role models, 101–102, 199
room arrangement for gatherings, 162–163
S
safety
illusion of, 141
neighborhood, 176–177
sense of, 3
saying “no.” See refusals
scale
choosing depth and relatedness over, 79–80
judging, 121
thinking in terms of, 78
scandals, 44
scarcity, 29
school shootings, 33–34
self-actualization, 51
self-interest, 45, 80
separation issues, 156
services, community, 179–181
setups for conversations, 111–114
Shackleton, Ernest, 126
Shaffer, Dorothy, 184–185, 186
small business owners, 178
small groups
answering questions in, 135
arranging the room for, 162
designing, 99
expressing appreciate in, 149
within large gatherings, 100
making connections, 155
methods of, 23, 24–25, 28
outcomes of, 101
power of, 97, 99–100, 192
as unit of transformation, 31, 190
See also gatherings
small scale, slow growth leadership, 26
Smith, Cynthia, 180–181
Snow, Judith, 146
social architecture of community building
context for restorative community, 190–191
inversion of cause and accountability, 191–192
overview and guidelines, 190
questions for conversations about, 193–198
social capital, 6–7, 17–18, 28, 78, 189, 190
social classes, 8, 174
social contract, 135
social fabric of community, 9, 10, 30–31, 43–45, 78, 82, 95
social investment, returns on, 44
social media, 2–3, 46. See also media
social services, 44–45
Solutions Journalism Network, 42
space design. See physical space design
Sparough, Geralyn, 93–94, 176
Sparough, Tom, 93–94, 176
speed
choosing depth over, 79–80
structure of belonging and, 2
thinking in terms of, 78
Spencer, John, 168–171
Stec, Jeff, 83
stereotyping, 61
Stoeber, Mark, 95
stories/storytelling
changing the community’s, 47
creating new, 37
fictional nature of, 36
as limitations, 15–16
naming payoffs and costs of, 130
nature of, 35
questions for confronting our, 136–137
role of, 35
shifts in narratives, 55
strangers
connecting to, 64–65
distrust of, 176–177
inviting in, 120
learning from, 24–25
projecting onto, 61
walling out, 60
See also relationships
strategies for building community, principles of, 30–32
strengths. See gifts
structure of belonging, 1–4
stuck communities, 43
associational life, 43–45
laws and oversights, 39–40
marginalization of possibility, 41–42
marketing fear and fault in, 38–39
media influence, 46–47
romanticizing leadership in, 40–41
self-interest and isolation, 45
suburban life, play dates, 3
suffering, 173–174, 174–175
support groups, 13–14
system life, 43
T
talents, 12–13
tasks, choice in, 120
Teresa, Mother, 76
thinking, diversity of, 102. See also inversion/inverting our thinking
threats, perceived, 42
Toyama, Jimmy, 101–102
transformation/change
in beliefs about community, 76
collective, 28, 87–88
communal (See communal transformation)
creating conditions for, 65
Erhard on elements of, 15
Findley House example, 93–94
framework for authentic, 21
individual versus community, 6, 78
insights into (See insights)
key to creating community, 10
large-scale, 26, 78–79
linguistics of, 31–32
of mind-set, 57
outcomes, 47
problem solving for, 83
questions meant to change others, 109
as self-inflicted wound, 122
shifts in narrative for, 55
small- and large-scale, 26
small groups as units of, 31
sources of, 105–106
through choice, 118–119
through conversation, 115–116
as unfolding, 20
value of vision for, 81–82
whole-scale (whole system), 23, 123
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), 54
U
Uhlig, Paul, 182–184
unfolding strategy, 20
urban neighborhoods, 125
urban problems, 33–34
V
value creation, 107
values, 38, 60
violence, 124–125, 176
school shootings, 33–34
See also crime
virtue, 76, 130
vision, 169
communities’ descriptions of, 81–82
creation of, 21, 77–78, 85, 131
patriarchal, 120
possibility and, 16, 42
possibility vers
us, 131
selling the, 81, 108
specifying the, 80–82
as task of leadership, 91
thinking for envisioning, 169
voting, beliefs about, 68
vulnerability, projecting due to, 62
vulnerable population, labeling of, 63
W
wages/jobs, 34, 44, 178, 180
way of being, invitation as, 122
weaknesses. See deficiencies
Weisbord, Marvin, 22, 123
welcoming versus labeling, 63
well-being
community, 17–18
defining our, 55
family, 179–181
health-care debate and, 114
leaders’ job of caring for, 96
wholeness, 19–20, 49
whole-scale (whole system) change, 23, 123
Women of Worth program, 51
work/life separation, 146
workshop example, 120–121
World Café, 23
worldview/belief systems
about cause and effect, and power, 70–71
about communal change, 78–80
Cartesian clockwork view, 70
cause-and-effect, 70, 74
cause-and-effect worldview, 70
collective memory and, 60
context and, 29
creating a better future, 33
See also mind-set(s)
Y
yoga practice example, 106
youth of community, 175–176
Yunus, Muhammed, 27
Z
Zakaria, Fareed, 68
About the Author
Peter Block is an author and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community. In his work as a citizen of Cincinnati, he is on a neighborhood council, helped start the Economics of Compassion Initiative, and is mostly working with the concepts of Jubilee, an Old Testament idea awaiting implementation, about forgiving the debts of the poor and returning the land to its rightful owners.
Peter is the author of several best-selling books. The most widely known are Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, 3rd ed. (Pfeiffer, 2011); Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest, 2nd ed. (Berrett-Koehler, 2013), and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work, 2nd ed. (Wiley, 2016).
He has also authored The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion: A Guide to Understanding Your Expertise (Pfeiffer, 2000), assisted by Andrea Markowitz, and The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters (Berrett-Koehler, 2002), which won the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Award for Business Breakthrough Book of the Year. Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World was coauthored with consultant and philosopher Peter Koestenbaum (Jossey-Bass/ Pfeiffer, 2001).
In collaboration with John McKnight, Peter wrote The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (Berrett-Koehler, 2010). It is a testimony to John’s influence and compassion in the community world. John was trained as an orator, not a writer, so all the ideas in this book derive from John. Peter, in this case, is really a ghostwriter who made it to the title page.
In 2011, Peter and John were “discovered” by Walter Brueggemann, internationally known Old Testament scholar and guiding light in the faith community. Out of their friendship and old-white-men conversations, a book emerged titled An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture (Wiley, 2016). It is a portal into the intersection of faith and economics.
