Pathways to Organizational Communities

We begin with the inquiry skill of "paraphrasing" as a way to assure another that we truly understand his or her stated point of view, and then further incorporate inquiry to build understanding around the advocated position.

At the recent Best of OD Summit in Chicago, Peter Block delivered a provocative keynote address called "Transformation and the Structure of Belonging." His remarks focused on the vital importance of creating communities, in both the civic and organizational senses. Nothing provocative there, but his unique approach to building communities questioned some existing assumptions about how best to mobilize effective action. Rather than aggressively trying to address the "problems" experienced by various communities, Block suggests inviting potential participants to engage in dialogue about the possibilities they can create together. He asserts, "What we normally call problems (low performance, high costs, poor morale, unsafe streets, poor healthcare) are really symptoms of the breakdown of community."

For Block, change happens at an intimate, interpersonal level, in groups of no more than a dozen. Even large-scale change efforts must find a mechanism to engage participants at this small-group level. To illustrate his point, Block urged the session participants to organize themselves into small groups by moving their chairs into clusters rather than remaining arranged in the traditional "theatre style", in rows facing the stage. The result was an opportunity for the session participants to engage in small group dialogues about the probing questions and paradoxical ideas Block introduced. Block writes, "We shift the nature of the conversation by shifting the questions we ask, and become obsessive about the structure of the room and how people are grouped within it. . . In seating people, the circle trumps the rectangle, the classroom and for sure the auditorium as the geometry of choice. Auditoriums should be restricted to artist performance. Period." Room arrangement gives - and denies - power!

The Art of Questioning

Block asserts that the job of leaders is to build community, and that, "Leadership with power depends on listening, convening, invitation, and the triumph of questions over answers. It is the act of supporting others to find their voice, name their world, and in that accountability is created."

Using questions to spark meaningful dialogue is at the heart of effective group process. At Interaction Associates (IA), we've long worked to refine the inquiry skills of leaders throughout organizations. This bias toward building mutual understanding even extends to our approach to advocacy. We begin with the inquiry skill of "paraphrasing" as a way to assure another that we truly understand his or her stated point of view, and then further incorporate inquiry to build understanding around the advocated position. Such questioning techniques are equally helpful when negotiating an agreement or exploring the fundamental questions about what an organization seeks to become.

Pathways and Conversations

The route to "becoming" is a series of conversations. In his book Community, Block outlines six specific conversations that help to build communities - invitation, possibility, ownership, dissent, commitment, and gifts. These six areas echo the fundamental issues explored in our own Pathway to Action(tm) model. This is no accident. The building of a community, whether in a neighborhood or an organization, involves travelling along a pathway from where we are today to where we want to be. The elements of the Pathway model provide a guide for these critical conversations.

In the first space on the Pathway – the Design space – we determine who should be involved (invitation) and how we'll proceed. The Vision space (possibility) invites stakeholders to define their shared aspiration. The Problem space deals with both areas to be 'fixed' (an implicit concern of ownership) and potential barriers to be overcome (dissent). The Solution space (commitment) results in stakeholders setting a specific course of action that they will then draw on their capabilities (gifts) to execute. In both Block's six conversations and the Pathways to Action model, an essential process requirement is to stay in one conversation at a time, and to move together from one conversation to the next.

Block's use of the six conversations as a means of building community is further echoed in the work of the Interaction Institute for Social Change, IA's sister organization serving the public benefit sector. The IISC's consulting work has long relied on the Pathways to Action as the fundamental methodology for engaging stakeholders in creating more engaged, vibrant, and respectful communities. And certainly the IISC is a living example of Block’s vision of "the public conversation that produces an alternative future. It is held in small groups among citizens, leaders invited, and focused on their possibility, gifts, ownership, and commitments."

Block’s new book is available here. [6]