Possibilities over Problems

“When we shift from talking about the problems of community to talking about the breakdown of community, something changes. Naming the challenge as the ‘breakdown of community’ opens the way for restoration.” – Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging

If you listen closely, you will start to notice little gems of wisdom that can be uncovered through dialogue with colleagues and community members. Lately, I’ve found myself in small groups and 1:1 dialogues with teachers. I have countless insights that I’ve gathered from these conversations. It’s amazing how two people can experience the same meeting, conversation, event, or project and yet have experienced it in two very different ways. It’s also fascinating the way we or our colleagues have beautifully sound and often pure intentions for the work we bring forward, and it may not always be received in the spirit in which it’s intended. I’ve come to realize that every day in our work, we aren’t the only ones in the room. Our past experiences join the conversation. Past colleagues and bosses join the conversation. The room is always quite full with that which we thought we had left in the past. Sometimes, this serves us well and many times, it can get in our way as we work to strengthen our sense of community.

There are a few things I know for sure. I’m so passionate about the transformative power of what I’m about to share below that I wrote about it in Legacy of Learning.

1. People don’t need to be fixed. Environments do. Even when the environment seems to be thriving, it requires constant nurturing. This kind of nurturing is not built in a few grand gestures but in small, daily moves and interactions.
2. I cannot think of a single time when I’ve regretted going out of my way to bring someone a coffee and simply listen to them.
3. The work gets smarter when we spend time listening to those who are working most closely with our students.

“We can care about people from afar, but to care for people means we have to get up close. You cannot care for something you don’t notice or understand right? Noticing is the relational groundwork of truly seeing a person, truly hearing a person, so that then you can affirm them and show them how they’re needed.” -Zach Mercurio, The Power of Mattering

We are more inclined to be all-in on plans we had a part in shaping. It’s human nature. Pair that with a belief that every single person has something deeply important to offer the community then we are onto something. When that belief is put into action…when we actually leverage those gifts and strengths for the greater good, we start to build a future of possibilities.

Peter Block talks a lot about the shift from a focus on problems to a focus on possibilities. This doesn’t mean we bury our heads in the sand. It doesn’t mean that we won’t ever problem solve. But when it comes to community, communities in and of themselves are not problems to be solved but possibilities to be uncovered.

In a world of modern convenience, food deliveries, online banking, order ahead coffees, virtual meetings, our opportunities to be together seem to be more and more rare.

So, when we do gather, it’s special. When people show up in rooms together, we need to treat it like it’s special.

Every meeting, gathering, and conversation is an opportunity to grow the culture we wish to see. Let’s truly see people and become curious about them, their stories, insights, and gifts. Let’s allow ourselves to notice what is said, how it is said, and what is not being said and in the spirit of possibilities, care, and mattering, allow ourselves to ask people to tell us more.

In a world where everything seems to be competing for our attention, one thing needs our attention more than ever.

People.

Communities are made up of people. People who are not problems to be solved but possibilities waiting to be realized.