Assumptions

 These are the things we believe to be true. Assumptions are those things that we take for granted about the way forward. We will always have blind spots and unsubstantiated beliefs, but this is our attempt to make conscious and open to reflection as many of them as possible.If you can think of a reason that supports them, then tell us. If you can think of a reason that undermines them, tell us too! 

We need community building, not project management. True transformation of social systems today will not come from improved buy-in or bold leadership alone. Individual institutions or people are incapable of living into this future by themselves. Individuals will play key roles – innovators will show the way, caring community members will present unexpected gifts, and facilitators will help everyone along. But to make these futures a reality we need to build our capacity to function as a community, not a collection of individuals.

The center of all community building is relationships. We can help our region transform its social systems by helping the caring community around and innovators in each system connect with each other, understand and explain the needs of a new system, find capital assets, develop needed resources and as a result, build consensus needed for forward-thinking action among the institutional leadership and the broader regional populous for true system-wide transformation. At their root, each of these activities is “nothing more” than connecting with people and listening to their stories.

Market and non-market forces can work together to their mutual benefit. One hurdle we must recognize and address is that many people will associate “community building” with “community organizing”. They’re different beasts. Community organization is a term long used primarily by the political Left to describe organizing those people who are seen as oppressed by both political and economic systems in order to build an effective counterweight to these malevolent forces.

Community building, in contrast, makes none of the same assumptions except that we are stronger in numbers than alone. Community building assumes no specific political agenda other than a desire to improve the well-being of both individuals and communities. And it does not assume that fault can be regularly located with any set of institutions. Thus, community building begins with the assumption that all members of the community – from individuals and neighborhood organizations to large institutions and companies – have assets that should be identified and leveraged toward our common goals. We have no bogeymen, no political agenda, and no magic solutions. Moreover, in the Midwest we should count ourselves lucky that market actors still largely recognize their grounding in and responsibility towards their communities. As such, the framework assumes that these actors are more than capable of aligning their interests with those seeking the well-being of individuals and groups in the community.

Community building must be non-partisan. (We’re still not 100% sure about this one…) Teams focus solely on helping the system to attain optimum performance. Just like a good teacher, the teams don’t push their innovators toward any one future, but support them in making whatever future they choose the best it can be. Each community possesses its own inner intelligence that needs to be brought forth and that can be scared away by the hubris of individuals.

This model assumes that the success of any community building project will be dependent on the inability of most observers and participants to associate with it any particular political agenda. This is an unfortunate, but realistic assessment of our current historical situation under which certain “community efforts” are seen as falling outside the political arena, while others are not. Indeed, in many instances it may be useful to explicitly discourage any political references in order to avoid the resulting polarizing effects.

The positive way of viewing this same assumption is to emphasize how limiting our own ideologies and mindsets can be when we are trying to build new relationships and build community. Because mindsets are by definition ways of excluding the complexity of the world for purposes of practicality, they can make it impossible to really see a situation as it is. Instead they place it in a category and call it a day. We think that real community can only exist where all are welcome, and not just in theory. Our community building efforts must remain always vigilant such that they avoid scaring off any section of a community, thus allowing us to achieve real diversity and real consensus. Everyone has their opinion, but in community building efforts it is essential that these opinions never make others feel unwelcome or able to express their own reality.

It’s possible to build consensus and maintain differences. Teams will strive to facilitate consensus among their caring community. This vision of community building assumes that effective and genuine facilitation of open deliberation within networks and communities can lead to a shared consensus even on “divisive” issues. Contentious, polarizing debate is all too common for at least two simple reasons. One, humans are disposed to think in categories because it’s easier than understanding nuances. Two, it sells. But the goal of the process of community building is not to push a community towards a predetermined solution. Instead it is to facilitate them to find their own best solution. Not unlike a skilled relationship counselor, the ideal community building team would allow those from within a network to build the necessary trust, openness, and care for one another. With that in hand, we assume, the groundwork for addressing these complex issues would be secured.

Technology can be part of the solution. Modern information technologies and systems can help communities maximize their own potential for communicating constructively and for leveraging disparate assets. Often the discourse around the power of technology in building stronger communities is polarized. Many hail these new communication media as an infinite potential for positive change. Reactionaries say that it’s all nothing but a new wrapping on an old idea. Of course, both are right. Any cursory review of world history reveals the significant shifts in global power that were facilitated by new forms of communication media – from spoken language and alphabetism to the printed book and the telegraph.

We believe that the new technologies that we have at our fingertips will also show themselves to be the instruments of change in how our communities work and the balance of power within, but the path is not predetermined. We need to lead in the right direction. At its most basic community building means building relationships, getting to know and care about other people. We think that social networks, digital engagement platforms, user-oriented information delivery, data aggregation, and so on can help us build communities even better than in the past.

Here’s a brief introductory idea of such a Community Commons.

More assumptions from previous writings:

The following is a laundry list of assumptions and values we are bringing to the SourceMedia community engagement model:

• The main objective of the team is to build community and help foster better conversation and understanding about vital community issues. Products and revenue will take care of themselves if we do that well precisely because the company’s efforts will be highly valuable to the community.
• The community has vast untapped or poorly coordinated assets, capital, and people. Great opportunities await us if we focus on connecting and leveraging these goods as well as possible.
• Innovation should be expected from unexpected sources. That’s why the community must be open and inclusive. We don’t pick winners.
• Innovation will likely come from active community members as opposed to institutions of the network. Network institutions have the power to scale or stomp on innovation. Partnering with both institutions and community members will bring more innovation to the ecosystem overall. This is the unique and valuable place for community builders and their teams.
• Intentions matter. True community can only be built with a genuine attitude of care and interest in people and their well-being. If this remains the moral, emotional, and intellectual basis of all our actions, our chances can only be improved.
• Conflicts can be dissolved…if the right spirit of openness is established and cultivated. The world is varied. People and institutions have a variety of – often conflicting – goals and values. But we must also all live together. This can be best accomplished by talking openly and honestly with one another, trying to understand the other side, and finding a way for everyone to live in community.