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MARGARET CASAREZ

Civic Engagement Restoring Community Through Empowering Conversations

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world…. What we think, we become.

—Buddha

“I’m Homicide”

This chilling introduction was, in fact, the first step in establishing an unlikely connection for a common purpose of positive change. The speaker was a young, streetwise tough, part of a group of 70 inner-city youths. In that meeting hall, “Homicide” and his peers were there to engage in dialogue with a community group a generation older than they. The process was set in motion with the disarmingly simple yet powerful question, “What don’t they get about us?” Within a few hours, these kids, once resigned to a future of futility in a community for which they had no use and wanted no place, found that asking different questions would lead to choices that could reframe their role in that community—choices of accountability and leadership participation rather than victimization and alienation. They had something important to say, and in finding their voices, they would find themselves. They committed to continue the conversations that they would convene.

Frequently Asked Questions

Civic Engagement Series (CES) creates an interpersonal synergy that has the power to restore community. CES was designed by Peter Block, initially evolving through his community initiatives in Cincinnati, now applied across the country. Together, “A Small Group,” offered the opportunity to hear his unique perspective on the change process he created. In a conversation, Peter Block stated:

The question that trumps all others is whether we want a future noticeably distinct from the past. Every change effort has to confront this question, for if all we want is continuous improvement, small next steps, or to become more efficient or effective, then we all have the problem solving tools to achieve this. The tools that follow are for those situations where a shift in paradigm, or fundamental way of operating is needed. Authentic change occurs when we change the conversation, have conversations we have not had before, and when these conversations hold the power to create an alternative future. The task of the change agent is to convene and to name the debate so that this can happen. This is done through questions and the structure and intent of questions that have the potential to create an alternative future is what is outlined here.

The key to this process is the convening of the group and the conversations that it sparks, because they are the empowering polar opposites of typically impotent grumbling and powerless complaint. When an order to attend a meeting becomes an Invitation to gather, problems can give way to Possibility. When the accusatory pointing finger turns inward in Ownership, and resignation is replaced with lively Dissent, empty promises are avoided and true Commitment is ultimately achieved. There is forward momentum toward next steps where harping on inadequacies and shortcoming gives way to identification and celebration of capacities as Gifts. This three-step process is based on three main objectives the convener seeks to satisfy, in stages, within the civic engagement gathering (figure 1).

Figure 1. Civic Engagement Three-Step Process

Each step involves the asking/answering of powerful questions (table 1), relating to Connecting, Possibility, Ownership, Dissent, Commitment, and Gifts, which engage the individual in a focus of their attention toward a group purpose. The order can vary depending upon the sensitivities to a certain topic and/or the tolerance for risk of those assembled, or as a function of the familiarity of group members.

Table 1. Powerful Questions

This method has the ability to impact the process of the group, and the awareness and perspective of the individuals that comprise it, effecting the sort of systemic change that is most powerful and abiding. The effectiveness of the Civic Engagement Series can best be shown through the apparent shift of paradigms for the participating groups. Generally, the level of engagement rises with increased ownership for outcomes. The measurement is a simple one for all past participants: Is the climate electric and engaged with powerful questions? Are people clear and committed around purpose? Is there a palpable difference in the way they engage? To answer the inevitable question about social capital, the tangible proof for civic accountability is in the pride of the general citizenship.

Table of Uses

About the Author

Margaret Casarez, M.O.D. (Bowling Green State University) ([email protected]) specializes in executive coaching and emotional intelligence. Her accreditations include HayGroup certification and study/implementation of Whole Scale Systems change with Kathleen D. Dannemiller. She is the founder of the UNbound Consulting organization and leadership development consultancy, and the designer of The Peace Model and its workshops focusing on discovering opportunity in the face of individual and group conflict situations. Margaret is a member and convener of Peter Block’s “A Small Group” for civic engagement.

Where to Go for More Information

REFERENCES

Block, Peter. Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self-Interest. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1993.

———, ed. Civic Engagement and the Restoration of Community: Changing the Nature of the Conversation. Fanwood, NJ: Designed Learning, 2005.

McKnight, John. The Careless Society: Community and its Counterfeits. New York: Basic Books/HarperCollins, 1995.

Pharr, Susan J., and Robert D. Putnam, eds. Disaffected Democracies: What’s Troubling the Trilateral Countries? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Putnam, Robert D., with Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.

ORGANIZATION

A Small Group—http://asmallgroup.net