Right in the middle of the book, Block hones in on a critical precondition: The need to pay more attention to the questions we ask as we convene people to create change. It is not that we have not been asking questions all along. It is that the questions we ask narrow our possibilities, absolve us of responsibility and assume that change can be “controlled into existence.” Here are a few of the questions that reflect the old mindset:
How do we get others to show up and be committed?And here are the powerful questions that have the potential to transform:
How do we get others to be more responsible?
How do we get others to buy into our vision?
Who has solved this elsewhere and how do we import that knowledge
What is the commitment you hold that brought you into this room?Can you feel the difference? These questions ask something of all of us. In answering them we are already taking a stance—even if that stance is to disengage. These questions make it hard to be indifferent. They require us to bring our whole selves into the room. They assume that the communal agenda emerges out of our personal concerns and there is a little bit of an edge to them. They are not easy to answer.
How valuable do you plan for this effort to be?
What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform the community and inspire you?
What is the story you keep telling about the problems of this community?
What is your contribution to the very thing you complain about?
What are the gifts you have that you do not fully acknowledge?
Ask yourself these questions, and then find a few other people in your community and talk about them together. See what happens. Let me know.
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