Episode 16
#16 - Tom Fountaine on Community Engagement
Community conversations happen all the time in various venues, but local government managers cannot take them for granted. When community engagement is waning, it is important to think about ways to bring people together.
Tom Fountaine, municipal manager in State College, Pennsylvania, knows something about the challenges of community engagement. We discovered we share an appreciation for Peter Block who wrote the book Community, the Structure of Belonging.
I invited him on to PCC Local Time to talk about the six conversations that Peter Block outlines for community conversation: these include invitation, possibility, ownership, dissent, commitment and gifts.
What was it about Peter Block’s methodology of asking questions that caught our attention and remained with us over the years? We cover quite a bit of ground. Tom is forthcoming not only with the work that has evolved from Peter Block’s ideas, but also his weaknesses when it comes to implementing some of Block’s ideas.
Perhaps it is the challenge that makes this work so compelling. If it was easy, we would not take the time to uncover what it means to engage community, both inside our organizations and in the surrounding communities with whom we partner and serve.
Website: State College Borough, Pennsylvania
Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging
Mentioned in the show: Robert Putnam
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, 2000
Better Together: Restoring the American Community, 2003
Show Notes:
7:08 Invitation
Leading is convening and specifically the task of leadership is convening people who are not used to talking to one another.
…we started a program around that, that in person conversation, really we have a program here called lion. It stands for living in one neighborhood.
15:40 Robert Putnam, Bridging Social Capital
18:26 Possibility
If it is achievable, it's not a possibility. That is a goal.
27:24 Ownership
The ownership versus the blame conversation.
34:33 Dissent
We must invite people in a way that they can say no, if they cannot say no, they will not be able to develop a sense of agency or purpose.
42:19 Commitment
Requires work life balance
What begins as play becomes competition. What have you learned about engagement from your work as a referee?
47:58 Gifts
To overcome isolation, we need to focus on gifts.
