November 5, 2020

Transformative Communities Series:

Generative Designers of the Future
Part 4 of 5

By Mark Clarke

Part II: Visionary Direction

Antoine de Saint-Exupery states, “If you want to build a ship, don’t gather people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the immensity of the sea.” Regenerative Leadership.6

The creation of a visionary direction requires the active engagement of choosing a future. Transformative Communities see themselves as designers and creators of the future. They are open to the blank canvas method as they explore the ‘what if’ questions for imaging a preferred future.

The canvas begins to take shape by choosing a path. As the world continually disrupts, members accept the call to envision a new future for themselves. The hard reality is that in these times, the status quo will not take a group to an envisioned future. Transformative Communities are rooted in seeing themselves as the disciples of the Acts of the Apostles. After the death of Jesus, they recognized through their life-altering experience of his death that they needed to imagine a community grounded in his teaching. As they entered the depth and sorrow of the loss, they dreamed of a new world. Their walking into the pain and embracing the passionate energy, Jesus' mission opened their hearts to a new purpose. This pilgrimage is the journey of every transformative community.

A shared vision focuses on the transformative community's deepest aspiration while aligning all the members and systems in a communal direction. In a time of rapid change and shifting paradigms and society mental frameworks, a shared vision offers stability. Since unforeseen events can disrupt a community, foresight is an indispensable asset. Scripture reminds us, “without vision, the people perish.”7 This quest is a profound spiritual path requiring transformation. New or adapted directions by their very nature demand change. Collective adjustments are not easy as a group takes competing beliefs, ideas, and concerns and combines them to form a unified path. This dynamic demands both individual and group, letting go to create a shared vision. It is not a comfortable journey and should be assisted by a contemplative space that is safe and receptive to the many ideas and desires that will develop a unity about the future.

This moment in history, with its myriad of transitions, demands that communities create a bold vision. Ilia Delio, in her book, The Emergent Christ, speaks to the value of change.

“Life means change, and the rich diversity of life is based on change.
One does not have to be trained in science to realize that change
is integral to life. All of life follows the cycle of birth, maturity, deterioration, and death.”8

The quote reminds us that openness to change is necessary, that creating a group vision is not a rigid process rather an organic and energetic one to open to the polarity dance of the known and unknown. A profound spiritual process of radical detachment is needed to embrace the hidden invitation of God. We often tend to create a direction based on security rather than aspiration. The book, Beyond Performance, notes “If the vision feels to incremental, cautious, or overly tailored to existing capabilities, it will fail to create momentum or pressure for an organization to push the limits of what is possible and therefore won’t lead to breakthroughs.” 9

The essential questions a transformative community needs to ask in creating a collective vision are:

• Who are we called to serve?
• What is our prophetic stance?
• What is our desired impact and shared commitment to creating a just society?
  

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When developing a vision, it is critical to envision the direction for a decade. It is critical to realize the vision will be implemented based on incremental steps that focus on the long term vision. One of the great examples of a visionary direction is John Kennedy's vision for our space program. The vision was to land a person on the moon by the end of the decade and return them safely to earth. The vast information that authors have written on the moon project demonstrates the aspiration was always in front of these pioneers as they took incremental steps.

For example, the moon shot was a three-phase space program: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Each program focused on essential elements vital to achieving the ultimate goal of landing on the moon. Mercury experimented with all the details needed to send a person in space and return them safely to earth. Gemini explored the critical steps needed to walk in space, rendezvous with another spaceship, and other critical elements. Finally, Apollo would land the person on the moon and bring them safely home. The vision took each of these expansive steps to be successful.

Habakkuk 2:2 states, “Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets so that one can read it readily.”10 This wisdom is true for transformative communities about the importance of continually having a vision.

Each transformative community is called by God to express clearly their moonshot vision, one that transforms both the individual and collective members and society. This demand for creating a bold plan of action and congregational alignment that implements the dream.

6 Sanford. 72
7 MEV Proverbs 29:18
8 Delio, Ilia. The Emergent Christ: Exploring the Meaning of Catholic in an Evolutionary Universe. Orbis Books, 2013. Print. 34
9 Keller, Scott, and Bill Schaninger. Beyond Performance 2.0: a Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2019. Print. 66
10 NAB Saint Joseph Edition