A topic that has come up often is how do we do good community building work that is citizen driven and builds on the assets when we are working within a system. There are often rules, procedures, and limitations that get in our way. Many of these may be real, others may be perceived. How do we escape the pull of these forces and launch into community?

I have been able to engage several groups around this question recently. One way we can begin to escape the pull of these forces and launch into community is by clearly defining what will it look like if we do really good work? Here it is critical to not only to have a vision for the future but be as clear as we can about what will the impact be in neighbourhood, for citizens, and what we do.

This can help when the forces that pull us back into the “hairball of our systems” challenge what we can envision.

What are the ways you stay focused on community based outcomes?