In his book Mastering the Art of Creative Collaboration Robert Hargrove presents some “guiding principles and methods of collaborative action.” While he deals with many different aspects pertaining to this topic I would like highlight just one.
In chapter 6 Hargrove discusses the five phases of a collaborative conversation. Phase 1: clarify the purpose of the conversation. “The purpose acts as a guiding light that allows us to navigate our ways through the often confusing process of eliciting diverse views.” Phase 2: gather divergent views and perspectives. The purpose “is to make sure you have all the different stakeholders as the table and then enlist them to share their knowledge and experience in a creative and productive way.” Phase 3: build a shared understanding of divergent views and perspectives. Here “people learn to set aside their positions for the moment and begin to ask questions and listen in a deep way.” Phase 4: Create a new option by connecting different views and perspectives. Phase 5: generate a conversation for action.
In my opinion, these phases of collaborative conversation could offer some great opportunities for Christian leadership. One of the things that is usually lacking in Christian conversation is charity of thought. Many times conversation is labeled as divisive, leading to the marginalization of divergent views. If the church is to find new and creative ways to move forward, we need to not be fearful of different views, for they may be the very ideas we need to imagine a new and hopeful future.
Call it
ReplyDeletePhase 3: build a shared understanding of divergent views and perspectives. Here “people learn to set aside their positions for the moment and begin to ask questions and listen in a deep way.”
ReplyDeleteThis phase speaks strongly to me. As a young person from a conservative Christian environment, I chose to attend an undergraduate institution that was anything but. My willingness to ask questions deemed me a radical in my hometown community, but I was anything but in this new setting. Having thought myself very open-minded, I realized that I was still unwilling to even consider some topics. I could feel fear and defensiveness rising up in me. A fellow Jesus-following student who would eventually become a good friend had the courage to ask me, “what are you afraid of?” What he said next has never left me: “The rope that tethers you to Christ is not weak. You do not have to fear stepping into murky waters of discussion. God will not let you go. You don’t have to worry that, in considering someone else’s definition of truth, you might lose the truth. If you are walking with God, you needn’t fear exploration. The Gospel is always most compelling. You will return. And God will never have left.”