Reflection Questions

1. Larry Peers refers to the "problem-saturated" story as having a "trance-like effect." When we're in the middle of this "trance," we see "only those things that reinforce the story." What has been your experience of "problem-saturated" stories? What were the effects of telling and re-telling those stories?



2. Larry also talks about shifting problem-saturated stories by asking questions whose answers require a different perspective, such as "What would someone else in the congregation say?" or "What would someone who disagrees with your version of events say about this situation?" Have you ever been able to shift perspectives and see the problem the way another would see it? If so, what was that experience like? What was the outcome?



3. Congregations facing problems often prefer to blame a particular person or group for their situations. But Larry notes that usually it's not the person, but everyone's relationship to the problem, that's the key to the resolution. When people can de-personalize a problem and see what happens—not only when the problem is present but when the problem is not present— creative new possibilities emerge.
   
   Have you and your congregations explored those situations when what you were doing was working, when positive outcomes arose from constructive and cooperative actions? What was that like? How might you create such situations again?



4. Larry concludes the article with a quote from Margaret Wheatley: "There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask 'What's possible?' not 'What's wrong.'" What does your community care about? What possibilities might arise from your community acting on what it cares about?