Social Architects of Transformation

Peter Block

Where the architect designs the physical space, the social architect designs social space. The social architect’s task is to create the space for people to act on on what matters to them.

Social architecture is about leading in a way that creates space for what matters! Acting on what matters is an act of leadership, it is not dependent on the leadership of others. This means we all need to take responsibility for our choices and our actions. Issues such as integrity, responsibility, and authenticity are all issues that matter.

Five Capabilities of the Social Architect

1. Convening — social architecture is fundamentally a convening function; the fundamental tenet of social architecture is that the way people gather is critical to the way the system functions.

2. Naming the Question — the social architect … defines the context, or playing field, and then defines the right questions to start with.

3. Initiating new conversations for learning — Too many (typical) conversations are initiated to “align” people to lead them towards a predetermined answer, with not enough learning happening.

4. Sticking with strategies of engagement and consent — dialogue itself is part of the solution … Commitment and accountability cannot be sold. They have to be evoked, and evocation comes through conversation. Organizations change through authentic, effective, conversation.

5. Designing strategies that support local choice — If our intent is to create a social system that people want to inhabit then the social architect’s job is to demand that the inhabitants join in designing the system.

Peter Block, The Answer to "How" is "Yes"