Ronald David Pate, PhD, author, educator, consultant, has devoted his life to helping learning communities see over problems, to what is good. While most are stuck in a habit of isolating "the problem" from conditions/context, which makes it virtually impossible to solve. In contrast, a generative narrative process enlists participants in a learning community, where deeper understanding and a fuller picture emerge. This enables the co-creation of restorative plans and collaborative action! --Pate lives in Birmingham, AL with his wife Mary, and Auggie Dog, who enjoy hiking together.
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The process that renders
Community Found, is
an open engagement where
participants reconcile their stories
and reconfigure their lives towards
getting to good together.
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RDP
Community is formed when diverse participants enter and reconcile their stories together. This experience renders new notions of self and others, and inspires participants to want what is good for each other. But many of us are too caught up in fast-think, run fast races to get ahead, and only see stories as obstacles. This causes collateral damages to add up. While we may know better, too many keep running. Eventually people realize they've been going nowhere good, and the disillusionment sets in. The fast game is neither efficient nor sustainable, and sacrifices both community and good outcomes. It's time to invest in a process that gets us to good together--one that renders Community Found!
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What if good and efficient outcomes in organizations, businesses, cities, towns, etc., all emerge from experiences of community that are precipitated by our listening to, telling, and reconciling stories together. This would make participating in such community-forming process our top priority. While this may seem counterintuitive to many, the stories in this book provide compelling evidence that community formation is the key to our getting to good together. Discover what happens when a divided and left behind people with a single story of pervasive decline and a draining economy experience community together. Their process--a unique ritual practice of "stories-telling," lights a path towards shared goodness that others can follow.
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Through the eyes of Ronald Pate the reader discovers that without this unitive process, every endeavor—from individual to institutional—falls apart. This book explores this process that activates creative energies that cooperate rather than compete. This is no how-to formula, but a process that begins with wonder. --Come inside and see!
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Endorsements for Community Found
“Pate illustrates how authentic connection happens, and how that empowers growth and change... and success for all involved. I will highly recommend this book to CEOs, directors, and managers.” --William Zybach, Syngineering
“In this generative book, Ronald Pate convinces me that community is the key to…quality of life!” –Thomas Oord, director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology at Northwind Seminary.
“Pate’s book should be widely read… It provides a blueprint for healing the divide that is currently rupturing American society.” –Josh De Keijzer, PhD, The Netherlands, theologian and freelance writer.
"This book moves us past narrow unilateral attempts to fix what’s broken, to activating a collaborative partnership that moves towards restoration and wholeness. I hope this book sparks a revolution." --Arnold Askew, founder of Somatic Solutions, and Guild Certified in the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education
"Community Found offers not only insights into the art of communal respect and love, but also a reflective mirror of our own journey in pursuit of a world where everyone wins." --Celine Anelone Brozovich, CEO, BAYKENJI HEALTH LLC, Mukilteo, Washington
PROJECTS
Ron has directed community story projects, including the Kresge/Birmingham Cultural Alliance grant funded Woodlawn Stories & College Hills Stories. He's worked on projects in SC, NC & KY with Community Performance International/StoryBridge as a community research advisor, & guided a community group in a Story Vision process that led to the formation of the award-winning West Homewood Farmer's Market.
CLIENTS
Ron has utilized narrative processes in a variety of settings and disciplines, including higher education classes on social problems and social change, community development projects, facilitating vision for non-profits and religious organizations, and with the healthcare industry.
