Creative intention drives change, but you have to tackle the constraints. Bring together honesty in apprehending how things are, with ambitiousness about how they could be. There’s a lot we’ve inherited from the past that no longer serves us, but we hold onto what is familiar. Stepping into the unfamiliar is always a risk, and that’s where the creative intention provides direction.

Community in its many forms nourishes creative action. We’re social animals. Rational problem-solving is important but it’s not the only game in town. We converse. We make and remake relationships. We reach agreements and make commitments. We create shared identities. If we cultivate an astute sociability, we work better together.

We have a lot to learn from each other. If we put creative intention and good relationships in place, we can begin to learn with each other. We can get a lot better at this: be interested in others’ perspectives as aspects of the whole; question each other’s assumptions; look more closely at what’s happening before we jump to action; talk more openly about what’s working and what isn’t as we take action; take more risks in trying out new things.