“Community building”, as defined by Dr. M. Scott Peck, refers to a facilitated group process that leads individuals and groups through four stages of group development. As described in his book The Different Drum, these four stages are “Pseudo-community”, “Chaos”, “Emptiness” and “Community”. These stages of group dynamics typify the community formation process required to establish trust, vulnerability, integrity, and collective intelligence. These dynamics affect individuals, groups, and whole enterprises alike.

Pseudo community is a polite but inauthentic form of social interaction where on the surface people act with respect; but once the thin veneer of social rules is lifted, backbiting, organizational, political, and divisive communication are more the norm.

Chaos is the natural result of lifting the group facade of civility and discovering genuine differences. With training, groups can learn to Empty themselves of their barriers and obstacles to community and make room for differences.

Authentic community occurs when groups learn to fight gracefully, to honor individual and group differences, and to communicate authentically and vulnerably.

Peck’s stages lead to community formation, but sustaining community in organizations requires more than effective group dynamics — it requires the developmental maturity of the individuals and the entire enterprise. Developmental renewal is the process of maturing an organization out of pseudocommunity by transforming into a sustainable learning community. John Gardner’s seminal book Renewal and Peter Senge’s The Fifth Disciple pointed the way toward communities that enduringly learn and grow.

As understood by Willis Harman, developmental renewal in community entails the reconsideration of our Western Orthodox worldview — a reconsideration of our metaphysics. Our communities and societies are enduringly renewed when our guiding beliefs normative to our pseudo communities are replaced by more mature and adequate ways of seeing the world and relating to one another.

New business structures (learning communities) —communities— are emerging that combine an emphasis on the development of human consciousness and business performance. When enterprise-wide renewal is lead by communities of leaders who have matured their fundamental assumptions to be adequate to address the problems confronting the enterprise, the prospect of collective intelligence and sustainable renewal become possible.

Kazimierz (Kaz) Gozdz is Generon’s authority in Community Building. In 1987 he joined the Foundation for Community Encouragement and became a student of M. Scott Peck. He did his PhD internship with Peter Senge at the MIT Organizational Learning Center, and is the author of Community Building: Renewing Spirit and Learning in Business. Kaz is an expert in leading groups through the stages of community, facilitating collective intelligence, and leading communities through developmental renewal.