The saying that students don t care how much you know, until they know how much you care reflects that yearning for the caring community in academia. A work community rarely celebrates too much. For most organizations the problem is quite the opposite. While people generally know that a good celebration brings the community together, they too often worry that it hinders progress. The ideal community is purposeful, open, just, disciplined, caring and celebrative.
Community is invaluable in every organization.
That is the greatest reward that exists in human life. In his call for a solution to the conundrum, Palmer calls for creating communities of discourse where people within organizations join together to talk about what it means to work in that organization, to reflect on their practices, to reflect on shared experiences and practices. He suggests that people gather together to say, This is what works for me, here is what doesn t work for me, here is what is troubling me, here is where the excitement is. This reflective conversation will work in academia, or in any other organization. Creating community is the biggest challenge to organizations today.