In addition to the Faith Formation 2020 report, there was another document that generated quite a bit of discussion at the recently completed Big Complex Meeting (BCM) of Congregational Life staff at the UUA headquarters in Boston. It’s the Vision Chart that the UUA leadership has been using to help guide their assessment of the current structure of the association with eye toward where we may be going in the future. On the left side of the chart is what we might call “business as usual,” our basic approach to getting things done for the last decade or so. On the right side is a vision of how things might be done differently. Of course, there are many things on the right side of the chart that we’ve been moving toward already. And there are plenty of things on the left side that we will need to continue doing (can the “gatekeeper” function ever totally disappear? I doubt it…). But in general this Vision Chart gives shape to some of the squishy concepts many of us have been trying to grasp in our work. I have to say, I’m all in favor of moving from the cool and standoffish to the warm and hospitable!
Phil's Little Blog on the Prairie 
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December 10, 2009 at 2:27 am
Kathy Burek
Phil,
Thanks for sharing this chart. It’s very thought-provoking. Making decisions strategically, rather than simply extending what we’ve done in the past, is very powerful. It also requires hard work to bring about the culture change, and the backbone to say “no”. Few organizations, whether governmental, private sector, or non-profit are able to do business this way.
Kathy Burek
December 10, 2009 at 2:45 am
psdlund
I agree, Kathy. Moving from the left side of this chart to the right is a tall order! We’ll see if we’ve collectively got what it takes.
December 11, 2009 at 5:53 am
Norwegian Shooter
Does the position of the arrow points actually show progress towards the goal? That is, are there “metrics”?
I’ve never been to HQ, is it really like a museum? Do people ever just drop in?
December 11, 2009 at 11:05 am
psdlund
I think the position of the arrows is just for decoration, no real relation to where the UUA might be. I do think there could be some metrics for some of these things, though. And HQ does have a museum feel to it. But then again, much of Boston does as well!