Is the glass half empty or half full?

We are all half empty and half full, Jody Kretzmann told Chicago Program students.  We all have talents and skills that make our glass half full.  And we also have an empty part of the glass, our problems, challenges, things we need to work on.  It’s much more important to put your focus on the part of the glass that’s full, Jody said. 

Jody is founder and Co-Director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University.  He has been working at the forefront of a movement to re-focus community development efforts in the U.S. and around the world. 

Jody teaches others how to direct their focus on the assets of a community, rather than on what is broken.  “What would you learn if you studied success in unlikely places,” Jody challenged CP students.  He talked about his three and a half year trip across the country visiting burned out, run down, crime ridden, devastated neighborhoods and the amazing hope stories he found in the most unlikely places. 

Think of residents as having gifts, Jody said.   Concentrate on their talents, skills, what they can do.  Don’t ask what are the problems in a community, ask what’s working.. what’s succeeding.. what’s going on here that’s giving people hope.  You start with what you have and build up from there.