It's slightly mind boggling to hear civic leaders and people in communities still talk about problems, as in what's wrong, deficient and who's to blame. It is the shortest path to maintaining the status quo, no matter how much lip service given to the flawed mythology that problem conversations lead to change. They do not. It's literately insane to think positive change can happen from negative conversations.
Things change because people talk about the possibilities they love and want to make possible, what's going well and how to leverage the available assets in the community. Problem conversations are denials of dreams. And for the most intractable and persistent complex problems, things we call solutions shift symptoms without creating the conditions required for thrivancy.
The only hope of thrivancy is in positive conversations. And it communities grow best when everyone feels responsible for inviting them.