Unequivocally – One of the most important books most folks will NEVER read….I am VERY glad I did. Although published a few years ago (and now superseded by Florida’s new book entitled “The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity“), this work will endure for years to come.

The following are some of the more important excerpts that I took away from the reading:

We live in a time of great promise. We have evolved economic and social systems that tap human creativity and make use of it as never before. This In turn creates an unparalleled opportunity to raise our living standards, build a more humane and sustainable economy, and make our lives more complete. But there is no guarantee that this promise will come to fruition-it can just as easily go unfulfilled. Right now in the United States, that’s exactly what’s happening. The transformation we have given rise to stands incomplete. The great dilemma of our time is that having generated such incredible creative potential, we lack the broader social and economic system to fully harness it and put it to use. No one is going do to this for us. It’s up to us – all of us – to complete the transformation to a society that taps and rewards our full creative potential.” P.xiii

The wealth generated by the creative sector is astounding. It accounts for nearly half all wage and salary income in the United States, $ 1.7 trillion dollars, as much as the manufacturing and service sectors combined. P. xiv

But by the turn of the new century, the Creative Class included nearly a third of the workforce. This is true not just in the United States. The ranks of the Creative Class have reached 25 to 30 percent of the workforces across the advanced European countries, according to research. P.xiv

Great economic shifts like the one we are going through with them bring massive tensions and disruptions. P. xiv

While there is no magic bullet here, sooner or later some place will figure out how to more fully tap the creative talents of much broader segments of its people-and it will get a huge competitive edge as a result.p. xvii.

The most successful regions welcome all kinds of people. And they offer a range of living choices, from nice suburbs with single-family housing to hip urban districts for the unattached. They have to. Only 23.5 percent of Americans now live in the standard nuclear family with two parents and children at home. Like it or not, more young people are delaying marriage and childbirth. Many are separating or divorcing. Many live in some sort of alternative arrangement. Appealing only to traditional families and excluding or denigrating everyone else may be good propaganda for the culture wars, but as a development strategy, it’s a disaster. p.xviii

This book argues that place is the key economic and social organizing unit of our time. P.xix

Places provide the ecosystems that harness human creativity and turn it into economic value. P. xix.

Places that are open and tolerant have an edge in attracting different kinds bf people and generating new ideas. P.xix

The key is to “squelch the squelchers”-the controlling leaders, micro managers,  and broader structures of social! Control and vertical power-that quash and derail that energy. P. xxiii

Any country that doesn’t keep building its creative strengths-with broad support for creative activities, and with policies that bring more citizens into the creative sector rather than under-employing them-will fall behind. P. xxvi

The next “Silicon Somewhere” p. xxvii

In a curious reversal, instead of people moving to jobs, I was finding that companies were moving to or forming in places that had the skilled people. P. xxvii

History shows that enduring social change occurs not during economic boom times, like the 1920’s or 1990’s, but in periods of crisis and questioning such as the 1930s – and today. The task before us is to build new forms of social cohesion appropriate to the new Creative Age-the old forms don’t work, because they no longer fit the people we’ve become-and from there, to pursue a collective vision of a better and more prosperous future for all. P.xxx

The creative impulse-the attribute that distinguishes us, as humans, from other species-is now being let loose on an unprecedented scale. P.4

“.creativity-“the ability to create meaningful new forms, as Webster’s dictionary puts it-is now the decisive source of competitive advantage. P.5

“The economic need for creativity has registered itself in the rise of a new :Iass, which I call the Creative Class. Some 38 million Americans, 30 percent of all employed people, belong to this new class. I define the core of the Creative Class to include people in science and engineering, architecture and design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content. Around the core, the Creative Class also includes a broader group of creative professionals in business and finance, law, health care and related fields. These people engage in complex problem solving that involves a great deal of independent judgment and requires high levels of education or human capital. In addition, all members of the Creative Class whether they are artists or engineers, musicians or computer scientists, writers or entrepreneurs-share a common creative ethos that values creativity, individuality, difference and merit. P. 8.

The Creative Class is the  norm-setting class of our time. But its norms are very different: individuality, self-expression and openness to difference are favored over the homogeneity, conformity and “fitting in” that defined the organizational age.’  P.9

They are fleeing the older working-class strongholds and in many cases avoiding newer but  conservative Sun belt  cities-increasingly opting out of places where tradition is more valued and where the social norms of the organizational age still prevail. In fact, many of these places are being almost entirely abandoned by the Creative Class. P.11

The geographic trends I will describe in this book do not favor the tightly knit old-style communities that are so often celebrated in our songs, stories and sentimental TV commercials. Pp. 11-12

as people of all ages continue to seek new outlets for their creative capacities. P. 14

This transformation is the shift to an economic and social system based on human creativity. Most people would never suppose that changes in our tastes for work, lifestyle and community might be driven by such basic economic changes. I argue that they are. P.15

After reading scores of books and countless articles on today’s  social changes, I have come to the conclusion that much of the time we are locked in a misleading and fruitless debate. The two sides in this debate amount to little more than flip sides of the same coin, opposing mythologies steeped in outdated ideologies, equally short-sighted and misleading. P. 15

Human creativity is multifaceted and multidimensional. It is not limited to technological innovation or new business models. It is not something that can be kept in a box and trotted out when one arrives at the office. Creativity involves distinct kinds of thinking and habits that must be cultivated both in the individual and in the surrounding society. Thus the creative ethos pervades everything from our workplace culture to our values and communities, reshaping the way we see ourselves as economic and social actors-our very identities. P. 22

Yet creativity is not the province of a few select geniuses who can I? away with breaking the mold because they possess superhuman talents. It is a capacity inherent to varying degrees in virtually all people. P. 32

“We are not used to thinking of ideas as economic goods,” writes Romer, “but they are surely the most significant ones that we produce. The only way for us to produce more economic value-and thereby generate economic growth-is to find ever more valuable ways to make use of the objects available to us. P. 36

In the long run, we cannot forget what the fundamental cornerstone of our wealth is. Though useful knowledge may reside in programs or formulas, it does not originate there. It originates with people. The ultimate intellectual property-the one that really replaces land, labor and capital as the most valuable economic resource – is the human creative faculty.  P. 37

Two places that were home to scads of venture capital-New York City and Chicago-had very little venture capital-financed innovation. Rather, investment went to companies in  locations like Silicon Valley or Boston’s Route 128 corridor. The reason for this pattern was that venture capital, by itself, did not produce home-grown innovation. It flowed to places that had other elements of a well-developed “social structure of innovation. P.51

Major new systems for harnessing creativity generally evolve from existing ones. The new systems do not necessarily replace or triumph over the old, but they always expand and alter the playing field. They tend to arise when the existing order has begun to reach certain limits-and as they emerge, they of course produce periods of great advance combined with great turbulence. For it is well established that major new economic systems lead to profound changes in work, social organization and geography. P. 56.

Their property-which stems from their creative capacity-is an intangible because it is literally in their heads. P. 68.

Bottom line: As creativity becomes more valued, the Creative Class grows. P. 71

In contrast to the many techno-futurists who say the wired and wireless information age has made location and community irrelevant, the creative workers I talk with say they are vitally important. These people insist they need to live in places that offer stimulating, creative environments. P. 95

The open source model reflects two other core values of the Creative Economy: openness to new ideas and meritocracy. P. 138.

“the ability to leverage the community mind” p. 138.

Truly a book you simply MUST read…based upon its pertinence to the persistence of the present predicament the U.S. and the world finds itself in.

Kling, Arnold and Schulz, Nick From Poverty To Prosperity – Intangible Assets, Hidden Liabilities and the Lasting Triumph Over Scarcity, Encounter Books, New York, NY Copyright © 2009 by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz.

About the authors. From the book jacket (below):

ARNOLD KLING was an economist on the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1980- 1986 and served as a senior economist at Freddie Mac from 1986-1994. Kling is the author of several books, most recently Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care. He lives in Maryland. NICK SCHULZ is DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Editor of American.com. He is a columnist for The Mint newspaper in Mumbai, India. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Slate, and Forbes.com, among others. He lives with his wife and children in Maryland.

This book is about “Economics 2.0″ - an emerging field of economics whose impetus for evolving has been the blatant miscues, misunderstandings, assumptions, math, models and people that have contributed to the ongoing global financial crisis. I will let the following excerpts speak for themselves:

“This book presents the main ideas of what we call Economics 2.0. Economists have developed these ideas in order to explain the enormous differences in quality of life over history across countries.” P. 2

“Economics 2.0 says that these differences reflect intangible assets and invisible liabilities. The intangible assets are knowledge bases.” P. 2

“Invisible liabilities, on the other hand, are institutional and cultural impediments to innovation and productivity. These range from the structure and conduct of government to the attitudes and customs of ordinary citizens.” P. 2.

“Economics 2.0 says that overcoming market failure requires innovation. Innovation is best delivered by markets.” P. 3

Economics 2.0 is about abundance, which arises from technological progress.” P.4.

“We use “recipes” to refer to innovation, ideas, know-how, science, and technology. We use “the operating system” to refer to customs, rules, norms, laws, regulations, and methods of intermediation.” P. 10-11.

“The past decade also saw gains in jobs that involve imagination and creativity – designers, architects, photographers, actors and directors. The hairstylists and cosmetologists category rose by 146,000 jobs. Many occupations that use analytic reasoning have continued to grow, too, but computer operators and others are beginning to see their numbers fall. The occupations in eclipse are generally those that involve muscle power, manual dexterity and formulaic intelligence.”pp.46-47

“The software layer creates the possibility that growth will accelerate. As more and more of the value in goods and services come from ideas, our standard of living will tend to increase at a faster pace.” P. 75

“By far the largest contributor to growth of our price adjusted GDP, or value added, has been ideas – insights that leveraged physical reality.” P.76

PAUL ROMER is a senior fellow at the Stanford Center For International Development (SCID) and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). His contributions to field of economics include being the primary developer of new growth theory, which deemphasizes the traditional idea of the scarcity of objects and directs attention to the power of new ideas.

“Newton said that he could see further because he stood on the shoulders of giants.” P.80.

“The set of possible ideas, the set of things there are out there to discover, is just so incomprehensibly large that we’ve only begun to explore the tiniest subset of possible  ideas or discoveries.” P.81

“As long as we keep freeing up labor from bending metal and stamping out pills and put more and more of it into discovery, we can keep pushing up that rate of growth, by directing more and more resources in that direction.” P. 98

“You want people to be aware of what others are doing so that you don’t end up with a whole lot of replication of effort. Part of what A communications technologies are doing is coordinating  these discovery efforts worldwide: as soon as somebody discovers something, it gets broadcast very quickly to others throughout the world, and people can change the directions they explore based on what they know others are doing.” P.99

Question to Paul Romer:  “Are there one or two key things that our politic class, broadly speaking, doesn’t sufficiently appreciate or understand about economic growth?” Pp.104

Well, one thing that’s important to persuade everyone of is that everyone wants growth but nobody wants change, and you’ve got to have both or you’ve got to have neither – it’s what I was talking about before, that it’s all about rearrangement and finding better ways to rearrange things. The only way you can create new value with new rearrangements is essentially by doing things differently; and any time you do things differently, there will be change, so people have to buy into the idea that change accompanies growth. It’s not going to be just more of the same for everyone.” P.104

We have to agree that, one, there will be change, and two, there are some winners and losers and there are no guarantees: everybody who is engaged in economic activity takes a certain amount of risk. There are always winners and losers when there are risks. We all commit to that, and on average we’re all going to be better off, but we don’t let the  losers have veto power over progress. This is clearly a very acute question right now in Europe, where the existing elite, the existing well-off, do have a very strong position of veto power, a choke- hold on change and innovation.” P.105

JOEL MOKYR is the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. He holds a joint appointment in economics as well as a Sackler Professorial Fellowship at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at the University of Tel  Aviv.

“The degree to which we hold fast to the wisdom of earlier generations is an incredibly important element in how innovative a society is, because if you think about it, every act of invention is an act of rebellion.” P. 130

Kling & Schulz — “Tribalism tends to cause resistance to innovation. People in isolated villages view new productive techniques as threats. In part, this is because innovations are associated with outsiders. Moreover, innovations threaten to disrupt local traditions that have sustained community cohesion for many generations.” P. 139

DOUGLASS NORTH is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Science at Washington University in St. Louis. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1993. His major interest is the evolution of economic and political institutions and the effects of institutions on the development of economies over time. He is the author of Structure and Change in Economic History (1981), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (1990 ), and many other books. P.148

“We’re trying to broaden how we think about problems, and. The frame is not economics; it’s all of the social sciences. You cannot separate economics from political science and sociology at all. All of the interesting issues are on the borders between them.” P.149

Question to Douglas North — “What other obstacles prevent economists and policymakers from seeing what really matters?” Until they understand that our understanding of the world is very fragmentary, is not complete, is – I believe – partially incorrect, no matter how intelligent we are, we’re not going to make sense of the world.” p. 151

“Behavioral economics, which has gotten a couple of Nobel prizes in the last couple of years, is the beginning of a recognition that traditional economics is too narrow, and cognitive science is now becoming a flourishing area of interest to social scientists.” P.152

“We still don’t understand how beliefs get formed, how they change, why they change, when they do, and how that underlies the choices people make.” P.153.

“It factors in in that I keep on saying it’s a non-ergodic world, which means the world is changing. And therefore, we’re always behind. And if we’re way behind, of course, our theories are completely wrong. And indeed, all of economic theory is predicated on models that are derived from the past. Now the models, if the world isn’t changing very rapidly, may be perfectly fine. But if the world is changing very rapidly, the models are out of date.” P.154.

Question to Douglass North: “What do you make of the emphasis on math in economics?” It was vastly overdone. Math should be a tool, and what’s happened is that it’s become an end in itself. We build elegant models, using very elegant mathematics, but they are so abstracted, so divorced from the problems we’re trying to confront that they don’t deal with them at all. We borrowed again from the physical sciences, and in the physical sciences, elegant mathematics is essential. That’s not so clear for most of the social sciences.” Pp.160-161

“We should be very tentative about how we understand the world. That doesn’t mean you don’t do things. You’ve got to do things, but you’ve got to recognize you may be wrong. We don’t know enough. And so it’s terribly important to recognize that you can be wrong. And, to be, therefore, very susceptible to modifying the theories you hold in the light of new evidence. Now as I said, that doesn’t mean you don’t do anything; you’ve got to do things. It does mean that you’re willing to be adaptively efficient [in the face on change and to rethink the problems as you evolve.” P.163

“What particularly bothers me is that the world is evolving more rapidly now than it ever did before. The degree to which we can catch up with it and deal with it, I think, is more and more strained now that we’ve devised ways to blow each other off the face of the earth. The time horizon we have to solve problems is much more abbreviated than it used to be; whereas before we could make mistakes and kill a few hundred thousand people, now we can blow everybody up. And we don’t seem to have gotten very far in solving social disorder. I hope I’m wrong.” P.164

Kling & Schulz: “The entrepreneur’s task is to overcome resistance to adoption of new ideas and the discarding of unsuccessful or obsolete practices. This in turn requires that people accept change.”  P.183.

“Economic development is best served by searchers.” P.195

“Economics 2.0 says that the abundance that arises from innovation and economic growth depends on the work of entrepreneurs and searchers. We see economic activity as an ongoing battle between upstarts and incumbents. Incumbents try to consolidate and defend the existing modes of operation. Upstarts try to apply new knowledge and techniques. When the upstarts succeed, incumbents are reluctantly forced to follow.”  p. 197.

“In Economics 2.0, we emphasize the importance of what is unseen and unknown. In the case of financial intermediation, it  is the problem of unseen risks that merits attention.” P. 229.

“As with any bureaucracy, the internal dynamics tend to favor those who question innovation and put roadblocks in the way of those with new ideas.” P.245

“Economics 2.0 looks at the economy primarily in terms of its adaptive efficiency – how effective it is at incorporating new recipes and discarding outmoded ones.” P.239

“Incumbent organizations – resist adopting the best practices that challenge the status quo. The gradual diffusion of innovation is a process that has long fascinated economists.” P.249.

“The material portion of our GDP is declining, and the intellectual portion is increasing.” P.274.

“The most successful economies have been those in which people have been most willing to accept and promote change. Poverty tends to be concentrated in countries where people and cultures tend to resist change. This means that those countries will either remain backward economically or confront difficult social tension.” P.278

The excerpts above are simply a few tidbits. A wonderful contribution. Devour it.

By Bill Dahl

All Rights Reserved

Finally, somebody has said it in print. Timothy Duy, a University of Oregon economist stated in the Bend Bulletin (page A-5 – column 2) on Sunday August 30^th that:

“Oregon should revamp its economic development strategy.”

This story went on to disparage the fact that the State of Oregon’s unemployment rates have been touted as second only to the State of Michigan, due primarily in the way the sampling was performed. In the Business section of this same edition pages G-1 and G-5), the Bulletin (with Duy’s tutelage) produces the Central Oregon Business Index where a number of quantitative measures are interpreted. Duy goes on to say, “All bubbles are built on an underlying truth, and there was a good story fueling this bubble – that there had been fairly strong growth over a long period of time based on the region’s attractiveness as a place to live and do business.” Going back to the story on page A-5, Duy says that “Oregon is still and attractive place to live and that the economic woes of central Oregon could actually work to its advantage because a surplus of affordable new housing in and around Bend will make it more appealing to businesses looking for a new home.”

Are you confused by the story line above? Don’t worry, you’ve got a boat load of company. Here are a couple of things Duy’s comments prompted in my mind:

1. “Bubbles are built on an underlying truth.” That’s simply patently absurd. Bubbles are built on myth and illusion – that’s why they call them bubbles. They’re not real…no matter how many millions of people succumb to the fantasy.

2. Businesses considering relocation have priorities that the states/regions/municipalities they are considering must possess. Availability of suitable land at or below comparable pricing of commercial real estate in other locales, tax issues, transportation, cost of energy and a whole cadre of other issues. Affordable housing for employees is most certainly a consideration – yet, one that is typically down the list of the initial priorities when evaluating the merits of business relocation. Wait a minute! It wasn’t too long ago that central Oregonians were being told the price of housing and available workforce were tangible impediments to attracting new companies to this region. Well, Katie bar the door! With the tri-county area in central Oregon achieving double-digit rates of unemployment (some of the highest in the State) and the glut of affordable housing on the market, should we be expecting an immediate inflow of companies relocating to our region?

3. To purchase a home assumes that one has a stable income. Stable incomes are derived from well-established and growing employment markets that offer wages whereby one can obtain a mortgage.

What’s wrong with this story? Listen to the following:

“The human mind is built to think in terms of narratives, of sequences of events with an integral logic and dynamic that appear as a unified whole. In turn, much of human motivation comes from living through a story of our lives, a story we tell to ourselves and that creates a framework for motivation. Life could be “just one damn thing after another” if it weren’t for these stories. The same is true for confidence in a nation, a company, or an institution. Great leaders are first and foremost creators of stories.” [i]

Here’s my question: What’s our story central Oregon – Redmond?

If, as it has been said, ideas come and go, stories stay,[ii] – what’s the story?

Macroeconomics, as portrayed in the August 30^th edition of the Bend Bulletin, one might be susceptible to succumbing to the sheer beauty and mystery of the mathematical portrayals and the inter-related interpretations thereof. However, this particular story stirred dissatisfaction within me, in terms of the superficial, self-serving and salutary discussion. As one author cautions us:

“It’s all about keeping evaluations tentative instead of certain, learning to be comfortable with complex, sometimes contradictory information, and taking your time and considering things from different angles before coming to a conclusion”[iii] — it is at this juncture where we may fall prey to the diagnostic bias – “our propensity to label people, ideas or things based on our initial opinions of them — and our inability to reconsider those judgments once we’ve made them.”[iv]

Well, what’s our story? I cannot settle for the story being propagated in today’s Bulletin. Perhaps this is an important part of the economic conundrum we face in central Oregon. Maybe we need to focus on developing another story – a vastly better story that energizes people, provides hope, infuses innovation, new forms of collaboration and a vision for the formation of a regional economic mosaic that the current story is incapable of spawning. To steal an appropriate quote from another author (who likely stole it from someone else), this point is succinctly captured in the following: “As they say in Texas: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”[v]

Some will scoff and even mock the suggestions herein. Others, may not read this far. Yet, others who do listen to what is being said here will garner an appreciation that, “Words — spoken and listened to, written and read — are intended to do something in us, give health and wholeness, vitality and holiness, wisdom and hope.” [vi] I hope for a better future for Redmond and this region. Admittedly, I am not an economist. But I am a citizen exercising his right to speak about matters that are important to me, and many others. The following provides some context for where I am coming from:

“The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind — computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBA’s who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind — creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers — will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.” [vii]

Should we accept the challenge of creating this new story, we must stay informed as to the thought processes that are breaching old boundaries from researchers, authors and academia. Why is paying attention to the thinkers so important? Listen to the following:

“To understand how economies work and how we can manage them and prosper, we must pay attention to the thought patterns that animate people’s ideas and feelings — We will never really understand important economic events unless we confront the fact that their causes are largely mental in nature.”[viii]

Finally, I will end with this:

“At a certain level, when it comes to the future, the only thing one can be sure of is that common sense will be wrong.”[ix]

Perhaps it’s time for some uncommon sense to be injected in editing the story line of the central Oregon Econundrum?

What’s your story?

Gotta pen?

NOTES:

[i] Akerlof, George A. and Shiller, Robert J. – Animal Spirits – How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters For Global Capitalism, Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ USA and Oxford, UK Copyright © 2009 by Princeton University Press, p. 51.

[ii] Taleb, Nassim Nicholas The Black Swan – The Impact of the Highly Improbable – Random House, Inc. New York, New York Copyright © 2007 by Nassim Nicholas Taleb p. xxvii

[iii] Brafman, Ori and Rom – SWAY – The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior – Doubleday – A Division of Random House, Inc. – New York, New York, Copyright © by Ori and Ron Brafman.p. 178.

[iv] Ibid p. 70.

[v] Friedman, Thomas L. – Hot, Flat and Crowded – Why We Need A Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America, Farrar,Strauss & Giroux New York, New York Copyright © 2008 by Thomas L. Friedman, p. 6.

[vi] Peterson, Eugene H. – Eat This Book – A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, Wm. B. Eerdsman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan  Copyright © 2006 by Eugene H. Peterson, p. 21.

[vii] Pink, Daniel H. – A Whole New Mind – Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, Riverhead Books – Penguin Group (USA) Inc. New York, New York Copyright © 2005 by Daniel H. Pink, p. 1.

[viii] Akerlof, George A. and Shiller, Robert J. – Animal Spirits – How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters For Global Capitalism, Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ USA and Oxford, UK Copyright © 2009 by Princeton University Press, p. 1.

[ix] Friedman, George – The Next 100 Years – A Forecast for the 21^st Century – Doubleday – A Division of Random House, Inc. – New York, New York, Copyright © 2009 by George Friedman, p. 3.

GRACE or our Global Responsibility for Advancing Community Enrichment

We live in the State of Oregon. Our State has the current, dubious distinction of being second only to the State of Michigan in unemployment. The tri-county area where we reside has some of the highest unemployment rates in our State. One in six residents in the State of Oregon are now receiving food stamps. People are coping and adapting.

This morning, an editorial in one of our newspapers reported that the sole Business Development Officer representing the State in our region (central Oregon) has been “let go” due to budget cuts. All of the above caused me to pause and think about people, leadership, innovation, ideas and the necessity for change.

As I was pondering this theme, a quote from a book I recently devoured came to mind. The book is entitled, The Age of the Unthinkable – Why The New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It“ by Joshua Cooper Ramo. (Copyright © 2009 by Joshua Cooper Ramo – Little, Brown and Company New York, NY). Here’s the quote: :

“We are entering, in short, a revolutionary age. And we are doing so with ideas, leaders and institutions that are better suited for a world now several centuries behind us. On the one hand, this revolution is creating unprecedented disruption and dislocation. But it is also creating new fortunes, new power, fresh hope and a new global order. Revolutions after all don’t produce only losers – they produce a whole new cast of historical champions.” P. 8.

We are very fortunate in my city and region to have leadership that is not afraid to share their hopes and visionary thinking for a better tomorrow today. They are the champions of a better way — understanding at a very deep level that we can and must change — together.

Within the “Clear and Urgent Themes” section of the Redmond Education Vision (REV – see http://www.redmond.k12.or.us/14541013164911523/lib/14541013164911523/Themes.pdf ), the following is the first item displayed on the list. It reads:

“Global Perspective – Accelerating student knowledge of global dynamics is critical to education in the 21^st century. It is important to consider global shifts when prioritizing our studies in world languages, history, economics, science, and geography. The significant increase in global interdependence is acknowledged and addressed.”

As characterized by Redmond School District Superintendent Fleming in her introductory letter within the REV report:

“The ideas drawn from these many interactions are synthesized and presented here. They will be used to guide and direct the allocation of resources, the creation of programs and accountability for progress. We are delighted to present you with the Redmond Educational Vision – a blueprint for action for our staff and community. Together, let’s declare a new chapter in our children’s education by exemplifying our mission to “Ensure a rigorous and relevant education that develops productive citizens for a local and global community.” (emphasis is mine).

Furthermore, Ms. Fleming also writes in the same letter, “Global economic interdependence is changing our daily lives and outlook for the future. Living peacefully together in a world that is becoming smaller and smaller has become an elusive challenge. In spite of all this, the great American gift of public education provides us with hope and possibility.”

In light of the above, over the past several months I have asked: Does Redmond have an official sister-city program? I have asked this question to dozens of people in Redmond  and the answer is “I don’t know! Maybe we should.” If we do have a sister city program that most residents are unaware of, we need to create a program that is more than a piece of paper mounted on a wall or an entry on a website somewhere.

In terms of the relevance to the results of the acting upon the Clear and Urgent Theme of developing a Global Perspective, I believe the sister-city concept, if properly defined and administered, can contribute mightily to making this observation a reality. Allow me to provide some food for thought:

1. Sister-City designations are typically an accomplishment of bureaucratic protocol, gathering dust rather than producing anything tangibly, mutually beneficial. They don’t have to be.
2. Imagine if Redmond would go through a process of recognizing the necessity for creating partnerships via sister-city designations with say 12 cities in 12 different countries around the globe by virtue of acting on the fact that we must engage and develop mutually beneficial relationships with cities and countries around the globe.
3. We must act on our recognition of our role and responsibility to actively develop relationships with global partners – intentionally engaged in the responsibility to reach-out and experience the wonders that only interaction within the realm of (to use Ms. Fleming’s term) global dynamics might provide  — with other global cities, citizens, communities and cultures.
4. As I contemplate the above, the term grace comes to mind. Characteristics of the term grace include the dimensions of words like helpful, generosity, and goodwill. When you take the root term grace and look at its sister, graciousness, you find a DNA link that contains strands that include the terms kindness, courtesy, welcoming, warmth, considerate and compassionate. It has been said that grace is a responsibility that we have toward one another. Yet, grace is simply not an attitude. On the contrary, it is an active form of  behavior. Grace need not be solely defined as a reaction to the behavior of another. Grace may be projected as an intentional, inviting display of behavior toward another.
5. As citizens of the global community, charged with the responsibility to enhance our active participation in (to use Ms. Fleming’s term) global economic interdependence … Perhaps we might term this initiative GRACE or our Global Responsibility for Advancing Community Enrichment.
6. What are the qualifications of the 12 sister cities we might evaluate/solicit for inclusion into this initiative:

1.      A recognition of the importance of acting upon Ms. Fleming’s/REV’s Clear and Urgent Theme of developing a Global Perspective within our respective student populations. What might this include:

a.       International student exchanges for high school age students among the GRACE participants.

b.      Teacher exchanges among the GRACE participants.

c.       The opportunity for summer sessions that involve travel-study for students/teachers and families among the GRACE participants.

d.      An annual conference for GRACE participants here in Redmond (rotating to other member communities/countries on an annual basis).

e.       The creation of GRACE portals (web technology) designed to provide a central point for the throughput of cultural/educational materials that can be shared among GRACE participants (students/teachers/families) on an ongoing basis, including an archive of previously shared video/art/poems/stories. (PERFECT project to jumpstart the Redmond Technology Center — as a “resident community project – developed and administered by students and residents who have the skill set to contribute — may also serve as a “live” learning forum for RHS students in the future.

f.       The creation of GRACE student groups within the high schools of participating cities.

g.      Community events whereby visiting students provide host community members a display of either personal talents or their home country cultural treasures.

2.      A penchant by each community to enhance their participation in the prospects for further global economic interdependence. What might this include:

a.       Provide an opportunity for public and private sector business and community members to develop interaction, relationships, exchanges with others in the global community regarding:

i.                    Common challenges confronting GRACE community participants and the solutions being contemplated/implemented.

ii.                  Visits by GRACE community and business leaders to Redmond/central Oregon.

iii.                Develop a familiarity and sharing of the economic development strengths/weaknesses/challenges and solutions that GRACE members.

iv.                Enhance “boots on the ground – face-to-face” interactions with businesses in other countries seeking to develop a base of operations in the U.S. (Redmond).

v.                  The creation of GRACE community/business leader groups within the group of participating cities.

vi.                Develop a pool of business and civic leaders who may visit one another to provide private/public learning events on issues specific to the needs of certain participating GRACE communities.

vii.              The creation of GRACE portals (web technology) designed to provide a central point/forum for the throughput for the exchange of information regarding real-world business/civic issues that can be shared among GRACE participants (Business and civic leaders) on an ongoing basis, including an archive of previously shared materials.

viii.            Economic development conferences held in Redmond for GRACE community participants – civic and business leader exchange.

3.      A deep desire to learn from others and share knowledge.

4.      There would be three member communities whose countries are NOT members of the G-20.

5.      A desire to develop global partnerships and new global relationships

6.      A dedication to develop the opportunity to promote academic and cross-cultural learning through its worldwide collaborative network of higher education institutions.

7.      Develops a resource network for the mutual benefit of all GRACE participants.

8.      Inspires innovation, collaboration and flexible approaches that enable civic and business leaders to access and benefit from.

9.      Raises the global and regional visibility of Redmond and central Oregon for academic, business and cross-cultural learning outcomes.

10.  Act upon the opportunity to explore the treasures of economic and cultural diversity.

11.  Keep the promise made to this community via REV.

12.  Provides a focal point that serves to integrate all stakeholders -  those involved in public education, the ordinary citizen, students, parents, business and civic leaders.

13.  Provides stimulus for GRACE participants to obtain appropriate grants annually to government agencies, corporations, private or corporate foundations to maintain support and expand the GRACE network and the collaboration and creativity spawned thereby.

14.  Utilize conferences and other events to generate sponsor revenue and to raise GRACE’s visibility.

15.  Develop and sustain investment and budget strategies to support an operational reserve equal to six months of operating expenses.

16.  Create and build a reserve fund for scholarships and organizational development.

17.  Members are dedicated to sustainable development, defined as: “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development encompasses three areas: economic development, social development and environmental protection”

Visionary communities who embrace social, economic and environmental responsibilities with the knowledge that the intentional effort to develop new and enduring global relationships are not only good for the existing community, but they also bode well for the future of our community, our children, our state and the region.  The GRACE initiative outlined herein may provide benefits help to build new markets, enhance central Oregon’s brand value, as well as provide the impetus for further innovations on the theme that are not contemplated in this writing. Finally, the motivation behind GRACE is not receiving — it is giving — extending an open hand of welcome to the world around us.

Something to think about. GRACE community members would have to pay annual dues. Budget preparation with projected costs and revenues (dues and sponsor ads via Google© on the web portal).

REV changed the rules for Redmond — it also changed our respective responsibility to make the REV, REDI, EDCO etc. contracts with this community happen.

Maybe it’s time to think out loud — together. Perhaps it’s time for the use of some some  intentional imagination – challenging our ideas — throwing some new one’s on the table — displaying the courage to disagree and engage in the collective challenge of creating a better way. As Joshua Cooper Ramno writes:

…(paraphrasing here….) “The explanation for this shared “wrong view” – a delusion,  really – was social rather than factual. People agreed because they wanted to be part of the community more than they wanted to be right: a set of shared, wrong ideas clung to loyally by people who couldn’t quite see past their illusions or the imagination-killing need to agree and fit in.” p. 62

In these unprecedented economic times , what might faith mean?  Theologian Brian McLaren suggests:

“Faith involves admitting with humility and boldness that we need to change, to go against the flow, to be different, to face and shine the light on our cherished illusions and prejudices, and to discover new truths that can be liberating even though they may be difficult for the ego, painful to the pride.” (1)

From the above, we can see that the faith required to reimagine creating tomorrow today involves a multi-dimensional approach. Let me explain:

(1) It requires admission – a confession, if you will.

(2) The nature of this admission is twofold: it must be humble and bold.

In terms of the humility dimension of this matter, the following from Rabbi Harold Kushner speaks to the heart of the matter:

“being human is such a complicated challenge that all of us will make mistakes in the process of learning how to do it right, then we can come to see our mistakes not as emblems of our unworthiness but as experiences we can learn from. We will be brave enough to try something new without being afraid of getting it wrong. Our sense of shame will be the result of our humility, our learning our limits, rather than our wanting to hide from scrutiny because we have done badly.” (2)

The boldness dimension of the admission is characterized concisely by Senator John McCain. He refers to it as courage:

“Courage (emphasis is mine) is that rare moment of unity between conscience, fear, and action, when something deep within us strikes the flint of love, of honor, of duty, to make the spark that fires our resolve.” (3)

3) In terms of speaking about illuminating our  illusions, most folks can get pretty riled up. Why? Because it causes us to truly examine and evaluate the truthfulness  and practical application of what we have been assuming, thinking and doing. Consider the following from Daniel Levinson:

“As he attempts to reappraise his life, a man discovers how much it has been based on illusions, and he is faced with the task of de-illusionment. By this expression I mean a reduction of illusions, a recognition that long held assumptions and beliefs about self and world are not true. This process merits special attention because illusions play so vital a role in our lives throughout the life cycle.”(4)

(4) Residing comfortably within many of our illusions rest our prejudices. As Dr. King once said:

“There is little hope for us until we become tough-minded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths and downright ignorance.” (5)

Finally, there’s that issue about what to do with faith. As McLaren defines it, faith is certainly not something the human species is imbued with whose sole purpose is some form of peace of mind, resting comfortably on a couch. No, faith is designed to move us from spectating to participation. The following sums it up quite nicely:

“Whatever our passions and commitments may be, we all face similar questions about how to cross the threshold from passivity to participation, to make our voices heard and make our actions count, and reawaken and sustain our faith in the future.” (6)

So, what’s your response? Once again, the words of Dr. King echo a truth with a poignant, present day application:

“To be honest is to confront the truth. However unpleasant and inconvenient the truth may be, I believe we must expose and face it if we are to achieve a better quality of American life.” (7)

May this writing be one element of inspiration that provides you with the courage to act on your faith to improve the community you reside in.

Reflect on this.

NOTES:

(1) McLaren, Brian Finding Faith, Copyright © 1999 by Brian McLaren, Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI pp.13-14.

(2) Kushner, Harold S. How Good Do We Have To Be – A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness, Little, Brown and Company Boston, MA Copyright © 1996 by Harold S. Kushner, p. 39.

(3) McCain, John In Search of Courage, Fast Company Magazine, Issue Number 86, September 2004, Copyright © 2004 by Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing p.54-56.

(4) Levinson, Daniel J., The Seasons Of A Man’s Life, New York: Ballantine Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Copyright © 1978, p.192

(5) Scott King, Coretta The Words of Martin Luther King Jr., Newmarket Press, NY, NY Copyright © 1983 by Coretta Scott King and Newmarket Press, p. 30.

(6) Rogat Loeb, Paul. Soul of a Citizen-Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time, St. Martin’s Griffin, NY  Copyright © 1999 by Paul Rogat Loeb, p.11.

(7) Scott King, Coretta The Words of Martin Luther King Jr., Newmarket Press, NY, NY Copyright © 1983 by Coretta Scott King and Newmarket Press, p. 89.

During the past several months or so, I’ve been considering the process of developing a new vision for community economic development. A process where people converge to converse about the development of a vision. I call this process Econverision.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said,  “a new step; uttering a new word is what people fear most.” Don’t get uptight. There’s nothing to be afraid of. According to London Business School Professor Charles Handy “Words are the bugles of social change.” (2) Let me explain.

In his most recent book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, three time Pulitzer prize winning author Thomas L. Friedman wrote that we must think strategically to:

“innovate our ways to new possibilities that right now seem unimaginable. The longer we wait to set out on such a strategic path though, the deeper the pail out of which we will have to climb.” (1)

This got me thinking. What does it mean to think strategically in 2009? Here are a couple of thoughts:

1. We have to think – deliberately, intentionally, differently. During economic downturns, many people assume the posture of what I refer to as the foxhole mentality - They hunker down and cover their heads, enduring the threat of their surroundings, repeating the mantra, this too shall pass. In other words, they maintain the position they occupied before their external circumstances changed. They assume that when the current shelling stops, the rules of engagement and the battle will remain the same. Furthermore, holding your ground, intending to repeat what you’ve been doing may not be a plausible battle plan as things improve.

2. How do you think deliberately/intentionally? – If the momentum in your life is anything like mine, you must make time, rather than attempt to find time to think. Yes, I’ve found that deliberate thinking about a particular subject can and must be intentionally scheduled – well, if its really worth serious consideration anyway.

3. Thinking strategically necessarily involves others – Yes, I continue to be amazed what occurs when you converge with others as a group with a common topic on the table. Particularly if the people gathered have a desire to explore creating something better than what presently is. Today, it’s probably more important that ever to consider a few new principles as it relates to involving others:

Invite the uninvited – Make a deliberate attempt to have those who have not traditionally participated in community economic development discussions to become a part of these forums. As Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith point out: “Revolutionary thinking often originates in young people, newcomers, outsiders and those at the bottom with little to lose, who bring a celebration of dissent and a wellspring of new ideas.”(3)

Expect the Unexpected – Leave titles, agenda, ego, position, authority and expertise at the door when you enter these forums. Come expectantly, desiring to hear and be inspired by an idea that comes from someone else. It means “creating a space that is free and inviolable, in which dissent and difference are encouraged and celebrated.”(4)

Shepherd the Sharing – The environment of these forums cannot be led by “captains of industry or power brokers, but by  leaders acting as coordinators, connectors, facilitators, mentors, coaches, and mediators who bridge, network and link people, and activate group energies to generate new configurations and possibilities.” (5)

According to an article entitled The Fiscal Roadmap – Why These Are Not Ordinary Times – We Need A Fiscal Roadmap To Show The Way – authored by Anne Vorce and Maya MacGuineas in December 2008 – they state:

Meeting our current and future economic and fiscal challenges will require the continued development of new ideas, the facilitation of a public conversation, (emphasis is mine) and the political will to make hard choices. We will need a fiscal roadmap to show us the way.

Yes, it appears that, once again, we are going to have to learn to change. What might this mean. Peter F. Drucker has suggested: “To be a change leader requires the willingness and ability to change what is already being done just as much as it is to do new and different things. It requires policies to make the present create the future.“ (emphasis is mine) (6)

There are three essential elements to Drucker’s thesis to evaluate, define,  and implement policies to make the present create the future. These include:

1. Abandon Yesterday – “to free resources from being committed to maintaining what no longer contributes to performance.” ( I would add that performance is henceforth re-defined by the new economic development vision).

2. Organized Improvement – “whatever an enterprise does internally and externally needs to be improved systematically and continuously.” (p.80).

3. Exploit Success – “Starve problems and feed opportunities.” (p.82). What this does not mean is to resist change and remain comfortable with going through the same old motions.

4. Systematic Innovation – Relying on the integration and implementation of the three principles identified above, change leaders must  “build into the enterprise a systematic policy of innovation – a policy to create change. “(p. 84).

Why do I advocate for the the development a “new vision” for community economic development through the process of econverision? For one, patriotism. I am not comfortable sitting around complacently “thinking about what the world will look like as the rest rise and the West wanes.”  (7) For me, it’s a personal responsibility as a privileged citizen of the community and nation within which I reside. It has been said that “what distinguishes economies today are ideas and energy.” (8) I can get really energized thinking about the economic development possibilities for the future in my community and my country. I bet you can too.

I also think it’s time to understand that we have entered a new period in our history that will require wholesale adjustments in the former ways we have approached economic development. Listen to the following:

“The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind — computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBA’s who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind — creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people — artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers — will now reap society’s richest rewards and share it’s greatest joys.” (9)

Why a vision? Think about it like this for a moment:

“Visions cause people to grow, learn and expand their abilities in order to achieve what they desire…Many changes start as a vision of what might be. …Every revolution starts with a personal transformation in which courageous leaders see that something is not working  and develop the determination to change it…They find it necessary to create confidence in others and convince them that the change is going to mean something, that the process will be open and hospitable, that the environment within which the change takes place will also be transformed.” (10)

The quote above (9) from Daniel H. Pink suggests we are moving from the Information Age to what he refers to as The Conceptual Age. I believe Cloke and Goldsmith would concur with Pink as they state:

“Every social, political and organizational revolution traces it’s origins to a conceptual revolution (emphasis is mine) in which someone had a new idea. Revolutionary thinking begins in the mind, then seeks ways of translating this vision into reality. It means being open to ideas that fundamentally critique the existing paradigm. and seek to trransform it. It means questioning stock answers and being committed to altering fundamentals. Because fresh ideas always come from outside the existing paradigm, imagination is the most important resource for leaders.” (11)

I am a tax paying, red-blooded American. I have children and grand-children. I’m competitive. I think it time to embrace the process of econverision in my community.

More about that in my next post on this topic next week. Until then, why don’t you share this post with folks in your community. I’d like to hear your thoughts. Post a response.

NOTES

(1) Handy, Charles The Age of UNREASON Harvard Business School Press © 1994 p. 17.

(2) Friedman, Thomas A. Hot, Flat & Crowded- Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America, Copyright © 2008 Farrar, Straus & Giroux New York, NY p. 49.

(3) Cloke, Kenneth and Goldsmith, Joan The End of Management And The Rise of Organizational Democracy, Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Company San Francisco, CA, p. 174.

(4) Ibid p. 102.

(5) Ibid p. 103

(6) Drucker, Peter F. Management Challenges For The 21st Century, Copyright © 1999 by Peter F. Drucker, Harper Collins Publishers NY, NY, p. 74.

(7) Zakaria, Fareed The Post-American World, Copyright 2008 by Fareed Zakaria, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. NY, NY.  p. 81.

(8) Ibid p. 210

(9) Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind – Moving From The Information Age to the Conceptual Age, Copyright © 2005 by Daniel H. Pink, Penguin Group (USA) NY, NY. p. 1.

(10) Cloke, Kenneth and Goldsmith, Joan The End of Management And The Rise of Organizational Democracy, Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Company San Francisco, CA, excerpts from  pp. 172-174

(11) Ibid p. 174

You’ve heard the phrase to many times: Everything’s changed since 9/11. Well, there seems to be a more pertinent phrase that has somehow overshadowed the former one. It is, “Everything’s changed since the fall of Lehman Brothers.” This was the first economic domino to fall that began the one-after-another collapse and bailout conundrum that America (and the world) continues to struggle with.

During my lifetime, I have never seen so many HUGE numbers being bantered about to stabilize the U.S. and global economy (and a few domestic industries to boot — well, I take that back – the State of California bailout is peering over the horizon). Perhaps we are being instructed in a new way of counting. Consider the following from Professor Charles Handy of Harvard University:

“The first step is to measure whatever can be easily counted. This is OK as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that which can’t be measured easily really isn’t important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that which can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.”

The $700 Billion TARP program (somebody please tell me how they came up with that figure) seems to be the initial component of Professor Handy’s definition in terms of what can be easily counted (or so say Bernanke and Paulson). The auto industry bailout (or lack thereof) appears to be an example of the second dimension of Handy’s characterization: disregard that which can’t be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value.

The third step is where it becomes terribly difficult: to presume that which can’t be measured easily really isn’t important.

Spurred on by the present state of triage required to address  the next form of economic contagion to reveal itself in the economic trauma center, we continue to crisis manage the next critical case that comes through the door on a gurney (sometimes delivered to the ER entrance in Congress via private corporate jet — although they drive hybrid vehicles to the post-op follow-up appointments).

Unfortunately, the TARP funds have yet to flow to main street central Oregon. The needs  of our region continue to be overlooked in state and congressional policy deliberations, by those duly empowered as part of the economic development policy apparatus. We remain suffering from the form of blindness that Professor Handy refers to. A vision for the future of economic development in our region is presently difficult to verbalize and/or tangibly quantify. That sure doesn’t mean it’s not important.

The final step, according to Handy is to assume the posture whereby ‘that which can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.” This is the nucleus of the matter, in my opinion. A quote from Machiavelli’s The Prince is pertinent here:

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in introducing a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents — who have the laws on their side — and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”

Yes, it’s time for innovation. Yet, a form of innovation that is unfamiliar to most of us. A process of innovating that includes the heretofore excluded from participating in the development of a new economic future for our communities, our country and our globe. Perhaps, we might just start with our respective communities.

Last week the new elected City Councilors in the City of Bend sponsored a forum and invited the public to begin a conversation about the current state and future of economic development.  Perhaps it’s time that Redmond, Prineville, Sisters and Madras might consider the same in their respective communities. However, economic development innovation is not accomplished via one meeting. The opportunity to create an economic development vision within each of these respective communities, and this region, is a process.

Perhaps it’s time to begin to learn a new way of counting in regard to economic development in central Oregon. Inviting area residents into a public process to participate in forming an economic vision for their respective communities and this region may be a wonderful place to start. Imagine what the results of this equation might produce. Then again, what if we don’t innovate in our approach to developing an economic development vision, deliberately informed by input from area residents.? There’s an amazing result when public officials earnestly invite the public’s participation and imagination — treating people as if they truly count. The clock is ticking. Time has a way of reminding us to wake up and act. Perhaps it’s time to consider embarking on a deliberate process to innovate our way to new possibilities in the formation of an economic development strategy and vision that right now seems unimaginable — together. We’re responsible for creating what presently does not exist. You can count on that.