Grassroots change

America is in trouble.  From where I sit, the President and Congress have lost the ability to make the fundamental changes required to restore stability to the America.  Too much political will and influence has been squandered on saving face, jockeying for position, and trying to capture (or re-capture) the White House in 2012.  Wake up folks.  The prize isn't the White House.  The prize is a country that continues to function responsibly.  If America misses the present opportunities to show real leadership, I fear it will be a long time before the balance of political and economic power sways back its way.  If there isn't a sense of urgency about this among the American people then a huge opportunity is going to be lost.  Throughout history, major change was accomplished, not by the ruling class, but by small groups of discontented citizenry.  Although a corrupted form of capitalism has seemingly trumped democracy in America, the majority still holds more voting power than the ruling elite does.  Americans at the grassroots can still make a difference in this present situation.  In fact, making a deference isn't optional.   

John Kotter (2008) argues that for any change to take place a sense of urgency needs to exist.  To the Baby Boomers who hold a tremendous amount of power and influence, I urge you to use these assets to make sure that there's an America for the next generation.  For the X, Y, and Millennials, we need to work with the Boomers to face the challenge that few generations have faced before - the restructuring of a society and culture.  In 1862, Abraham Lincoln said to Congress:

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate for the stormy present.  This occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.  As our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew.  We must disenthrall (set free) ourselves, and then we shall save our country."  

Those words were spoken in the middle of the American Civil War.  The country was divided over philosophical and moral differences about where the country should go.  The country is again divided over philosophical and moral differences.  This time, the war isn't being fought with guns but with money.  The country is struggling over where it will go in the future.  No country has ever survived for long with out a robust middle class.  When the divide between rich and poor becomes too great, the country disintegrates.  This is a defining moment for America.  The middle class has been gutted.  It seems that they are waiting for a political saviour to rescue them.  Guess what?  That's not going to happen.  The Tea Party cannot fix this issue, nor can the President or the Republicans and Democrats in Congress.  It's an issue that needs to be sorted out at the grassroots.  I think Lincoln's words provide us with some good advice on what we should do.  We need to think and act anew. 

Vote everyone out of Congress

This is a radical and revolutionary idea.  Kotter (2008) suggests that first tactic to bring about needed change is to bring the outside in.  The present Congress has shown that their experience counts for nothing.  They have been unable to call upon what they know because they learned it in a world that is vastly different from the one in which we now live.  This occasion is piled high with difficulty and it requires us to think and act in new ways.  We don't need experience in Congress; we need people who can think for themselves and for their constituency.  Elected officials are not there to build a career and lifestyle for themselves.  They are there to represent your interests.  If the American people can call and write to their elected officials in record numbers and still have Congress do the opposite - then its time for them to be shown the door.  I saw a billboard on the CNN website that said: "You can't fix stupid, but you can vote them out of office."  The current Congress doesn't know what to do because their experience has them trapped in the past.  What worked yesterday isn't going to work today.  

Identify someone YOU know to run for the office

The current political system requires those who run for office to receive an endorsement from the party.  This endorsement usually means that the person has jumped through all proper hoops; they've put in their time.  But a person who has spent this much time trying to impress the king makers is hardly going bit the hand that puts them in office.  From the grassroots levels, we need to start identifying people we know and trust.  People who love the country and want to see things change for the better.  This isn't about Republican or Democrat; but about finding Americans who will serve their country out of a sense of duty.  These people will be hard to find, but they're out there.  It's not impossible.  Their primary ambitions shouldn't be to become life long politicians, or to win re-election.  They should be dedicated to rescuing America from its current crisis - or to die trying.  These people should not only think differently, they should act differently.  

Do something - ANYTHING!

Apathy isn't going to change anything.  Neither will giving up on doing good and making a difference locally.  The system may be broken but it can be fixed.  Too many have been distracted by the consumerist lifestyle.  We're busy trying to pay the bills and keep on top of the everyday things of life.  We're too busy to get involved.  We need to make it a priority to save the democracies in which we live.  If we've enjoyed the life we've had in the land of the free, we need to ensure that future generations can continue to do the same.  I recently read two quotes in Tom Peters, The Little Big Things (2006).  

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - G.B. Shaw, Man and Superman

Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission." - Peter Drucker

Don't adapt to the world any longer.  Stop doing things just because that's what others do.  Moreover, get a mission for your life.  If you don't know what your purpose is, find it!  

Works Cited

Kotter, J. (2008). A sense of urgency. Boston: Harvard Business Press. (Amazon)

Peters, T. (2006). The little big things: 163 ways to pursue excellence. New York: Harper Studio. (Amazon)

Ahead of its time

I'm always making connections with what I'm doing and what I've done. It's how I learn. It's how I adjust and adapt to new situations. I was recently reading an article in the December HBR that talked about Branding in the Digital Age (Edelman, 2010). As I read through the article its content sounded eerily familiar. As I reflected on why, I realized it was because I have done intuitively what the author suggests that businesses do now, but I did it four years ago with the marketing team at Laidlaw College.

At the heart of the article Edelman talks about research conducted by McKinsey in 2009 that showed the change in marketing metaphor for how we relate to consumer interaction. According to McKinsey's findings, the metaphor has shifted from a funnel to a journey, what they call the consumer decision journey, or CDJ (Court, et.al, 2009). This journey includes four stages - consider, evaluate, buy, and enjoy, advocate, and bond.

So, how did we do this four year ago? It all started with a problem, as all marketing challenges do. We had a new principal, concerned stakeholders, and dropping student numbers. We needed to figure out a way to engage with the public quickly so that we could win some people over. As the department discussed how this could be done, we decided that the best way to overcome stakeholder concerns about the new principal was to expose them to his ideas and teaching in a way that would not require them to commit to any long term programs or courses.

We decided to introduce a series of public lectures on relevant topics called Wineskins. This lecture series would allow people to consider the new direction of the College for themselves, not purely based on what others had said. Each lecture drew between 200-250 people. The consistent turnout seemed to indicated that the punters had evaluated what they heard and found it to be of value; worth returning to in the future to hear more. Because the lectures were presented free of charge, the marketing department decided to video the series and sell the DVD's later to help us recoup some of the expense for running the event. This gave the stakeholder the ability to buy the seminars, many of whom did even though they got to enjoy the lectures for free. Many of those who bought the lectures on DVD shared them with friends and family, or used them in their own home groups or churches, which led to fresh faces coming out to the future free lectures we hosted at the College. Many a skeptical stakeholder was able to enjoy, advocate, and bond with the College through DVD's and other lecture series long after the initial contact took place.

The impact and effectiveness of this initiative was not recognized widely at time, but that's probably because it was ahead of its time. 

Work Cited

Court, D., Elzinga, D., Mulder, S., & Vetvik, O. J. (2009). The consumer decision journey. McKinsey Quarterly (3).

Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the digital age: You're spending your money in all the wrong places. Harvard Business Review (December), 62-69. 

Health Care Summit

Last week President Obama hosted a Health Care Summit at Blair House in Washington, DC. The president invited both parties to get together and discuss the health care issue while the whole thing was streamed on the Internet. This open approach was an effort to 'communicate' more clearly to the American people. A recent Harvard Business Review blog post by Morten Hansen highlighted five ways in which the president failed to demonstrated collaborative leadership during last year's health care debate. Last week's summit was a step in the right direction for Obama. It showed his willingness to act on his desire to see bipartisan collaboration on the health care issue. Can this same sense of collaboration be demonstrated on the issues of the economy and jobs as well?

The president's collaborative leadership style will need to extend beyond the political leadership in Washington. He must embrace the American people as well. Americans need to continue our role in the collaborative process by sending our elective representatives ideas and suggestions for solutions to these difficult issues. And the electorate must hold our officials to account for the way they (do or don't) handle these issues.

When faced with a crisis America has proven time and again that it can come together, set aside disagreements, and make a difference. The current challenges facing America are no different. In A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr's wrote about how Adlai Stevenson prepared the way for JFK by shifting the democratic party's motto from 'you never had it so good,' to 'stressing peril, uncertainty, sacrifice, purpose' (p.23). Obama has repeatedly stressed 'peril, uncertainty, sacrifice, and purpose.' I fear to many Americans have been distracted by current hardships to realize that the difficulties they face are part of the reshaping of America. Hansen points out in his commentary an uncertainty about the president's efforts to clearly establishing health care as his 'moon goal', to unite people and parties. If we realize that the world had fundamentally changed and that the hardships we currently face are part of restructuring society, we might find it a little easier to let go of political ideologies for the sake of making the fundamental change that the country needs—in the areas of health care, the economy, and jobs—to name a few.

References

Schlesinger, A. M. (2002). A thousand days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. Boston: Mariner Books. (Amazon)