|
|
|
Municipal Innovation:
Answering Tough Questions Through a Strategic Plan
By Jo Anna (J.T.) Trierweiler
Elected officials change periodically. Each cycle, an appointed
staff adjusts to the new leadership's style and priorities.
Still, the primary customers, the community, must be satisfied.
Staffers often feel like they are working in a salad spinner,
which is not great for productivity.
Getting
ahead of a cycle is key. Introducing a strategic planning model
(within 60-90 days of a regime change) similar to private business,
can smooth the transition through the election cycle and into
the new leadership team.
This strategic planning process requires the elected officials
and their staff to collectively answer some important and
tough questions.
#1. How Do Our Values Fit?
Municipal leaders must work to identify their individual and collective
values. Plans stay on target when a boundary is established,
protecting the municipality's unique character.
#2. What Business Are We In?
One way to determine the municipality's exact mission is by asking,
"What business should or can we afford to be in?" The answer
will clarify funding allocation and nudge municipalities to question
whether to be in these businesses individually or explore a
partnership instead.
#3. Can We Fit It All Together?
Once municipal leaders have determined what the community needs and
wants, and have created a corresponding mission, they must find creative
ways to implement their ideas.
When government leaders put on their business hats, roll up their sleeves
and get into the strategic planning process, they have a lot to gain.
Commitment to a strategic plan speeds up the transition process and
increases the municipal team1s success.
Editor's Note: J.T. is a Senior Facilitator who specializes in working
with municipalities. For more information or to contact J.T.,
click here.
Kalamazoo: The Breakthru Fire
By Charles Fleetham
The first time I drew a mandala for a client, I was working with the
Kalamazoo Department of Public Services (DPS) and its director, Mr.
Ken Collard. For more than fourteen years, the city and this department
was involved in a series of disputes with its wastewater customers in
both the city and its surrounding communities.
On the surface, the infighting focused on who would set wastewater
rates, and who would manage the system. But the cost of a flush was the
back-story. The real story was regional growth.
Through the 80's and 90's, the city's economy declined, while the
surrounding communities grew, spurred by wastewater expansion into the
rural townships. City leaders wanted more growth in the city; they
were afraid that system expansion was draining the city. Meanwhile,
rural customers felt that they had a right to more services, in
part because their rates supported plant construction and various
DPS capital improvement projects. The community was in a deadlock.
Opening a Window for Change
To help the community breakthrough the deadlock, I drew a mandala
that mirrored
how the community was bound together in a conflict neither side
knew how to resolve. The mandala was the first step in helping
them recognize their stalemate; it readied them to face the
new changes.
Making Stone Soup
For the next two months, I continued to employ irrational exercises-drawing,
writing poetry, telling childhood stories, and dialoging. It
was during a dialogue that the city and its customers, through
the leadership of Mr. Pat DiGiovanni, Kalamazoo City Manager,
and Mr. Gary Cramer, Chairman of the Regional Commission agreed
to collaborate more extensively. In this agreement, both sides
acknowledged the importance of mutual growth and agreed to share
equity in the system within three years.
Editor's Note: Charlie Fleetham founded Project Innovations to create
and deliver innovative organizational and leadership development solutions
to business and government. For more information,
click here.
The
Clouds of the Unknown are filled with anxiety, fear and uncertainty,
as well as excitement and wonder. For true change to occur,
the journey must be taken.
|
|
