The Perfect Wave

Friday we were talking about economic development in Cleveland and an analogy was made to sitting on the beach watching the ocean. Those who are lake centric in Cleveland do like watching Lake Erie but I think this was more a thought of sitting on a wide sandy beach watching breakers roll ashore.

Clevelanders and its leaders in particular have too much of a tendency to sit on the beach watching the waves rather than catching the waves.

The thought conversations seem to go:

“Wow! Look at that wave. Well, we weren’t ready yet.

No, that one is not big enough.

Oooh! Look how that surfer is working that board. We can do that.

I wonder if our board is waxed enough.

We stayed up all night planning all the moves and I practiced them in the mirror. We might try them sometime.

That shop owner I talked with sold me a new board and said with it I can do all the new stuff.

I bet I look good in this suit. Red is my color.

Oh, there’s a good wave. Aw, somebody else is already on it.

Are there any cameras on me. They need to shoot from my right.

I wonder if the water is too cold. Am I wearing the right wet suit?

I wonder if I should ask the beach patrol if it’s okay to ride the waves here.

There’s a good wave, but I have sand in my suit.

We have the best boards, the best wet suits, and we know we are the best surfers. We just don’t have all our friends with us.

I really don’t want to look bad surfing.

Oooh! There’s another good wave. Ooops, too late.

Maybe tomorrow.”

Get in the water already!

Spelling “Team” With an “I”

The other day we were sitting around having a conversation about others' view of the Open Source Economic Development process. Some reported hearing that it seem like chaos theory. Someone reported of hearing about herding cats. From my perspective it is neither.


However, I do admit, from a certain perspective those comments are understandable. Previous economic practices demanded certain perspectives for understanding. I am sure that those living in the Bronze Age had behaviors which seemed strange to those still operating under the Iron Age thought process. We are now moving in the Second Curve economy which also may be called the Collaborative Innovation Economy. First Curve economic thinking has problems with some of the concepts. First Curve is about closed innovation: knowledge control; Second Curve is about open innovation: knowledge sharing. First Curve does not understand how a business can be successful if it is telling competitors and the world about its processes. First Curve views Second Curve behavior as chaos and Second Curve sees purposeful behavior with collaborative leadership.


So it goes with teamwork and the view of working as a team. When First Curve talks about working as a team, it is often about sublimating your own agenda for the team. There is a coach, a captain, and a manager, all who guide the team in its winning a game. Second Curve team (in first curve parlance) does not have a coach, a captain, or a manager. This team works with individuals who are aligned in a common goal which isn’t to beat someone else. The individual is very important for the strengths that it brings as well as the individual’s goals. Its goal is to provide a successful, sustainable end that meets the needs of all of the team as well as providing good for the community. The individual is in the team but not at the expense of others participating on the team. There is an alignment of all the “I”s on the team to forward moving behavior.


In First Curve there is also the thought that when there are two teams working to a seemingly common goal, the smaller team should merge with the larger team so as to strengthen the whole. What then happens is the larger team gains control and mass but loses nothing. The smaller team loses any individuality and differences that it may have had which quite possibly were its strengths.


I have often heard coaches tell their teams that “team” is not spelled with an “I”. In my Second Curve economy “team” is spelled with an “I” and is stronger, faster, and more sustainable for it.

Living with a Disability

We all live with a disability: we are human. We make mistakes. We have other shortcomings. We are not perfect.


What most of us have to counter that disability is hope. We also have each other. Community is what brings us together and supports us all in our seeking to maintain or improve ourselves and each other.

"Strap on Your Goggles!"

As a Director of the Institute for Open Economic Networks, also known as I-Open, (click here) I help teach and sustain behaviors in regional economic activity guided by Open Source Economic Development. The principal behaviors addressed lead to strengthening brain power, connecting innovation and entrepreneurship networks, building quality, connected places, strengthening civic habits of dialogue and inclusion, and promoting an effective brand through sharing positive stories of activity.


In our process we develop innovation zones in a region through civic forums that focus on story telling of best practices, experiences, building trust, and deepening knowledge of ourselves and our communities. Not only is there much learning and collaborative networking taking place with these forums, there also arise initiatives through alignment of individuals’ interests. Through the initiatives growth occurs through creation of entrepreneurial enterprises but also the creation of supportive environments for new activity.


Most recently, the past week a remarkable meeting took place at Nead Brand Partners (click here) , one of the supporters of our activity in the midtown area of Cleveland. In the midtown area where I-Open has been building an innovation zone, the initiatives and partners have grown enough that there is a demand to grow the hot spot out from Midtown to the surrounding neighborhoods that are not in “Midtown.” There is now discussion to further involve residents, not just civic leaders and entrepreneurs. People involved with several of the neighborhoods are excited with what has been going on in Midtown and are requesting that the innovation zone be reenvisioned and renamed so as to discourage concerns over "ownership" and to encourage inclusion and participation throughout the region.

There is now a call out to find a "brand" for the innovation zone that is unique to the area as was "Midtown My Town." The I-Open civic forum on August 9, 2006 is now looking to be a kick off of that expansion with participation from many neighborhoods and local development corporations. There will be an envisioning process taking place as took place with the initiation of the Midtown Innovation Zone.

As has been said before, "Strap on your goggles!" The zones are zooming.

Sustainable Activity

For years our leaders have been telling us “If you want something done, give us more money public or private. We know what to do and will do it for you.” And for years they put together a strategic plan which gets packaged nicely and put on the shelf next to all of the other strategic plans. Occasionally we listen to someone who tells us that he can think out of the box and will do the right things for us. He ends up making the decisions for us and we gain no capability for sustainability because we have not increased our own abilities.

Occasionally someone comes in and listens to us and our ideas and then goes off and picks what he feels are the best ideas, decides what to do, and tells us to do it. There is a tremendous value placed upon both the people and organizations with money and the money itself. We need to enlarge our thinking to place a greater value on brain power of each of us. We need to value more the individual efforts of smaller organizations working together. We have non-profit organizations that are jockeying for control, growing or sustaining their own fiefdoms. They are spending their energies and monies on protecting themselves rather than furthering their missions.

We need to listen to the wonderful ideas that are being put forward. Then we need to align the ideas in focused initiatives. Empowering all to work together behind these initiatives creates the ability to move forward with lower cost and greater speed. Building trust in getting initiatives done builds sustainability. Sustainability builds a stronger economy.

Investments in Our Children

"The way a society cares for its children
predicts the future of that society."

"Education and abundance are privileges that lead to responsibility. Global Justice is the responsibility of educated professionals and the wealthy people. We must take action."

Fr. Masalakulangwa Mabula 14 June 2006

It is the responsibilty of all of us to share our knowledge with future generations. We also need to share our best practices in business as well as in life. Those with any kind of wealth need to invest it to grow our communities rather than bury it in the sand. Having money and/or knowledge creates responsibilities which we must continue to meet.

Its Time For Commitment

I and others from I-Open met today with someone in Cleveland who has worked with developing entrepreneurs in Europe and is now trying to develop some innovative businesses here in Northeast Ohio. It works elsewhere so why can’t it work here? The comment I heard is that Cuyahoga County is so siloed and set in its 1st curve economy ways that it is unlikely anytime soon that Cleveland will move forward. Many are close to giving up hope and a number of businesses, organizations, and individuals already have. My brother has said to me that no community is guaranteed the right to survive. It is up to its residents to make a commitment to work together and then act on that commitment.

We all need to stop making the same strategic plan year after year and decade after decade, stop having conversations about what would be wonderful if somebody else did it, and stop whining. We need to start working together, supporting each other, and sharing best practices. We need to learn to do strategic thinking and doing rather than strategic planning. We need to treat each other and each others ideas with respect. Maybe even implement the old golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” rather than the current Cleveland golden rule, “He who has the gold, rules.”

The Morrison brothers have always said that the revolution will come from the mountains. It will come from the outlying areas, whether it be Akron, Youngstown, Mayfield, or Berea. Cleveland civic leaders and all who interact in the civic space need to learn and practice new behaviors. I will continue to teach new behaviors in the civic space, to encourage entrepreneurs to stop waiting for someone to give them permission, and to help build collaborative networks and behaviors.