Saturday, January 28, 2006
Last week, I was in Lexington, KY, where I heard a very good presentation by Dennis Donovan, head of HR for Home Depot. A former GE Executive, Donovan is part of the new management team that has been remaking the company.
Donovan caught my ear with his definition of a healthy organization: An organization is healthy when the velocity of change inside the organization exceeds the velocity of change outside the organization.
Another point: Velocity is a friend of change.
Donovan's points underscore an important message for EDPros: We need to move from strategic planning to strategic doing. We learn best by quickly translating ideas into action.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
The velocity of change
