Sunday, June 25, 2006
Here is an insightful article out of Tulsa on why young civic entrepreneurs are impatient the old patterns of civic leadership.
Consultants like Rebecca Ryan have made to healthy business out of advising business leaders of these new trends. The independence of these young leaders is inspiring.
Part of the tension they feel, I suspect, comes from their different perception of civic engagement. Older leaders tend to think hierarchically...top down, bottom up. In a typical community, civic leadership is defined by a slow process of gradual ascent. (I remember early in my career, how one business leader in Louisiana insisted that no volunteer chamber board member should be under 40 years old.)
Younger leaders are exploring civic engagement in a different way. They tend to see opportunities in terms of networks, not hierarchies. They are looking for fast ways to connect. There are no tops and no bottoms to a network. Only links and nodes.
(My colleague Valdis Krebs recently explained how I connected people in Oklahoma City and Lexington, KY. Read more.
You can read a more detailed description I posted to my weblog on Real NEO. Read more.)
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
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:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
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.
Connecting to young leaders
