Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority will host the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy in October. To build interest in the conference, the Authority recently commissioned a survey on creativity in the workplace.
The authors of the survey indicate that US employers are facing a "creativity gap". The survey found that 88% of workers consider themselves creative, but only 63% said their jobs were creative. The report seems to set the stage for increasing redesign of work and organizations in a way to spur creativity and collaboration. (If you are interested in how new organizational forms are evolving, check out Thomas Malone's The Future of Work.)
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.
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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.
Worker creativity: A gap?
