Ed Morrison · The value of learning from others

March 14th, 2010

There’s one simple step Cleveland’s civic leadership could take to improve its performance: Adopt the annual practice of taking large delegations of Cleveland’s leadership to other cities for 2-3 day workshops.

Here’s an example from Baton Rouge.

East Baton Rouge Parish (EBR) Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) announced today that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been selected as the destination for the Baton Rouge Area Canvas Workshop 2010.

A delegation of business and community leaders will spend three days and two nights in the Pittsburgh area learning from a community that has had recent success in such areas as public education school reform, technical education, charter school development, private-sector/university collaborative innovation, entrepreneur development, and sustainability. This year’s trip will be held on September 19-21, 2010.

EBR City-Parish and BRAC Select Pittsburgh for 2010 Canvas Workshop

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber, headed by a former McKinsey consultant, is on the move. It’s a good chamber to watch closely.

These visits are a common practice across the country. Delegations range in size from about 30 to over 150.

If Cleveland’s civic leadership made the effort to learn from other regions they just might see how silly the conflict between the Cleveland Foundation and the Fund for Our Economic Future really looks from the outside.

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2 Responses to “The value of learning from others”

  1. John Polk Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    As you know, this is a widely-used tool by many Chambers of Commerce and economic development groups.

    Fundamental to initiating such a strategy is the belief that leaders in other communities have something to teach us.

    I’m certain out current crop of civic leaders believe 1) that Cleveland has nothing to learn from other communities’ experiences (else how to explain our obsession with convention centers and casinos, despite abundant evidence from elsewhere) and 2) that others should be learning from US…what, exactly?

    The problem with squiring a bunch of leaders to other towns is that they might actually learn something which is contrary to existing community biases…and that could be disruptive to “the process”…

  2. JS Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am

    …”Cleveland has nothing to learn from other communities’ experiences …”

    Take the Drew Carey/Reason response. It’s not about the content, even a former Clevelander is treated as out of the loop.

    Maybe these ideas would be best put in a Forbes magazine list format. They everyone from the PD to BFD would talk about them endlessly.

    Cleveland’s Forbes collective hissyfit is the hallmark of a city with a chronic chip on its’ shoulder. Everything is an attack from outside — and it no longer matters if its’ from a Clevelander.

    If you’re not with us, you’re against us. (sound familiar?)