I think Jack will forgive the long excerpt, but I can’t allow the chance that you’ll miss any of this:
Popular economic development wisdom has it that we’re supposed to compete against other regions. For things like jobs for the locally disengaged. Those of us who travel the country to build capacity see each region as worthy of whatever grace and good fortune should visit.
We need to get over the Neanderthal notion of competition. How about if we help every region support organizations that are smart enough to engage the unengaged? Why do we have to gain at someone else’s expense? What if we took an abundance perspective for once? What if we got together with other regions and co-created the best outcome for everyone…?
That’s one thing I notice as I’m getting acclaimated to my new neighborhood—how many people say “Just be careful” and “The neighborhood has changed over the years”. The other night I was in a neighborhood bar where they wouldn’t play a certain kind of music because they didn’t want a certain type of people that would “ruin their nice bar”. Not going back there, thanks. And you can keep your retreaded music from the 60s and 70s…
When will we stop promoting a culture of fear?
