eZiNFOmgmt

In shooting a rifle, you can

• Focus on the target some distance away putting it on top of the pointer on the end of the rifle barrel, or
• Focus on the iron sight on the end of the barrel, and put the blurred image of the target on top of the sight.
• Get a good rifle scope that puts both the sights and the target in focus.

I started to write about the choices county commissioners have to make in tough economic times, but I stopped.

I can't remember a time when commissioners, or other government bodies for that matter, have said that their coffers were full and things were great.  They always stress how difficult the budgeting process is; someone has to give up something, they say.

So, why is it then that they continually have problems in just looking at the end of the barrel?

Our county commission just fired the industrial board because the board wouldn't bail out the county budget.  Seems to me like that's giving up your kids' college fund to buy groceries.  It's wrong.

I did some other looking at their treatment of the industrial board.  One of the commissioners, a friend who I usually respect, complained a few years ago about another industrial board giving an industry some tax relief.  In his view, the county budget was shorted a few tax dollars.  Talk about looking at the end of the barrel and only seeing a blurred target!

What is the blurred target?  New jobs come to mind--can't do that without recruiting industry.  Tax dollars also--it would be nice to have jobs in the county where people commuting to Nashville do not stop to buy groceries there; we need our own sales tax dollars.  Multiplier effect?  Jobs here plus sales tax dollars lead to incentives for new businesses which lead to more tourism which leads to a better living environment which gets picked up on by industrial scouts which bring new industry which brings new jobs which bring new business which bring new tourists which bring....

Seems to me like it's time to either

• Get a scope for the rifle so that both sights and target are in plain sight.  But, that entails getting the commission to do some serious planning at some cost, or
• Get a new shooter.  Fire the commissioners.

First, there's the "cover the market" concept.  If someone is capable of creating a new business that can corner the market, they probably should be teaching the class.  I think it's much more important to dwell on capturing enough market share to survive and, hopefully, prosper.  That's where business planning becomes important.  Obviously, the Internet changes the scope of planning, but it doesn't change the principles.

Second, there's the assumption that multiple domains are needed.  Large corporations, like Google, have many, different web sites each focused on a discrete portion of their products or services.  Their web presences is a virtual web in itself with links that make navigation between websites transparent.  Then there's also the use of multiple domain names that are basically synonyms; they all point to one particular primary domain name for that part of the Google system.  Even then, there are two ways that is done.  First, Google purchases as many domain names as possible--even with misspellings; they get redirected to a common site.  Second, Google uses subdomains to divide complex web systems into subparts, e.g. maps.google.com.  Sometimes Google buys a domain name that is a synonym for a subdomain, e.g. googlemaps.com translates to maps.google.com.  They try to cover all the bases so people will find what they are looking for.  Google knows how to do good business planning and marketing, obviously.

Should a small business try to purchase multiple domain names? Probably, but it's not to cover the market. It's to protect a "virtual" trademark. Example: I make a guess at a domain name called http://dogWhispers.com. It exists. That business does not own dogWhispers.net or .org. So I would be free to start a new business. Could I siphon some of their business? Probably. Would they be a threat to my market? Probably. For another $20 per year, I would advise dogwhispers.com to buy the other domain names.

The problem here is not in domain names, but in capturing the market.  Multiple domain names will not capture market; search engines quickly figure out the connections and use the primary websites only.  The challenge still lies in good marketing--including good web marketing.  There are no shortcuts.  Even though consulting companies will call and email you with promises to get you in the top 10 search rankings, you will not capture your market without hard work--business planning.  Search rankings do not always translate to market share.

If your website contains the information people want including well-written text with appropriate keywords, links from other important websites to yours, well written and fast loading code, and web advertising tools from Google and Yahoo you'll gain market share.

The 4th session was held in Waynesboro, TN, on September 10 at Bradleys Restaurant.

Key Concept.

We need to refocus on community development, especially in the empowering of leaders.  As professional workers, the power is not ours to give.  The power is there for our local leaders to embrace.  As they embrace the power that is rightfully there, the power within communities is multi-dimensional, adaptable, and self adjusting to local needs.  It can be transforming.

Community development and growth starts at a very low level--lower than most formal programs acknowledge.  We need to reconnect with with our local communities  in places where as few as two or three people meet to share ideas and news.  Martha Pile with UT Extension in Clarksville models this kind of process in what she calls "The Gathering."

We need to redefine what is "community."  It is not a place with physical boundaries.  It is a collection of people interacting within any number of boundary types.  With the Internet, the physical boundaries are without limits.

Avoids Common Traps. By building local leadership in small groups the "Gathering" model avoids the trap professional workers make of solving problems for local leaders rather than helping leaders to solve their problems.  The short-term pressures for professional workers to "produce"  numbers that cost accountants use to justify program expenditures is counter productive.  The unintended consequences of public servants doing the work of local leaders lead to breakdowns in local leadership as local leaders become overly dependent upon professional assistance.  When public servants assume the roles of decision makers and community leaders, they impose a narrow view of issues defined through their much smaller organizational lens; networking with other organizations is time-consuming in an atmosphere driven by their needs to produce results quickly. Stove-piped, one-dimensional solutions are the result.

Nurturing.  By fostering the emergence of local leadership, the "Gathering" process generates a multi-dimensional network of action points in the community.  Solutions are more complex, take longer to implement, and fit perfectly to the needs of the local community.  The "Gathering" approach is a nurturing posture guided by an intuitive social monitoring of the readiness of leaders.  Unfortunately, this process fits poorly with typical assistance programs from government and educational institutions because of the push to generate "progress."

Similar to "Watercooler Talk." A few years ago, progressive managers discovered that conversations around the "watercooler" were not distractions in the workplace.  These informal conversations instead were primary points for conversations that communicated real values and alternatives, often more effectively than formal meetings.  In a similar sense, the Internet's social media, often called Web 2.0, allows a broader range of information sharing in the community than are designed into our more tightly wound educational and government assistance programs.  The arts have languished because pragmatic, results-oriented managers have trouble establishing quantifiable values for the arts.  Professional workers have not found ways to justify spending time in the social worlds of Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

Perhaps in the unquantifiable realms of sociology and the arts the answers for community development lie.

Realizations.

The dialogue that preceded this realization covered these points:

• Our public talk of the need for change is betrayed by our internal resistance to change.  Perhaps we're comfortable enough with our situation; we can continue what we are doing.  Our coping methods protect us from our fears of change.
• We often make assumptions about what we need to do without verifying the needs of our clients and customers.  Our most dangerous assumption is that we know the answers without having to ask questions.
• Many of our residents live comfortably within a very small radius.  As a result, they do not know the attractions and history of the area.  Their perceived need for change is marginal; their assumptions give rise to apathy in the community.
• We have a rapidly increasing base of new leadership that comes from people relocating to our area--people without the apathy.  They often move here with appreciations of our natural resources that exceed that of long-term residents.
• We do create surveys for clients and customers, but return rates are quite low (apathy).  Unless our clients and customers stand to gain something, they are reluctant to tell us what they think.   Workshops are seldom attended well and new tools like webinars have marginal success.
• Our region and people have many stories that people would love to hear or re-experience.  It may be that the best way to promote our attractions, resources, and culture is through the stories that we have to tell.  Often, our newly transplanted neighbors have very interesting "stories" and perspectives that are very relevant to futures planning.  Through small communities, these stories have outlets.
• Our local agencies and organizations have not engaged the Web 2.0 social media like Facebook or Twitter because the media appear to be a "time waster." There are few examples of productive uses of the tools.
• Web technologies can produce inventory maps of attractions and other resources by using simple text files that can be emailed or linked to in webpages that can be targeted to specific user communities.
• Widely available web tools can extract headlines of local web articles and create news feeds for subscribing organizations--like local newspapers that publish local event calendars based upon content of local websites.  These tools can serve specific communities.
• We have sufficient expertise to train local organizations to use readily available online tools and website development systems.  Technology becomes a tool to help address the needs of communities.
• While our area is blessed with many natural attractions, the attractions are often inaccessible to visitors, especially when "bad" communities or groups create a public nuisance or destroy property.
• As pointed out in earlier posts on this site and in prior meetings, it is difficult to get people involved in community and economic development, tourism, sustainable agriculture, or similar issues.
• The Buffalo-Duck RC&D faces two major hurtles:  1)Reduced funding of RC&D at the national and state levels 2) The loss of technical assistance to the area by the retirement of Larry Lofton, NRCS Project Coordinator.  Will the efforts of Buffalo-Duck fade with the departure of professional assistance?
• RC&D has been a valuable program for the 4 county area despite the conflicted objectives of NRCS, e.g. the emergence of local leadership in communities vs. the need for NRCS control to support agency progress reporting requirements (requirements imposed by OMB and other entities that control the agency's budget).

Today I spent a couple of head-banging hours trying to update a shopping cart on a client's website.   There are some important lessons here.

Lesson #1.  Be Careful of a "Bought" Reputation

I use several web hosting companies.  Only one of the companies has significant national recognition by the general public.  This one has spent lots of money pursuing Superbowl ads that feature young women pushing toward Janet Jackson's "malfunction."  The owner likes to create high profile videos pushing his views and management methods.  They are pretty well done, too.

Maybe I should expect this high profile hosting company to set the standard for customer service and web host performance.

Wrong!  The company with the reputation bought through advertising has abysmal site performance.  Read more below.

Lesson #2.  Native, American English Speaking Technicians Are Only Easier to Talk With

After 10 minutes on hold while waiting to talk with a support technician, I was greeted by "Brooke."  She was very courteous and easy to understand. While I was on the line with Brooke, I tried adding a new product category to the shopping cart.  Five minutes and 13 "failure to connect" errors followed by 13 page reloads and I got it entered.  The technician was off looking over the website.

When she returned, it was pretty clear that she didn't know much about a Joomla-based website.  She thought I was uploading files to the site. I told her that I was running a web-based program on their server that generates the website.   She couldn't see any new files; all my changes were recorded in a database that she couldn't see.  I complained about the "failure to connect," a 500 code in the server log.  She went to see. It only took 3 minutes and 7 code 500 errors to get an actual product listed this time.

I asked if they could move the website to a better performing server.  She went to check.  I added another product.  It also took 7 "failure to connect" errors and 5 minutes.  She returned saying that they would not move the website.

I asked if she checked the database since it probably is on a different machine than the actual web code (a normal security and performance setup).  She went to look.  Five error pages this time for another item and 4 minutes. No the database is fine, but the site has too much junk in the database according to her.  I said it couldn't have because I have problems getting anything into it.  They installed it; if any junk is there, they had to have put it there.  She said I should just check the database.  I cordially hung up after thanking her for her help--she was nice, at least.

I checked the database.   It must have looked like "junk" to her, but all databases have a complex design with tables to hold all kinds of related information.  If you take out a table, nothing works.  The tables were almost empty--except for the few products I entered while waiting for her and a few look up tables of state names, etc.

Bleat! Everything is Fine on Our Servers [It must be your fault.]

Lesson #3.  Don't Let the Geeks Blame the Customer.  Know Your Stuff.

I'm going to move the website to a different host.  My other hosts rarely give problems.  When there is a problem, it's a quick email response to them with a fix within a reasonable time.  On the rare occasion when I have to speak with a support person, it's the quality of the answer and the fix that count, not the accent or location that matter.

And, when I do make a mistake,  good support people find a solution for me.  With this "American" company, I'm just left hanging, helpless to fix the website until I get it moved.

Leaders from the four county area of Middle Tennessee -- Hickman, Lewis, Perry, and Wayne Counties -- will meet at Bradley's Restaurant in  Waynesboro Collinwood on September 3, 2009.  The meeting will start at 10:00.  Reservations were made courtesy of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.

Key questions for the meeting:

What shall we do with the concept of "Public Access to Private Lands"?

Can we develop and share tour routes for artists, motorcycles, scenic areas, etc. across the four county region?

Can we encourage each local newspapers to publish events for the four county region once each month?  By rotating the calendar, most weeks will have event calendars spread across the counties.

Can we schedule workshops to spur innovation? Dr. Glaser stands ready to help.

Can we establish a regional leadership program to compliment the county leadership programs?

Can we foster a business incubation service, business counseling/planning, or an entrepreneur's workshop?

When I was a kid there was always the threat of being sent to "reform school" if we didn't do well or got into trouble.  Maybe we would be reformed.

Today we talk about school reform.  To do that maybe we need to implement a new kind of reform school.  This time the target is school administrators, counselors, board members, and teachers.  Why?

• The days of school serving as a really big daycare center should be over.
• Schools are slow to react to opportunity.
• Politicians, education associations, and legislators create programs and funds that are tied to traditional methods of instruction.
• Schools are driven by the priorities of teachers and administrators who are comfortable with their traditional approach.
• We generate numbers of students and arrays of test scores showing achievement, but teachers "teach to the test" while having to ignore important topics that didn't make the test.
• We can graduate high school students that are virtually illiterate.
• Really good students are really good in spite of the schools.

Why the rant?

Columbia State Community College has been trying for several years to build a dual enrollment program with the schools in Hickman County.   It is marginally successful, barely able to obtain 10 students per class in a couple of classes.  Surrounding counties like Lewis have about 100 students enrolled.

Hickman County Schools just can't seem to pull it together.  They turned down an opportunity for Columbia State to teach a history class for college credit to juniors.  An AP history teacher objected.  The school suggested teaching a "keyboarding" class, something most places teach in primary grades now.  In compromise, Columbia State agreed to teach a computer applications class: word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and simple databases.  Now with many weeks of lead time, the school system can only provide about half the students needed.  Those of us in the community are having to search for other people who might like to take the class; Columbia State needs 10 students for the class to be taught locally.

What's the fix?  We need capacity building for schools.  The fix is not to reprimand the school administrators and teachers that make honest mistakes trying to do what they have always done.  They don't have the time or priority to make many changes.  They really are busy; they really are dedicated; they are qualified.  It's not that some of them couldn't find a better way.

We need transformational leadership.  Let's find a way to let our educators do what they might do given the opportunity.  Over the long haul, the changes might be less costly than continuing the present direction.  The returned benefits from improved students would surely be worth it.

Challenge ideas:

• School systems are "lumpers."  Kids get tied to discrete groups and grades that the system can track.  It works for the school's benefit, not the students'.
• We need to split the lumps into the kinds of areas that allow curriculum development on an individual basis.  Gone are the days when students had to be treated in groups.  Technology changed that.  We need "splitters."
• When we eliminate the "lumps" we eliminate the need for big-box schools full of kids all day long.
• We open the door for integrating schools with self-paced, at home learning
• We enable vocational instruction and experience with participating businesses
• We create on-line classrooms which could be housed in microschools for classes offered in two-week blocks or other alternate scheduling. 
  • We eliminate the need for boring 50 minute lectures.
  • Video replays the points students miss in lectures.
  • Ever present teacher/tutors provide one-on-one instruction for only the parts of instruction and the students that need additional help.

Yesterday I received an article , "The Upside Down of Fiduciary Responsibility," from a futurist friend of mine, Rick Smyre of Communities of the future.  He co-authored the article with Jean Craig Long, a non profit development consultant.

Rick says:

... foundations, businesses and other funding sources need to rethink how to allocate a percentage of their funds to support what we are calling 'processes of creation' in support of true community transformation.

Further he says:

We believe that the idea of funding concrete outcomes before a process is even established, while important in many short-term situations, is totally inappropriate when building longer term capacities for transformation in communities.

We've been taught to predict the future and control our process of getting there.  Unfortunately, too often the future we might predict is already here sometimes already invalidated.  It's a lot more complex that it used to be here, and change comes from all directions worldwide.  Wrong predictions and bad decisions made in good faith can cascade crises.  When we filter our predictions through lenses focused on the past there's a lot we can't see.

If we look for a pattern that worked before, it's ok provided the context has not changed.  If organizations depend on the postal service to deliver letters containing critical information, they quickly are bypassed by email, RSS, and a host of other technical communication protocols that work in "real time" by more up-to-date organizations.

If we look for a model that we can copy, be prepared to deal with a model that does not fit because the assumptions that made it work originally no longer work.  Change happens quickly.  What may be more important are prototypes that deal with emerging trends.

If we focus on the "practical," recognize that we're looking for something that is relevant by today's standards.  How can we be sure that something will be practical in a future that will be different? Should we continue to build massive school buildings when students of the future may be distributed at home, micro schools, or at learning organizations that combine hands-on experience with online instruction?  Who says that students have to sit with 30 other students in a classroom all day?

If we try to explain things in language we understand, will our explanation just  explain how things are today as if tomorrow will be the same?  We can't expect change unless we introduce new concepts and terms.

So, what does this mean for non-profit organizations?

• Organizations will have to responsive to evolving needs--needs that evolve quickly.
• Leaders will need to introduce new concepts, ideas, methods, and language that help us anticipate needs based on emerging trends.
• In a rapidly changing environment, rapid prototyping and innovative methods will be better than big projects and slowly adapting programs.  Support of failure is critical in the learning and adapting process.
• Non-profits need to "seed" transformation by helping to establish and support "futures institutes" at community colleges
• Organizations need to train new leaders to be adept at dealing with the evolution of change being driven by chaos and complexity.
• Organizations need to seed idea incubators and build innovation networks with other organizations regardless of geographic location.
• Leaders will have to "give up" on controlling the "expected" outcomes.  We will need to embrace the unexpected.

The first part of the third session of 100 Day Planning deal with the lessons learned from Dr. Ed Glaser, CEO and founder of Sole Supports in Hickman County.

This second part is a brief summary of my recollection of other discussion points of the day.

Public Access to Private Resources.  A review of previous sessions touched on the concept of public access to private lands primarily for fishing and swimming in the region's rivers and creeks.  The concept could entail establishing small access points on private lands as easements to the local counties for park development.  The easement might have a limited duration.  By defining the access points as mini-parks, local law enforcement officials might have greater authority in managing trespassers especially if visitors to the park were required to have either seasonal permits or daily passes for access.  Ultimately, the goal would be to encourage high quality local visitors and tourists to use our natural resources.  Presumably, troublemakers and vandals would be driven away by higher quality traffic to the areas.

Artist Trail. Misty Shelby presented brochures from Murfreesboro and the mid-state area showing locations of artists' studios and other points of interest.  One trail brochure was specific to a touring event where people on designated days visited local artists in their studio's or other places of artistic creations in Rutherford County.   Both types of brochures and maps were noted by our Chamber of Commerce representatives; expect something similar.

Workshops.  The Buffalo-Duck RC&D Council has sponsored a number of workshops over the past year.  The trend will continue with plans being made now for two new types of workshops:

1. Entreprenurship.  To be given by a mentor to Dr. Ed Glaser with Dr. Glaser's participation, hopefully.
2. Community Development and Sustainability. To be given by Dr. Michael Wilcox of the University of Tennessee, an economist who specializes in research on the topics.

We had our third 100 Day Planning Meeting at Sole Supports, an orthotic manufacturer in eastern Hickman County.  Dr. Ed Glaser, founder and CEO,  spoke to us for about an hour describing his company vision and the culture he has created.  He covered a lot of territory about entrepreneurship and innovation.

Dr. Glaser makes manufacturing and entrepreneurship look easy.  Like most activities, when you master and practice all the basics well, everything flows.  It is easy.  Below are some of the basics he described (in my terms).

Passion.  Dr. Glaser is passionate about what he is doing whether it's riding his recumbent tricycle each morning, building greenhouses for his employees, or one-upping the competition, except that it's not really about the competition.

Focus on Numbers.  We talked briefly about the frustration of local entrepreneurs developing business plans.  He quickly laid out the numbers behind his planned business expansion.  They were simple and effective.

Focus on Customers.  He made the case for making it easier for doctors, his customers, do their job.  He will give them a digital foot modeling tool for a minimal per examination fee; doctors normally pay $8,000 for similar devices.  Patients, too, are customer, so they will get a detailed video about how their foot and orthotic work.  Instilled in every employee is the company motto, "We make people better."  They believe it; the product delivers; it motivates them.

Focus on Employees.   When the competition caught up to his technology, he quickly lost a 20% market share.  Rather than slashing costs and employees, he and employees developed new digital foot modeling technology that eliminates the expensive shipment of foot casts needed for orthotic development.  The key was enabling his employees to innovate.  While the engineers were at work, the company also started making other products to keep the employees busy with spin-off products that might have potential--making banjos, garden ornaments, and gates.  Dr. Glaser built a cafeteria and staffed it with a trained chef--not just a cook--where employees eat for less than $3 per meal.  They have a fitness center.  They will probably get greenhouses to grow fresh produce.  Their insurance plans are full and complete.  People don't get laid off at Sole Supports unless they really mess up badly.

Focus on Community.  Dr. Glaser tried unsuccessfully to start a business entrepreneur program at the high school next door.  The students were not motivated.  He clearly struggles with "why."  He's helping his wife start a "tea room" in a building nearby for people of the community to rent on an hourly basis to enjoy movies, games, food, etc. in a modern, high technology environment.  He envisions a themed restaurant using a 1939 Hickman County culture as a model.  He's passionate about building an electric car; maybe he will; maybe he won't.  Each vision is an entrepreneur's vision, but the goal is not to make money.  It's to eliminate unemployment and to put people to work.

Innovation.  I summarized the key issues and steps from some recently available business literature suggesting that the Innovation Movement is like the Quality Movement of the 80's and 90's.

• Customer as the dominant reference point.  Done.
• Deep customer focus.  Done.
• Focus on unmet customer needs.  Done.
  
• Customer gets a compelling experience (not just a good product or service). Planned.
• Entrepreneurial passion. Done.
  
• Information Technology via the Internet  provides the distribution channel.  Underway.
• Employees express their ideas. Done.
• Tolerance of experimentation and failure.  Done.
• Connections with different perspectives and insights.  Done.
• Focus on value chain.  Done.
• Rapid, low fidelity prototyping.  Done.
• Use of storytelling to convey the experience.  Done Passionately.
• Change management processes and value systems throughout the organizational culture. Done.
  

Nationally recognized tourism and travel expert told us earlier this year that we have no excuse for not being flooded with tourists.  We have too many untapped resources and attractions for them not to show up in droves.

We've also believed that we should just take our tourists' money as they enjoy our communities for a short time and wave them goodbye.  That's all there is to it.

Something's not right.  We don't have flocks of tourists; we're not getting rich from their money.

Alas, there's no excuse for good, honest hard work.  We just have to figure out what it is that we should do.  Judy Randall told us; it didn't really register with us.  I think we got hung up with $$$ signs in our eyes.

Some of the emerging lessons of "innovation" across the country touch on the same issues.  Innovation probably is the next wave of change  that will sweep the country much like quality, a.k.a TQM, did in the '80s and '90s.

If we want to get ourselves out of our economic quagmire, we have to pull our own bootstraps and quit waiting for someone to do it for us.  Opportunity may be standing at the door, but we won't see it if we don't PULL open the door.  Innovate.

So, what did Judy Randall tell us that we didn't hear?  She said that tourists are looking for a good experience.  She said that we have to ask them what it is that they want.  We have to ask them if our postcards and brochures elevate their expectations of that good experience.  Sounds easy enough, but I think it's not.

The innovation movement is stressing the customer as the new reference point--not the competitor as businesses have historically done.  It means asking the customers what they want and taking the time to really understand what they mean, not just what they say.

Information processes are the new "factories" of service-oriented businesses like tourism.  (I think that when people talk about needing computer experts, it's a sure hint that they are clueless about information processes as computers are little more than machine motors in that new information factory process.)

Ideas are only the first and most elementary step of innovation.  Everyone has them; many if not most of them are good within the right context.  Most of them fail because there we don't know what to do next.  Else, we don't want to do what comes next because it makes us uncomfortable.  Change is hard.

A better place to start with tourism solutions is with meeting our tourists' unmet expectations, not more ideas that probably fail.  Fulfilling those needs will require an information factory to make all the parts of the solution work (Guaranteed).

Is it so hard to ask what those expectations are?

Can we move away from depending on "computer experts" to building the information processes that our tourists need to find us, learn what we offer, pay for products/services, make schedules, plot directions, etc.  Can we use those processes to market ourselves and what we have learned?  Computer experts just tune the motors of the factory.  This takes thinking through what we know and how we can share it with ourselves and the rest of the world with the customer at the center.  ---- I told you it's not easy.