Before you hear Ed Morrisonâ??s warning for Indianapolis, itâ??s helpful to know the Cleveland-area resident is a fan.
Morrison, who was hired by Purdue University a couple of years ago to help Hoosiers think of new ways of solving problems, believes Indianapolisâ?? record of accomplishing big projects, whether launching IUPUI, building sports complexes or revitalizing the downtown, has created one of the best state capitals.
But he reminds that virtually all of the projects involved bricks and mortar. Theyâ??re things, not people. He thinks the power brokering and equivalent of smoke-filled rooms that revitalized the city since the â??60s will never work with arguably more important â?? and intractable â?? social problems like school dropouts.
Indianapolis mastered its strategy before there was an Internet and power began to disperse to more people, Morrison says. Now, the city needs to learn to take advantage of networks of people â?? not necessarily an easy transition.
â??A hierarchy like Indianapolis has is very capable and has shown they can build big things,â?? he says. But, â??Indianapolis has to adapt to this new world.â??
Like most other large cities, Indianapolisâ?? main problem is its schools, Morrison argues. Young people wonâ??t move here, and if they do, they wonâ??t stay once they have children, if IPS doesnâ??t make huge improvements. Indianapolisâ?? civic leaders â??donâ??t have a sense of the urgency. You hear the buzz around, but thereâ??s no focus or disciplined strategy.â??
Groups of citizens will be what ultimately solve social problems, not commissions, blue-ribbon panels or other top-down approaches, he says. â??The places with vibrant networks are going to be where the kids want to locate.â??
What do you think? Does Indianapolis rely too much on power brokers? Do you agree with Morrisonâ??s solution?
Morrison, who was hired by Purdue University a couple of years ago to help Hoosiers think of new ways of solving problems, believes Indianapolisâ?? record of accomplishing big projects, whether launching IUPUI, building sports complexes or revitalizing the downtown, has created one of the best state capitals.
But he reminds that virtually all of the projects involved bricks and mortar. Theyâ??re things, not people. He thinks the power brokering and equivalent of smoke-filled rooms that revitalized the city since the â??60s will never work with arguably more important â?? and intractable â?? social problems like school dropouts.
Indianapolis mastered its strategy before there was an Internet and power began to disperse to more people, Morrison says. Now, the city needs to learn to take advantage of networks of people â?? not necessarily an easy transition.
â??A hierarchy like Indianapolis has is very capable and has shown they can build big things,â?? he says. But, â??Indianapolis has to adapt to this new world.â??
Like most other large cities, Indianapolisâ?? main problem is its schools, Morrison argues. Young people wonâ??t move here, and if they do, they wonâ??t stay once they have children, if IPS doesnâ??t make huge improvements. Indianapolisâ?? civic leaders â??donâ??t have a sense of the urgency. You hear the buzz around, but thereâ??s no focus or disciplined strategy.â??
Groups of citizens will be what ultimately solve social problems, not commissions, blue-ribbon panels or other top-down approaches, he says. â??The places with vibrant networks are going to be where the kids want to locate.â??
What do you think? Does Indianapolis rely too much on power brokers? Do you agree with Morrisonâ??s solution?
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Most civic leaders sense the urgency of public school issues. Charter schools--many with roots in community action groups--increasingly offer alternatives; superintendent is active and aggressive in promoting change. Governor is an entrepreneur.
Ed's solution is part of Indiana's solution--we need power brokers to emerge from many sources, and we need grass-roots involvement in solving problems. The only mistake is to assume this isn't happening throughout the state.
http://hyperadvance.com/blog/?p=102
Think of it like trying to hop onto a moving train. It is pretty easy at first, but as the train speeds up it gets more and more difficult, even dangerous to board it.
In a world of accelerating change, conservative and incremental change approaches are falling behind--and this will cause more failures. Power and wealth are inconsequential in that, if we don't figure out how to get on the train, we won't have any.
The power brokers live in Carmel. Indianapolis' mail problem is that it needs to annex Carmel and merge the Carmel school systems with IPS.