How do We More Effectively Meet Human Service Needs in our Community in a Dynamic Manner

In May I went to Redlands, CA on behalf of the International City Manager’s Association (ICMA).  The purpose was to be involved in one of an ongoing series of visioning exercises being undertaken by Esri,a company that specializes in mapping systems.  I have been used to Esri as a company that creates the software program that is the basis of our city/county maps that I use to look at property information in Burlington.  Their product is part of what you see when you go to Des Moines County GIS.  But what Esri has become over the years is much more than this.  I encourage you to learn more about their company by looking at their website, a link to which is included at the end of this post.  After my trip, I was asked to provide a summary of my experiences to ICMA.  The text of my summary to ICMA is as follows, in bold italics:

This spring I had the opportunity to visit Esri at its headquarters in Redlands, CA as part of an Esri-ICMA White Boarding Exercise with a focus on Human Services.  We spent a significant amount of time learning about the amount of data that is already available, and the ways it is being manipulated in various communities across the country already.  Yet there is a significant potential to improve on this at the community level.  The focus of the session was to look at how we coordinate the various forms of data we have on our community in relation to human services; what are the characteristics of our community demographics, what are the services that are provided by different social service providers from counseling to food banks, and where are there mismatches based on population distribution/demographics.  We had a small group breakout that allowed us to focus specifically on the potential to create an application that would allow us to map services and needs, with the idea that it would be a tool for our government agencies along with community groups and nonprofits that we interact with.  We looked at the potential to use this application as a device that tracked requests for services over time in a spatial manner.  This would allow us to see where resources were either lacking or in overabundance, as well as to see if their location was not consistent with the locations of who was using the services.

During the course of the day, I realized just how much can already be done.  As we worked on our core exercise, and talked about what it would be nice to be able to measure or display, ESRI staff was able to talk about how they already have the platform built (and often the information available) based on other applications they have already developed for governments, nonprofits, and private sector entities.  Our world has changed dramatically over the past few years; I have been aware of how private sector entities have used community demographics as they make decisions on where and when to invest.  The placement of a retail store, for example, needs to know community demographics to determine if there is sufficient density of their target market to justify locating a store in a given location.  This same process can be used as we think about whether a given location might be a good location for a park.  This same process can assist in running “what if” scenarios on whether a mixed use development in a given neighborhood has the potential to have long-run success. 

I have learned I need to ask more questions through this process; I need to ask my staff what they already know.  I also need to realize that some endeavors that we consider can be run through trial runs with the assistance of ESRI, or other groups as well.  GIS is a tool with so many untapped benefits.  The data is already there, and constantly expanding.  We need to take the time to learn how to apply it.

I was struck, during the course of my trip and in the ensuing couple of weeks, by how much data is collected in our country.  This data can be used in ways that I can’t even imagine.  You can get a small idea of how it is used and by whom by reviewing Esri’s website.  I get the image of infinite possibilities, uses that can be both positive and negative.  We talked about the ability to use a system of cameras to monitor traffic flow through a community or region, to provide information on congestion that could be used to adjust traffic signal timing while also allowing motorists to access the data in an effort to find alternative, non-congested routes.  Applications based off this technology also would allow parking spaces to be monitored, again with the ability for motorists looking for a parking spot in a downtown area to located the nearest vacant parking spot through their smart phone or other device.  These are applications that are already being used.

I want to note, as I close this post, that this kind of ability also raises a lot of concerns for individuals.  There are an increasing number of ways in which are daily activities are monitored, and used to feed predictive analytics tools to predict how we will act (or how we could potentially be influenced to act) in the future.  These are concerns that should be part of the conversation. 

What Does it Take to Make a Good Leader?

I recently had an article forwarded to me entitled Caring and Respectful Equals Successful by Harvey Schachter.  It was a summary of a study completed by Fred Kiel who determined that companies with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) with strong moral principles deliver better results.  In Kiel’s book entitled Return on Character, he noted that what he describes as a virtuoso CEO delivered close to five times more of a return on assets than a self-focused CEO would, and achieved a 26 percent greater level of work force engagement as well.  Their organizations also tended to have better audit findings and fewer lawsuits.

Kiel’s virtuoso leader had four key character traits:  1) integrity, 2) responsibility, 3) forgiveness, and 4) compassion.  Integrity is about telling the truth, acting in a principled manner, and keeping promises.  Responsibility is about owning up to faults/mistakes, and working for the common good.  Forgiveness begins with letting go of your own mistakes, as well as the mistakes of others, focusing on what is right versus what’s wrong.  Finally, compassion is about empowering others, caring for them and committing to develop them.

Kiel’s research is interesting, in that it highlights how leaders who are more concerned about helping others are more likely to have positive results than those who are concerned about themselves.  We have a leadership team of city employees that has had the opportunity to look at topics related to this over the past three years.  One of the books that we spent time looking at was entitled Good to Great by Jim Collins.  Collins emphasized the need for what he called Level 5 Leaders:  “Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company.  It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest.  Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious –but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.”  Collins also noted that the good-to-great leaders they studied were continually described as “quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, and understated….” 

Our leadership team spent a lot of time talking about the paradox of traits that makes a good leader.  Society often focuses on big, charismatic personalities, yet these are not the character traits that are emphasized in these publications.  Kiel and Schacter, in these more recent publications, reiterate these counter-intuitive traits.  We are trying to build a culture within our organization that focuses on servant leadership, living a life and performing a job that emphasizes high ethical standards and trying to work for the common good.  I would not say that we have a team that is comprised totally of what is called virtuoso leaders.  My hope and goal, though, is that we are trying to work, as a whole, towards that goal over time.

We as a community could gain much by this level of standard.  Tell the truth, keep promises.  Admit our shortcomings.  Work for the Common Good (you can refer to my post about an article on the Common Good by Andy Crouch).  Focus on what is right rather than what is wrong (stop negative discussions).  Show compassion to others.

These are difficult standards, and require balancing.  We cannot meet the perceived needs of everyone at all times when we live in a community, similar to what happens in a family.  We can, though, show a spirit of humility and respect as we interact with each other.

Perspective

My sons and I are planning on taking part in a short term mission trip this summer to Guatemala City, Guatemala.  This is a new experience for me; Canada is the only country I have been to outside of the United States.  It is a new experience for my boys as well, and I think for a majority of the group that we are travelling with.  As part of our preparation for the experience, we are reading a book entitled “Serving with Eyes Wide Open” by David Livermore. 

The first chapter of this book, which we were scheduled to read this past week, focused on six snapshots that required me to put my daily assumptions about life into perspective.  The snapshots focused on population growth, poverty vs. wealth, disease, refugees, McWorld, and fundamentalism versus pluralism.  They were designed to get the reader to realize that our way of viewing things that happen as Americans is not the way most of the world views them; our perspective is different. 

Our current world population is 7.3 billion people, with the United States making up 325 million of that, or about 5%.  Both China and India are four times our size.  The highest growth rates are in countries such as Nigeria and in the African continent as a whole.  40 percent of the world population is under 15, while only 20 percent of America is under 15.  Developing, or majority, countries are the countries with the highest percentages of children and population growth, and often have the highest levels of poverty, higher mortality rates, worse health care systems, and limited education options.  Our demographics are not the world’s demographics.   Perspective.

Poverty was the second snapshot listed.  20 percent of the world’s population live on less than $1/day.  Another 20 percent live on less than $2/day.  The wealthiest 447 individuals in the world had the same net worth as half of the world’s population (over 3.5 billion people) combined.  Talk about an uneven distribution of wealth.  I worry about weather I can afford to do a class reunion trip this summer.  Half of the world’s population fights to try to earn enough on a daily basis to eat, and are not always successful.  The author mentions a person forced into bonded servitude to pay off a $35 debt.  Perspective.

1 billion people lack safe drinking water.  40 percent of the world’s population lacks basic sanitation facilities.  Approximately 25 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, primarily in Africa.  These are mind numbing numbers to me, and difficult to come to grips with.  The numbers in regards to refugees was just as staggering; according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 51 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations in 2013.   Half of those people meeting the definition of refugee (16.7 million individuals are in this subset) are under the age of 18.  Approximately 70% of this same refugee subset are also identified as Muslim.  Almost 4 million refugees are Syrian, the majority of which have arisen since the Syrian Civil War within the context of the Arab Spring protests and have escalated dramatically with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  Perspective.

We have difficulties in our family, and our community and region have issues that we must face as well.  Part of my preparation for our Mission trip is requiring me to ensure, though, that I keep these in perspective with what the rest of the world faces.  Our family issues, and our community issues, are still significant; they need to be kept in perspective, though.  We have much to celebrate even when we face difficulties.  I am forced to recognize the extent of my blessings in comparison with what the rest of the world encounters.  I also am forced to evaluate how well I use my privileged position; how well do I take advantage of the opportunities I have to impact my community and the world in which we live?  I think there is a challenge here for all of us to evaluate how well we do in this endeavor.

Climbing the Mountain

I read a story over a year ago about the process of climbing a mountain.  Mountain climbers typically reach a point in the difficult journey where they get above tree line, the point that is too high for vegetation to grow.  Above this point, there can often be found a scree field, an area of loose rocks frequently found at the base of a steep slope or cliff.  This scree field can be difficult, and dangerous to climb.  During the process of climbing, the hiker can easily become discouraged as a few steps forward can often lead to many more steps back during a sliding of materials.  It can be difficult to see that any progress is made during a very strenuous process.  Not only that, but a miscalculation can lead to a much larger slide of materials, and possibly the death of the hiker.

I can relate our long-term strivings towards financial improvement for the City to climbing a mountain, and I can also relate to the difficulties of the process being similar to crossing the scree field portion of the mountain in particular.  The process is emotionally exhausting, and on a step-by-step basis it is difficult to see any real progress being made.  We are, though, making progress.  Since 2012, we have reduced deficit accounts from a high of $8.5 million to about $2.5 million in 2014.  We have increased our general fund cash balance from $650,000 in 2012 to $1.1 million in 2014.  We are making great progress.  We can celebrate that progress.

But progress does not mean we are at the end of our journey.  Much like climbing a scree field, getting partway through is emotionally and physically wearing.  Everyone has had to cut.  There is a tendency to feel that a break is due, that we can go on cruise control or ease up on our efforts.  Going back to the scree field as an analogy, that easing up can lead to a misstep, which we have to be careful not to allow.  We have made progress, and we do have a little more flexibility, but we also need to keep in mind that it will be another 5 or 6 years before we eliminate our deficits completely and get to our cash balance targets.  If any unknown events occur in the meantime, we are ill-prepared to deal with them.

There has been recent news about the City Council offering a significant financial package to a prospective new industry in town.  Due to the efforts of the past three years, we have the ability to offer an incentive such as this, but it is not without risk.  We need to keep in mind that we are still in difficult times.  A financial package such as this may be worthwhile for the potential positive impact it can have on our community, but we cannot allow it to be part of a process that allows us to get our focus off of the long term goals of financial stability.

Our journey is still underway.  As we continue to work together, we can celebrate our progress.  But we need to as a group keep our eyes on the journey’s goal, and keep our daily steps and attitudes on the correct path to get us there.

A Moral Wake-Up Call or an Audit?

I recently watched a video produced by VitalSmarts, a corporate training and leadership development firm.  The video is attached as a link to this post, and is entitled “Why Do We Lie?”  The video followed two separate groups of students.  Both groups were put in a situation where they would be paid cash for their ability to throw beanbags through holes.  They were allowed to self-report their scores.  One group was given no additional instructions, while the second group was asked to sign a statement committing to honesty before participating.  Out of the first group, 80% of the participants lied about their score to get paid more.  Out of the second group, that was asked to sign an honesty statement, only 20% lied.  

The video demonstrates how prevalent lying can be in our society, and how easy it is to allow our morals to slide when we are on cruise control.  It also points out how much of our population, though, is open to be reminded of moral integrity when it is pointed out as a valuable commodity, in this case through the mechanism of signing off on an honesty policy.

In regards to how we work together as a community, there are a few takeaways that I can get from this VitalSmarts training video.  One is that we all have a tendency to be complacent, and not think about the consequences of our actions.  I know that I need reminders quite frequently to not allow myself to go through a daily routine on cruise control.  I need to make sure that I keep my actions in line with an absolute moral code.  We also need to have a culture that reminds those that we work with or come in contact with that there are absolute standards of integrity that are larger than ourselves that we need to commit to upholding. 

Another thought that came out of this video is how much less monitoring is necessary if we are able to remind people of some absolute ethical/moral standards such as “do not steal”, “treat each other with respect”, or “do not lie” as ground rules for our daily activities and actions.  People tend to want to meet expectations.  People do not want to be dehumanized, belittled, or treated as untrustworthy.  The point was not fleshed out a lot, but the video also was making the point that when we treat people like that, they are more likely to give precisely the behavior that we do not want.

A final point that I noticed was that even when we strive to provide a moral wake-up call, we still have a need to have an audit or policing process.  The point of this, though, is to ensure that the audit is aimed at the rare instance where one individual may abuse trust and makes it abundantly clear that we have a high level of trust in our community as a whole.  Our words and actions, though, need to convey this message; we need to be able to convey clearly what the expectations are of our community and organization.  These expectations aren’t lectures or commands, rather they are expressions of how important it is to the good of our organization and community to have people treated well, to have the highest integrity, and to do all we can to make Burlington a great place to live, work, and play.