Bishoff’s comment read: 

I just came across your posts about the U Process. I’ve seen many summaries of Theory U. These are some of the best. Thank you for putting them out there!

It’s always nice when someone recognizes your work.  In this case, Bischoff was recognizing a 5-part series Joe Bartmann wrote describing the U Process, a theory of change the Rural Learning Center subscribes to.  Although Joe has moved on to the Sioux Falls Green Project, I felt proud that Bischoff was recognizing ReImagine Rural for offering quality advice. 

Bischoff’s comments also cause me to pause and reflect:  have I been practicing the U Process lately?  It forced me to go back, reread what Joe wrote about a year-and-a-half ago, and reflect on it.

Why should I care about the U Process?

In short, the U Process is a change theory that suggests the best way for problem solving is to:  (1) slow down and let go of your old thinking;  (2) deepen your understanding of the problems by listening and learning;  (3) let new ideas emerge from a quietness of your new understanding;  (4) and then jump into action with solutions.  

In some ways, it’s not a very radical theory to embrace; but practicing it is! 

As Joe describes in his opening post in the series, most of us in community development work define our problem and then jump into action.  We say we want to understand our problems more deeply, but in practice, we rush into solving them.  The result is that we end up investing more time and energy into the work of solving the problem than we might have had to if we would have spent more time trying to understand it.  What’s worse is that rushed to solutions often aren’t solutions at all-they do little to solve the real problem.

What this meant to me today

As I pause and reflect on my work lately, I realize that my engine has been so revved up by all the work I have to do that I’m not taking the time to deepen my understanding of the issues I’m working on.  In addition to creating shallow thinking, I believe this hectic, get ‘er done attitude is partly to blame for the low energy in my batteries.

If you feel like I have lately, I highly recommend you dig into U Process.  Check out Joe’s 4-part series (I’ve posted the links below) and find other resources describing it on the web.  Then spend some time really digging into the problems you face through this new lens, and let the new ideas emerge. 

I think you’ll find the solutions that emerge are more focused and more approriate — and I bet you’ll have a lot more energy as well.    

The U Process on ReImagine Rural

• Part 1 — Introduction to the U Process:  a theory of change
• Part 2 — U Process:  Those pesky Mental Models
• Part 3 — U Process:  Levels of Listening
• Part 4 — U Process:  The Big Ah-ha!
• Part 5 — U Process:  Enacting Change
• Other posts about U Process on Reimagine Rural

I think the same is true for our rural communities.  Many of our small towns have laxidasically watched as economies have faltered, people have moved, and Main Streets have emptied.  That’s what the road of compliance looks like. 

My analogy of how this plays out in rural communities looks something like this:

Small town economies are like a large boulder rolling down a hill.  It doesn’t take anyone’s time or effort for the boulder to continue rolling down the hill.  But, if you recognize that rolling down the hill isn’t the right path for the boulder and you want to change its course, it takes a ton of effort.  First, you have to stop the boulder.  Then, you have to push the boulder up the hill.  It takes time, effort, strategy, people. And initiative. 

The goal of initiative is changing the momentum; whether it’s a boulder rolling down a hill or changing the economy of your community.  Compliance, or looking the other way, is the easy path, but it is probably not the path of success.

So, what path do you choose: the path of compliance or the path of initiative?  As Godin points out, today’s economy rewards those with initiative. 

Photo Credit:  Rita Willaert, Flickr

I recently discovered this great example of youth engagement in rural Perth County, Ontario. 

Under an initiative developed by the Perth County Econoimc Development Offices, MS2 Productions, a local production company, has been offering Social Media Boot Camp training classes to local businesses.  The training involves a 3-hour overview session on social media marketing and hands-on training focused on specific social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. 

To promote the training, the company produced a video which I’ve embedded below. (It’s so good, I wish Perth County, Ontario was closer so that I could have attended.)

Perth County Social Media Boot Camp from MS2 Productions - Your Complete on Vimeo.

But it is what’s happening behind the scenes that sets the training apart. In addition to encouraging businesses within each rural community to work together, they are engaging students as social media consultants.  As Melissa Schenk, Executive Producer of MS2 Productions explained to me via e-mail:

Local Businesses will hire CO-OP students to be their Social Media Marketers… The Baby Boomers learn from students how to use the Social Media Sites, but the students in turn - learn more about local businesses, how to better put these social media sites to good use, and are providing a valuable resource of information in their communities. Not to mention students are engaging more with businesses, that they might never have had the opportunity or an interest in otherwise.”

In short, young people and business owners are learning from each other.  And in the long run, these young people will better appreciate life in their rural communities and be better prepared to recognize business opportunities after completing their education.

Additionally, I think projects like this will lead to the educational reform that Richard Florida has been talking about lately: creativity, technology, and social.  All are 21^st Century skills that young people need to be successful.  Come to think of it, those are the same skills rural communities leaders need as well.

Note:  Melissa Schenk  sent me a message correcting my initial post, which did not credit the Perth County Economic Development Office for the project.  My apologies to Bernia Wheaton, Perth County Economic Development Coordinator.  I love this story even more knowing that economic development professionals are leading the charge!

Even though my alma mater won the game, this scolding still bothered me this morning.  I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.  Luckily, I caught a tweet from Becky McCray that brightened my spirits.  That tweet read:

RT @jrr2ok: If you haven’t pissed off some people in four years, you probably haven’t done much that matters.

In the grand scheme of things, I have to admit my cheering probably didn’t matter that much.  And the lady who complained to me was probably just trying to pick a fight with me because her team lost.  But anyone who has served in a leadership role in a community can relate to that situation.   Doing things that matter causes problems, and leaders have to be prepared to deal with it. 

But when you get yelled at because you’re doing something that matters, whether it is supporting a basketball team or fighting for your rural community, I hope someone is there to brighten your day, like Becky did for me.  And remember that you don’t have to apologize for it either. 

Note:  Thanks to Jim Rogers for the original tweet.

Today, however, I noticed some web traffic to Reimagine Rural from the Chamberlain Sun Facebook page.  When I traced the links back, I discovered the page was set up by the Chamberlain Sun newspaper to spotlight the Chamberlain/Oacoma, SD community.  It’s the first example I’ve witnessed of a small town South Dakota newspaper using Facebook!   

Way to go Chamberlain Sun!

I’d like to highlight what I see the newspaper doing (in other words, their strategy) with their Facebook Page because I think they’ve got some good stuff happening.  Here’s a bit of it:

• They highlight community events on their wall: Stuff like, “Parents night for Boy’s BB is tonight” and “the wrestler send-off for the state tournament is going to start at….” That’s important because some of these events may not get as much notice in print materials because they are somewhat spontaneous.
• They use the notes feature to highlight some of the stories they are working on for the paper: Actually, I haven’t read the paper version of the Chamberlain Sun, so I’m assuming that stories like “Gymnasts take 6^th at State” also make the print edition. I think that’s a good bet, especially since the story also appears on the newspaper’s website.
• They do a bit of advertising: Nothing over the top, just stuff like “here’s our number if you want to place a classified advertisement.”
• They recognize local stories that appear in other online sites: One example here is that they linked to my post about the Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. This is easy to do, and I think it has a huge upside. After all, I’d be much more likely to buy an advertisement if the newspaper promoted my business when there was nothing in it for them. Nice.
• They become fans of local businesses: By becoming fans of other local businesses I can see who’s all on Facebook. This might be very valuable for tourists who are travelling to and through the region.

Very impressive.  I could keep going, but readers should be able to learn from and hopefully be inspired by the newspaper’s use of Facebook. 

I’m going to add the Chamberlain Sun’s use of Facebook to the list of examples we use on Monday night in our Facebook class.  If you know of any other great examples of businesses in small, rural communities who do a great job of using Faceboook, we’d love to be able to share them as well.

I was reminded of the power of symbols yesterday during two presentations at the Launch10, an entrepreneurship conference by Dakota Wesleyan University.  The first reminder came from keynote speaker Sheena Lindahl, and the second came from three young South Dakota entrepreneurs, Matt Douglas, Matt Smart, and Lezlie Kaitfors.  Both presentation offered symbols of entrepreneurship and success for the largely college-aged crowd in attendance — but in very different ways.

Sheena’s presentation revolved around taking limited resources and turning them into something big.  To make her point, she drew on her personal story of growing up in poverty in rural New Hampshire (or Vermont, I forget which). 

Sheena described herself as an average high school student who always wanted to go to New York City, despite being afraid of it.  Facing her fears (a common theme throughout the day), Sheena enrolled at New York University and hopped on the bus for NYC - even though she didn’t have the money to pay for the semester.  Through determination and hard work, she consistently overcame every obstacle put in her path.  Today she’s a Gen Y entrepreneur rock star. She’s definitely someone every young person in the audience can aspire to become.

While a symbol herself, what struck me most about her presentation was how NYC served as the symbol that inspired her.  She was going to “make it” in New York City, and that thought drove her.  

Although unintentional, I’m afraid that young people in the audience may also interpreted NYC as a symbol for success.  In other words, they have to go off to the big city to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurial success.  Maybe that’s just my interpretation, and I know Sheena didn’t intend it.  But as a rural community fanatic, I worry about the constant messaging that preaches this idea.

Personally, I was more inspired by the round table involving the young South Dakota entrepreneurs.  After briefly highlighting their personal stories, the session turned into a question and answer period.  In contrast to other speakers during the day, these three entrepreneurs were not polished presenters who made their living telling others how to become entrepreneurs.  They shared an authentic and inspirational message about what it’s like to be young South Dakotan entrepreneurs. 

I was particularly struck by how well they answered a question about what South Dakota high schools should be doing to help develop future entrepreneurs.  I want to share their responses with you:

• Lezlie Kaitfors explained that she thought everyone should take businesses classes because they relate to all aspects of a person’s life. After all, couldn’t every family do a better job of developing and following a budget?
• Matt Douglas wished more educators would help young people realize that owning their own business was a real possibility. Too much emphasis is placed on getting a job, which causes people never consider the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
• Matt Smart recommended that students receive constant exposure and practice in entrepreneurial thinking. For instance, being able to recognize opportunities takes practice, and the process should start at a young age.

Through these and other answers, the three reminded the audience that young people don’t have to go out of state to be successful entrepreneurs.  That’s a message that excited me!

But what’s more powerful?  Images of NYC or stories of young people?  I’m afraid that NYC’s visibility is naturally more powerful.  I guess that’s where Sheena’s message of overcoming adversity comes back into play.  Those of us with a passion for South Dakota have a responsibility to share stories of successful South Dakota entrepreneurs. 

In the future, we’ll try to do a better job of that here at ReImagine Rural.

While talking to Jim Beddow about the Launch10 Conference a couple weeks ago, I learned that fellow Wesleyan alumnus, Eric Pulse is part of new business venture in Kimball, SD (pop. 745). Thinking that he might have an interesting perspective on these questions, I gave Eric a call, and we chatted about his venture, The Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. It turns out he had a lot to share.

I’d really hoped to share the story about the startup of this rural business in greater detail today, but time just hasn’t cooperated.  I do, however, want to share one piece of advice Eric had to offer. 

Before ending our call, I asked Eric what advice he had for entrepreneurs.  He responded, “Don’t be the person who sits back and wonders in ten years, what if…?”

Sage advice.  I think it speaks to rural communities as well, which brings us back to why I’m attending the Launch10 conference.

There are lots of models for supporting entrepreneurs.  Littleton, CO’s Economic Gardening process and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship’s E2 model come to mind.  But communities leaders, like business leaders, can’t sit back and wait for entrepreneurs to appear and then expect them to be successful on their own.  Instead we’ve got to be intention and be prepared to support them.  Or else in ten years, we’re going to be the one’s wondering “what if…?”

 Source location:  “Tom Brokaw explains Canada to Americans,” J9406051’s Channel on YouTube,

Social, Economic, and Political.  Brokaw shows the connections between run deep.  Watching the video, I think most Americans understand that the U.S. and Canada need each other for continued prosperity. 

Sadly, I’m not sure that same level of respect exists between urban and rural Americans.  Being online as much as I am, I see a lot of news reports, blog posts, and comments suggesting Rural America’s only significant value is that it provides cheap food for cities — where the real economic activity gets done.  Perhaps my take on this issue is still jaded by the recent negativity associated the Hazelton, ND story, but I don’t think I’m far off. 

So what can be done about this lack of respect?

Respect is a two-way street, and Rural America could show respect by getting over some of the stereotypes we hold about urban culture.  That’s probably a good place to start.

I also wonder if Tom Brokaw could be part of the solution.  After all, he’s a product of rural South Dakota and has a pretty good feel for both rural and urban people.  Perhaps a video production like the U.S.- Canadian piece would help raise awareness of this issue.

But at the end of the day, videos, while helpful, seldom produce transformative, long-term results.

To accomplish lasting change, we may want to consider a model being developed by Minnesota Rural Partners called Rurb.MN.  The project seeks to generate conversation about rural-urban connections with the goal of stimulating economic growth and innovation. 

I encourage you to check out this blog post describing the project in greater detail.  I need to dig into the project in greater detail myself and have fired off an e-mail with a few questions.

I hope the project’s impacts will be substantial and transformative; that’s what is really needed for rural and urban communities.

I’ve never met Caleb in person, but I’ve been familiar with Ord, Nebraska since the late 1990s when both Ord and Howard were active with the Rural School and Community Trust.  Since that time, I’ve been impressed with the community’s entrepreneur support system and continued investment in young people.   There’s no doubt they are one of the rock stars in rural community development. 

Caleb has been the executive director of the chamber and development group for about a year and one-half.  He brings with him experience with sales and marketing in the technology and health care fields, which might explain his zeal for blogging.  Caleb recently answered the following questions for me, which I hope will inspire more rural communities to recognize the value that blogging offers. 

What’ the purpose of Ord Sunshine Pumping, and why use a blogging platform?

First, I love to write, especially about issues involving rural development.  It’s my passion and I find blogging is a great way to share a story about rural issues.  I feel we have a great story to share in Ord, because of the tremendous success we’ve had in the last 10 years and blogging is such a great social tool to share it with, like communities facing the same issues we’ve had.  Since we’ve had this great success, blogging makes it easy to take those models, ideas, examples and overall rural economic philosophy and share it with the world.

More importantly, however, is the that the blog allows me a direct conversation with my community, in a dynamic and social way, to weave the “what” of what we are doing with the “why” of its importance.  There is no filter, and with social media like a blog, you can connect it to a greater whole and then you begin to see why the work we accomplish in Ord is so important to all rural communities.

We often hear from community leaders who say they don’t have time for writing on a blog. How do you deal with time issues?

Everyone has time.  Saying they don’t have time is a total cop-out.  Many people don’t like to write, and that’s totally okay.  But using the “I don’t have time” routine is just an easy way out.  As for blogging, I find it is a great outlet for me to tell our story.  But making time is about prioritizing my schedule to make it work.  Plus, blogging cuts down on a ton of extra time I spend with press releases to local and statewide media, along with our monthly, quarterly and annual reporting.  Blogging actually saves me time.  Prioritizing my schedule means something has to lose or it’s delegated to one of my staff.  I’m blessed to have great staff that gives me the ability to dedicate my time to blogging.  Plus, I find when you’re passionate about something, getting it done isn’t too tough.

When did you start the blog and what have you learned about the process of operating a community blog since then?

I’ve been blogging on and off for about 6-7 years now, and our current blog has been in operation for a little over a year.  What have I learned?  First, building a robust conversation about *positive* things is much harder than talking about the negative.  Second, finding local contributors that are willing to take on the workload of actually doing the writing is difficult.  I’d love to have more contributors on our blog and we’re just starting to expand our efforts this year.  I anticipate having 2 additional contributors by year’s end, but like you said above, it’s a time sink.

Finally, I think honesty is appreciated.  While I’m the Chamber dude, and pumping sunshine is part of my modus operandi, being honest about my love for rural communities, especially in Nebraska, has won our blog a lot of fans.  Authenticity counts BIG TIME.

Do you have any stories that exemplify the impact the blog has had on your work?

Yes, two specifically.  First, in Spring of 2009 I wrote an innocuous post about wine tasting in Central Nebraska.  While some of the wine aficionados may bat an eye at this, we really do have some fab wineries in Central Nebraska and their wine is pretty darn competitive to what I’ve had out of Chile or Napa.  Seriously.  This one post here earned us a lot of publicity.  A writer from NPR happened to be driving through the Great Plains and picked up on the blog post and bam!  We had national coverage.  The piece ran on NPR here: 

The other post I would say exemplifies our “what” and “why” would be this post on our 100 new business in Valley County (and Ord) since 2000.  Of those 100, 78 are still in business, lending to the power of dedicated economic gardening.  We spend a lot of time and effort grooming entrepreneurs and building supportive programs to keep their businesses in operation.  To say we’ve seen 100 new businesses in a county of 4500 and a community of 2200 is straight amazing.  That post can be found here.

Photo Description:  The above photo show FFA students from Ord H.S. who participated in a project with the local economic development group and an ethanol plant.  It’s an example of Ord’s continued commitment to engage the youth in their community.

I believe the “this” Florida references is the gentrification of some urban neighborhoods, especially as it occurs in once down-and-out and working class neighborhoods. 

I draw this conclusion largely from the New York Times article that he links to titled “A Contrarian’s Lament in a Blitz of Gentrification.”

The article looks at the gentrification of New York City’s neighborhoods, through the eyes of Sharon Zukin, a Brooklyn College professor.  Zurkin laments this gentrification and identifies urban theorist Jane Jacobs as partially to blame.

Jacobs looked at cities as organic, self-regulating organisms that planners often screwed up.  She loathed the suburban car culture and it’s sterile, middle-class only suburbs.  Her zeal for local economy, mixed use neighborhoods and a bottom up approach to community planning have no doubt played a role in the resurgence of urban neighborhoods across the country.  But as the article points out, gentrification can be an unwanted result.

I’m a huge fan of Jane Jacobs, but Zurkin raises some good points.  I found one of her comments in the article particularly interesting:

“Much of what made these neighborhoods unique lives on only in the buildings, not the people.” (source:  Michael Powell, “A Contrarian’s Lament in a Blitz of Gentrification,”  New York Times, 2-18-10)

People, not buildings, make a place interesting.  That’s something all of us in community development should hold onto.

I also think most of our small, rural communities could benefit from becoming “more interesting,” and I’d advocate that we consider some of Jane Jacobs’s ideas for inspiration. 

To begin we can look at the physical design of our communities as a starting point.  Simply put, we have to look better.  It’s that belief that lead the Rural Learning Center to co-develop Design:SD. 

But design alone is not the answer.  We must showcase the talents and creativity of the people who live in our small towns.  That’s why the emphasis on cultural activities in Dr. David Ivan’s “Can Small Towns be Cool?” research resonates with me.  It’s also part of the reason I advocate that rural communities consider the strategy of developing “third places” as a part of their economic development plan. 

The above are by no means the only ways rural communities can become more interesting.  But it’s a start.

So what’s your community doing to make itself more interesting?