Posts Tagged ‘Jack Schultz’

Who is the “Amazing Maisie” in your community?

September 14th, 2010

We all need feel good stories, and Maisie Devore’s story delivers.  Maisie spent thirty years picking up aluminum cans to raise money for a pool in her hometown of Eskeridge, KS (pop 589).  In all, she raised around $100,000, and the pool was built. 

I first heard of Maisie’s story some years ago when it appeared in a rerun on the CBS Sunday Morning show.  At the time, I didn’t think too much about it.  Today, I stumbled across the video again, and three lessons for community development work popped out at me.  Watch the video and see if you agree.    


 

Maisie’s lessons for community development work

1. Big problems are only rarely solved by big solutions. Dan and Chip Heath teach us this lesson in their bestselling book about how leaders can best initiate change (Switch). But Maisie takes the lesson to a new level. While community leaders looked at the lack of a pool as being too daunting to tackle, Maisie looked for a simple solution and succeeded through perseverance.

2. Determination. In his book Boomtown USA, Jack Schultz identifies “adopt a can do attitude” as a key element for successful small towns. I’m not sure if the town of Eskeridge displays the same determination, but Maisie’s 30 year quest certainly qualifies.

3. Leadership comes in different forms. Watching the video, one gets the impression that Maisie is not your typical community leader. I think there’s a tendency in many communities to overlook people like Maisie when they are looking to get things done.

I tried digging around the Internet to see if I could learn more about what’s happened in the community since the pool was completed in 2001.  Did Maisie’s story inspire the community to take further actions?  I couldn’t find any answers, but I’m not sure that it matters.  Maisie’s story stands as a shining example of what one person can accomplish.

Maisie’s story of small town leadership is not the only example of its kind. Although different in many ways, Muriel Krusemark’s work in Hoffman, MN comes to mind.  In Howard, SD, we can lift up Randy Parry. 

Who’s the Maisie in your community?

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Getting out of my funk

April 30th, 2010

(Note: It’s Friday, which means this post is a part of our “I Feel Fridays” project.  Our goal is to share stories from the past week that generated an emotional response.  We encourage readers to respond to the post or to share something from their lives in the past week. To learn more about “I Feel Fridays,” check out this post- and then tell us what you’re feeling.)

 

I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and discouraged this week, causing me to be in an unproductive funk.  As the week draws to an end, I’d like to share how I’m trying to get out of this funk.  And I’d also ask you to offer any advice you believe might help.

The fallout from vacation

The first of my negative emotions stems largely from an unmanageably large “to do” list, which grew exponentially while I was on vacation recently.  As the list has grown, a sense of hopelessness has set in, decreasing my energy when I need it most.  I bet many of you can relate.

Currently, I’m attempting  to deal with this issue by doing a better job of prioritizing my daily “to do” list.  More importantly, I’m trying to focus on some advice offered by Seth Godin in his latest book, Linchpin.  Godin tells us that Linchpins (people who make a difference) do a better job of “shipping” products than others. 

By “shipping,” Godin means completing tasks on schedule and sending them off to market.  It might be a software product you’ve been working on, a presentation you’re going to give, or a marketing plan that’s critical to your business.   Linchpins find ways to ship products on-time, even when they feel the product is not quite perfect.

That’s where I’m at right now.  As I prioritize my tasks and work on my products, I’m trying to not let my fear of imperfection get in the way of shipping. 

Discouraged about the future of rural communities

The second of my negative emotions stems from a general sense of discouragement about the future of small towns.  This emotion comes from many sources but is highlighted by the recently announced temporary layoff by Knight & Carver Wind Group in Howard, SD.

The temporary layoff at Knight & Carver is personal.  Not only is the business in Howard, but I helped the company establish itself here in 2007, when I was the community’s economic development coordinator.  Even though I’m not directly involved in that work today, I still feel connected to it.

Before going further, let me say that my heart goes out to workers and their families who are dealing with the financial and emotional uncertainty of the layoff.  I know the company’s leadership cares deeply about its employees, and I’m confident they are doing their best to meet the challenge.

And that’s where I know I need to focus my attention.  Just as businesses must overcome challenges, so too must communities.  This isn’t the first challenge confronting Howard since our community development efforts began in the late 1990s, and it won’t be the last. 

As Jack Schultz identifies in his “7 ½ Keys to Big Success in Small Communities,” rural communities that thrive are those who adopt a “can do attitude.” To some, this may sound trite, but I think it’s a critical element of success community development work.  Adopting a can do attitude will prevent community leaders from wallowing in the fear and self pity that causes them to do nothing.   

And that’s where I’m at personally as well.  Prioritize better.  Ship more regularly.  And refocus on a can do attitude.  That’s how I’m attempting to get out of my funk.   If there’s something I’m missing, I hope you will help me out. 

 

Photo Credit – Secret Tenerife – Flickr

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Jack Schultz: It’s about entrepreneurship

April 12th, 2010

People love lists, and Jack Schultz has the ultimate list for rural economic development professionals:  7 1/2 Keys to Success in Small Towns.  If you haven’t heard, it’s worth reading. 

But which one is “The One”?  In other words, if a community had to choose, which one should it focus on?

Jack the evangelist

Last Thursday (April 8), Jack spoke to a group of community residents and students on the University of South Dakota campus.  I was already on campus working on another project, so I couldn’t resist crashing the party. 

Jack delivered what I expected; he evangelized on behalf of small towns, telling the audience to incorporate his 7 1/2 principles into their development effort.  I bought his book on its first printing, so I was familiar with his principles and stories.   It’s good stuff.

What impressed me most, however, was Jack’s statement that Principle #5: Encouraging an Entrepreneurial Approach is probably the most important development strategy for small towns to follow.  I didn’t get his exact quote, but Jack emphasized growth through entrepreneurship because the odds of landing a business through recruitment is slim.  For instance, last year there were only around 200 significant “smokestack chasing” projects in the entire country, and tens of thousands of communities were pursuing them.  In that light, growing your own entrepreneurs looks like a pretty good idea! 

What’s Jack doing about it?

Part of the reason Jack is a hit on the speaker trail is that he’s done it. Dating back to the 1980s, Jack has been helping his hometown of Effingham, Illinois (pop. 12,384) with its economic development initiatives.  When asked about the community’s entrepreneurship efforts, he responded by describing a recent initiative he’s been involved with. 

Here are the basics:

Listening to Jack, I could hear his passion for this project.  He claimed the training would be transformational, and I’m inclined to believe him.  Jack volunteered to share more information with anyone who was interested;  he’s already responded to my request with an e-mail.  Reading it has inspired additional questions, and I hope Jack (and others) will have some time to answer them.  As I learn more, I promise to share. 

Entrepreneurship education.  It’s something all rural communities need to learn more about. 

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