Posts Tagged ‘Switch’

Growing Boldly: A case for leadership

February 9th, 2011

Last week I quoted David Campbell's article about the importance of working together in rural economic development. I ended the post by asking: "How do we make it happen?"

Getting organizations to work together is a difficult task because it requires a change in mindset; rather than just looking out for what's best for their individual organization, they have to decide to do what's best for the community as a whole. That's tough. And that's why I asked the question. In Campbell's original post, he identified the motivation for writing the post as a video interview of Roger Jackson from the Own the Podium project, a group that helped organize the Vancouver Olympics. Thanks to a commenter posting a link, I've embedded the video below.

(click here to watch the video)

As I watched the video, I picked up the following tips for leaders who are attempting to get the organizations in their rural communities to work together.

1) It starts with leadership and vision. Someone has to take responsibility for the effort and be ready to share a concrete vision for what success looks like. (I also think that everyone has to be able to see where they fit into that vision.)
2) You need a plan. Or more precisely, you need to communicate a well-thought out plan that has enough flexibility in it so that it can be revised when you learn about specific needs from the other stakeholders.
3) Don't accept compromise that weakens the plan. To achieve this, Roger Jackson stated that they constantly asked the stakeholders, "If you owned the company and this was your money, would this be a good investment? Would this be the way we change our company to make it better?"

Direct the Rider. Motivate the elephant.

As I wrote out these ideas, I was struck by how well they coincided with the advice provided by Dan and Chip Heath in Switch: How to change things when change is hard. A major premise of the book is that every person's brain is ruled by two different systems: an analytical mind and an emotional mind. To explain how these systems work, the Heaths ask us to think of the imagery of a rider on top of an elephant. The rational mind (symbolized by the rider) attempts to direct the emotional mind (symbolized by the elephant). The reality is that an elephant can go wherever its emotions lead them. The point is that you need both parts to work in conjunction with each other for change to happen. As the Heaths explain it, this can be done by "Directing the Rider" and "Motivating the elephant." That's what Jackson describes in the video. Our rational mind needs direction in order to stay motivated. Our emotional mind, on the other hand, needs to embrace a feeling. We need see a vision that connects with us emotionally, and we need to be able to see ourselves in that vision. I think Jackson's comments and the Heaths framework offer practical advice for initiating the change in behavior necessary to get people within our communities working together. It's not an easy process, but leadership and vision go a long way.

Tags: Leadership, Switch
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (1)

How do future doctors decide if they locate in rural or urban communities?

January 13th, 2011

I stumbled across an online forum and a newspaper article last week that has caused me to wonder, "How do future doctors decide if they locate in rural or urban communities?" I'm not sure that I'm qualified to answer that question, but I'm hoping we can attract some thoughts here. But first, let me highlight those two online resources that brought the issue forward.

First up is "County doc, city doc," published in The Economist. The article highlights the shortage of family practice doctors, attributing the shortage to the disparity between the $175,000 average salaries of a family practice doctor and the $385,000 to $519,000 salary of some medical specialists. The shortage of family practice doctors hits rural communities hardest because rural communities need family practice doctors, not specialists. The article goes on to highlight financial "incentive" programs intended to recruit future doctors to underserved regions. The second example of a rural doctor story came to me in the Road Bike Review forum. A member of the forum from rural Nebraska initiated the thread by asking forum members advice in answering the looming decision on where he should become a doctor. He writes, "My heart wants to go to a smaller town, one like I grew up in. The problem is that my head knows rural America is dying and that there are more opportunities in a larger city. How am I supposed to meld these two opposing ideas?" The question this forum member and future doctor asks is one that many young professionals face. It's one that we've been thinking about as we work on attracting and retaining teachers in rural schools as a part of the GoTeachSD program.

Turning to the Social Web

A couple things stood out as I thought about how future doctors are making their career decisions. First, this future doctor from the biking forum is turning to the social web for answers. This doesn't surprise me. We know that people, especially younger people, trust information being shared from their social networking friends more than they do from static sources like websites and advertisements. Seeing it in action has caused me to wonder if there is an opportunity for an enterprising rural community in need of a doctor to develop a "listening strategy" on the social web. By this, I mean setting up a Google Alert or some other "listening" tool that helps identify future doctors who are asking questions online about their future.

Identity or Consequence decision making

A second thought that emerged from this reading is that future doctors use either an Identity or a Consequence model when deciding whether to locate in a rural or urban community. I learned about the identity and consequence form of decision making from Dan and Chip Heath in their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. In a chapter titled "Grow Your People," they suggest that everyone uses either a consequence model or an identity model when making decisions. The consequence model is a cost-benefit form of decision making. For example, if I practice medicine in a rural community, I will enjoy a stronger relationship with my patients, but I will not make as much money. In the identity model, people answer three questions when making decisions. (1) Who am I? (2) What kind of situation is this? (3) What would someone like me do in this situation? If a person has a strong identity as a rural resident, that person is much more likely to answer these questions in a way that leads them to become a rural family practice doctor. Recognizing how people make decisions presents an opportunity for individuals seeking to recruit people to rural places. As the Heaths note, "So the question is this: How can you make your change a matter of identity rather than a matter of consequences?" (p. 154) Figuring out how to do that is the challenge. I'm not sure that these are the only ways that future doctors make their decisions on where to locate. But I do believe it's a topic that with those of us with a passion for rural places need to understand better. Photo Credit: Churl - Flickr

Tags: doctors, Identity, social media, Switch
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (6)

Buy Acomplia Rimonabant Without Prescription

September 14th, 2010

Buy Acomplia Rimonabant Without Prescription, 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, buy Acomplia Rimonabant online without prescription. Acomplia Rimonabant prescriptions, 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, Acomplia Rimonabant to buy. Fast shipping Acomplia Rimonabant, In his book Boomtown USA, Jack Schultz identifies "adopt a can do attitude" as a key element for successful small towns, buy generic Acomplia Rimonabant. Acomplia Rimonabant discount, 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, Acomplia Rimonabant to buy online, Acomplia Rimonabant from international pharmacy, 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, buy no prescription Acomplia Rimonabant online, Buy cheap Acomplia Rimonabant, 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, Acomplia Rimonabant over the counter. Rx free Acomplia Rimonabant, Although different in many ways, Muriel Krusemark's work in Hoffman, Acomplia Rimonabant in mexico, Order Acomplia Rimonabant no prescription, MN comes to mind. In Howard, SD, buying Acomplia Rimonabant online over the counter, Acomplia Rimonabant in india, we can lift up Randy Parry.

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Tags: Jack Schultz, Kansas, Leadership, Switch
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (3)

Buy Avapro Without Prescription

December 14th, 2009

We've known for quite some time Dan and Chip Heath intended to include the story of the "Miner County Cash Flow Study" Buy Avapro Without Prescription, project in their next book, Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard. Chip interviewed Randy Parry about the project at Grassroots and Groundwork Conference in St. Avapro in india, Paul, MN a couple years ago.

Having the project, Avapro buy, Avapro in uk, which kick started our development efforts in Miner County, SD, Avapro gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release, Where can i buy Avapro online, mentioned in Switch is pretty exciting for me. I'm a huge fan of their first book, Made to Stick, where can i buy cheapest Avapro online, Avapro over the counter, and I regularly seek out their monthly column in FastCompany as the first article I read in the magazine.

Yesterday, I stumbled across this blog post and learned a bit about how they intend to use the story of the cash flow study in Switch. The author interviewed Dan and Chip, buy Avapro online no prescription, Avapro from canadian pharmacy, and wrote the following:

Another fascinating component of the conversation was the Heath's belief that "big problems are only rarely solved by big solutions." They argued that big changes must be shrunk into the smallest components possible and attacked bite by bite. Very thought-provoking for someone passionate about the importance of the follower, saturday delivery Avapro. Buy Avapro no prescription, The illustration used here was that of some kids in a South Dakota small town economics class who managed to save their town simply by encouraging everyone in town to spend just 10% more of their money locally. And it worked!" (Source: "Chip/Dan Heath - Switch, Avapro prescriptions, Purchase Avapro online no prescription, " Hogshadows. 8-8-09)

Big problems can't be solved by big solutions. That makes me think of Rosa Parks. One lady, who refused to give up her seat on a bus, helped launch the Civil Rights movement. Of course, her singular action - standing up to the injustice of segregation on Montgomery, AL buses -- didn't eliminate discrimination overnight, but her effort played a pivotal role in solving a problem many, at the time, deemed insurmountable.

It may be a bit presumptive to compare the herculean efforts of Rosa Parks and the civil rights activists who toppled segregation in the South to the efforts of Howard H.S, Buy Avapro Without Prescription. students who raised awareness about the importance of spending their money locally; but I think the Heaths are onto something important when they say the solutions to big problems must be attacked in smaller, buy generic Avapro, Order Avapro from United States pharmacy, more manageable bites.

Of course, in the community development world, over the counter Avapro, Where to buy Avapro, it means you also need sustained leadership. The students who participated in the Miner County Cash Flow Study project addressed one issue - local spending - but it took a decade of sustained community development efforts to achieve success in Miner County. Rural decline is, buy Avapro online cod, Avapro discount, after all, a pretty complex issue, fast shipping Avapro. Avapro trusted pharmacy reviews, And do we ever really achieve success. Like fighting discrimination, Avapro tablets, Buy Avapro without a prescription, transforming the economies of our small, rural communities will take constant vigilance. It's safe to say that something WILL go wrong in Miner County at some point in the future. A business will struggle or a building will be destroyed by fire. One never knows the challenges the future will bring, real brand Avapro online. Next day Avapro, But tackling big issues with small bites and developing sustained leadership makes a lot of sense as a foundation for creating change in our rural communities. I look forward to what else the Heaths have to say on the subject in Switch.

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Tags: Dan and Chip Heath, Made to Stick, Miner County Cash Flow Study, miner county sd, place based education, Switch
Posted in Community Development, In the News, Leadership, Rural | Comments (3)

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