Future Economy Council Meeting was awesome (4/16/2009)

Here is my report on this morning's Future Economy Council Meeting. Rick Smyre really got me to thinking about the possibilities for our community going forward into the future. We should be thankful that Danny Hearn has moved us in this direction.

Mr. Hearn made introductions of a few new members that will participate in our Future Economy Council: Mary Sizemore - Director, Hickory Public Libraries; Karen Foss - Director, Hickory Public Libraries; Patty Thompson, Mountain State University; Tom Alexander - Fire Chief, City of Hickory.

Mr. Hearn stressed the importance of utilizing library resources to get our message out. We have applied for a $10,000 grant from the Catawba Valley Community foundation. This money will go towards training 15 to 25 "Master Capacity Builders;" "Futures Institute Training at L-R, CVCC. and ASU;Improving the IT curriculum of Catawba County's 3 school systems; Transformative Dialogue Groups - to involve and educate the citizenry; and for Incidentals. Mr. Hearn stated that even if we don't get this grant, that there are other avenues available to raise the monies needed. We will know in 5 weeks whether we get this grant or not.

Mr. Hearn then introduced Rick Smyre. He was a CEO of a textile company in Gaston County and is a leading Future Development Specialist. He believes that we are in a period of Historical Transformation. He told us that he used to debate people, but now he has learned to listen and connect with what people are saying. He stated that everything he told us was an opinion and that he has no truth left in his body. One of the real challenges is to create a culture in communities where they can transform themselves.

His experiences led him to think structurally and linearly in the past. He used to debate upon what he heard. If he agreed with what a person thought, then he could carry on a discussion with the person. He said he really wasn't listening to what people were saying.

We need to learn to not just reform, we need to learn how to transform. Transformation means something has not been around (existed) before. Reformation is just changing something that already exists. Transformation requires people to rethink what they have thought for years. These are fundamental issues.

Dialogue is communication in the form of questions and statements. Dialogue is not enough in the transformative times we are in. We have to find value (a connection) in what one another are saying. This can help us with our capacity to innovate. The skill to ask appropriate questions is going to be more important at times than to make a statement.

Traditional Leadership is project oriented and is focused on outcomes.Transformative Leadership requires that we use new ideas that create a futures context. New ideas do not have a model or template to go by. If we don't open our minds to these new ideas, then we don't have the capacity to make the changes necessary to transform our community. We must have a sense of what is emerging, instead of being fixated on the way that things have always been.

Work of the future will be mental. Biological Principle says that you do not have innovation, growth, or evolution unless you have diversity. Diversity alone is not enough, you must have processes that allow that diversity to take shape. Nobody changes unless we as individuals decide that we must change. This is the reason that Statements are no longer effective. We must build connections between individuals. Questions help us to evolve and develop ideas and processes.

We are seeing 3 different Economies emerge:
1) The Knowledge Economy - Thought to be taking place from 2000 to 2025. Creation of an environment in the culture that supports continuous innovation that is always open to new ideas.

2) Industrial Economy - The Industrial age. Peaked in the 1980s. This is still the focus of most leaders in our community.

3) Creative Molecular Economy (Open Source Economy) - When you cannot control where you want to go, because you don't no where you are going, because things haven't been invented yet, then you have to create productive capacities. Adaptive planning says that you must work and network together (as individuals) to respond and adapt to what is emerging. Connectivity (And/Both reasoning) is important in understanding context, structuring statements, and objectives. The two major components a) Technology and b) Organization of economy and society around individuals, global innovation networks, and small groups.

People resist change, because of comfort. That makes it hard to make positive transformations in society. If we want to have our economy be vital and sustainable, then we must be willing to take what are considered radical approaches in changing society. We must depend on one another to achieve higher objectives. This is a systemic issue and we must build parallel processes to achieve objectives in an exponentially changing world.

We need to build relationships with cutting edge individuals that can help our area. These people might come to this area, if we are supportive of a Creative Molecular Economy. We must learn to collaborate and cooperate. Leaders need to develop environments where others can come to their own conclusions. We should not limit ourselves, because we are not willing to listen to others who might have different ideas than our own. That expands the mind.

Marching Orders - Lead and talk to one another. Ask questions of one another. Design a 6 month strategy. Bring our own ideas to the table, so that community transformation can emerge over the next 5 to 10 years. Build connections with people that we know virtually or personally and collaborate with them so that they can see the value in what we are doing.