Kathryn Witherington says the Idea Friendly Method has rewritten her perfectionist brain! She’s working on an affordable housing project in Walla Walla, Washington. Lately, she’s been trying to rethink the way people can contribute to their organization without being expected to join a committee or become a formal member. Kathryn said she recently met a…
When Rebecca Undem interviewed me, she shared a story that helps explain why some people just don’t seem to get excited by your idea. Rebecca bought and rehabbed an old building in Oakes, North Dakota, (population 1800) to support and develop more local businesses with coworking, an event venue, conference space, training space and a…
Kathryn Witherington recently confessed that she’s been using Idea Friendly for 6 years! Truly cannot say enough about the Idea Friendly method for this – I’ve used it in the last 6 years to create two downtown public spaces, including millions in investment from the city, and am now using it to grow affordable housing…
In our 10 Years of Rural Insights webinar last week, Jaime Shanks said in the chat: We recently formed a group after ReImagine Rural sessions – very loose group that is more about action vs. meetings. We call ourselves the “Vigiplantes” (based on vigilantes but we are planting new ideas, beautification, actual trees and plants)….
The city council members are not your enemy. The code enforcement officials are not your enemy. The funding board members who keep giving money to other projects are not your enemy. On every round of our Survey of Rural Challenges, people tell us about leaders not moving forward, officials not acting on suggestions or new ideas,…
Sometimes officials ask, “What should we do first?” or “What are the 10 things we should do?” It’s not just officials, either. All kinds of people and groups want to know, ‘what should we do first?’ You can find 10 things you can choose from, or do them all, right here. We’ve also provided links…
That headline–hope is as infectious as despair–came from Geoffrey Canada, of the Harlem Children’s Zone, speaking at the recent Council of State Governments East Annual Conference. You know I’m always taking notes, looking for ideas we can adapt from big cities and small towns to our own communities. I liked that statement about hope so…
No one creates jobs in a vacuum. To create new jobs, people need to connect to: Innovation works best when people connect with people outside their usual network, people who aren’t exactly like them. That makes it easier to put together pieces of seemingly unrelated ideas to generate a new idea. Your town has different kinds…
The first time I visited Pullman, Washington, in 2017, I bet half a dozen people told me they had a dirty sidewalk problem. Every time it rains, dirt and leaves and trash wash out of the streets and onto the sidewalks. As we walked around their downtown, they told me that they’ve done clean up…
I have so many stories from the amazing communities in Washington and Idaho that I toured and supported last month. People are doing heroic work to make their communities better. A new recreation area and ballfield is in process in Deary, Idaho. The next step is to install a culvert across part of it. Inspired…
And you can’t plan your way there, either. I ran into another one of those outdated “how to fix your rural community” prescriptions. I think you know the type I mean, written to address the “official leaders.” It started with shared vision, then planning (lots of planning), recruiting additional participants, assigning parts of the plan…
A couple of times last year I had the chance to hear Dell Gines talk about collaboration. Both times, he used the phrase “build robust networks for targeted purposes.” That resonated for me as Deb Brown and I often tell you stories about Building Connections and turning your crowd into a powerful network as part…
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