Here we go. So I am tired. I’m tired of fighting when all that does is cause strife and struggle. Winning a fight is a different example than that of delivering a product, service or solution. Remember that first term paper you completed and the accomplishment you had. THAT is why we need to switch things up, to change things in a positive way.
What I am switching to is change. Change needs to happen, change needs to happen to make us better, change is what our children need and change is the thing that will get us back to the right way of life. This isn’t a small change, although it starts that way. This change is to get our democracy, our national, state and local governments working effectively again.
So here’s what I envision. We need to have change happen similar to that of what many of the democrats want, large structural change, but done in a way that isn’t wholesale change. Nobody in this country does well with that. We’ve seen the pendulum swing over the last 30 years and it has had chilling effects. Our current administration is the result of of both underhanded election rigging, as well as years of progressively changing dynamics within our country.
Where we were once very collaborative in government and heck even in neighborhoods, we see more and more suspicion, concern and fear than ever before. We also have become numb to much of the negative change that has taken place over time. We have apathy when it comes to tasks that can be seen as mundane (for some, voting) even if those tasks come with a duty or responsibility as citizens of this nation.
So what I am proposing is that we take the next steps and do things in a small way to begin with and then build to the right level of change in every aspect of our government to improve it in the same ways we do other improvement s to organizations or products. Now I know some of you are thinking this is just some, “make government run more like a business” scheme. It is NOT that. Governments are NOT businesses and anyone that thinks they are should run for the board of a company. They just don’t work the same.
What is common to business and government is when you have groups of people that may not share the same exact values, perspectives or ideas, but they come together and work towards a solution to a problem. Now I’m not saying there isn’t fighting in some of those situations, but where that fighting occurs it many times is when perspectives are not understood or competing priorities come into play. This is why it is important to keep in mind that collaboration breeds compromise.
In the right context, compromise is not a bad thing. When we stop to look, listen and learn what someone from a different point of view is expressing, we can begin to find ways to compromise effectively. Without understanding all of the potential views on something it is impossible to accurately represent or build robust solutions.
Now getting something like this off the ground where we can collaborate at the highest level of government seems like a daunting task to most. Where the change we need comes from is in this collaboration and how we execute it. By starting in local and state governments first, we can begin to fix problems we see by identifying something we are passionate about in a state or local government and be open to look at it and really understand what is going on. It doesn’t have to be a huge project, it could be something as simple as wanting to understand what it would take to start a reading group or sports offering for kids in an afterschool program. It could be an issue you see every day in a public location (park, street, neighborhood) that needs some attention. And it doesn’t have to be a governmental issue. If you see a neighborhood association or non-profit that has a form of governance or volunteerism, get involved there.
Collaborating begins at the root of all that we do. It happens all around us and we need to take it, understand it, make it work for ALL of us to make our country fulfill the greatness we know is there for ALL.
There’s more coming on this, but I need to sleep…