Brothers Grimm: A lesson for successful Economic Development strategies

In November 2015, I had a chance to visit a place I really love, the "Free and Hanseatic City" of Bremen.  The trip was taken in conjunction with a North Alabama regional economic development initiative, as part of the 2015 Space Tech Expo.  In many ways, Bremen is to Germany as Huntsville is to the United States: An historical and modern-day center of exceptional aerospace technology and capability, with spaceflight hardware development and operations heritage, condensed into a smaller, livable, and human-friendly city.

Of course, many of us first encounter Bremen not through spaceflight, nor in an economic or business development context, but instead through the famous Brothers Grimm fairy tale, "The Town Musicians of Bremen."  For those who haven't had the chance to read the story, or are a bit rusty on what they remember from the age of 5 or 6, the story is a simple one; about a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster.

Each of the four animals finds themselves in an 'economically untenable' position, in need of change for survival.  They each seek to find their future by setting out on the road to their freedom (in the Free and Hanseatic city), seeking to become a town-musician in Bremen.  (If only we all could sing like Mahalia Jackson, play banjo like Bela Fleck, piano like Johnnie Johnson, or guitar like Eric Clapton - life might be so much easier!). 

One by one, starting with the Donkey, the animals meet up with one another on the road.  Each of them - at least in theory - brings a different-but-not-obvious "skill" that could be applied, within the context of being a successful musician.  

After a journey of some time and distance, they eventually come to a house with a lighted window.  Cold, tired, and needing some rest, they work together - the rooster stands on the shoulder of the cat, who stands on the shoulders of the dog, who stand all atop the donkey, to look into the window.  

Inside, they see a group of robbers, enjoying a warm house.  To take over, they decide to make a collective cacophony - their only real 'music' - to scare away the robbers, who fear a beast they cannot recognize by what is an horrific and frightening sound.  The robbers run for their lives, and the animals enjoy the warmth of the house, and a good, hot meal.

The story doesn't end there.  One of the robbers returns to investigate the phenomenon which scared them all away.  The robber sees the eyes of the cat, thinking they are embers from the fire, and attempts to light a candle.  In rapid-fire, he is scratched by the cat, bitten by the dog, stomped by the donkey, and screeched-away from the place by the rooster.  

The robber reports back to his comrades that the house is beset by a witch who scratched him, a knife-wielding ogre who cut him, an evil giant with a huge club who beat him, and a judge who called him to account.  Fearing never to tread in the house again, the robbers abandon it to the four animals, who live happily ever after.

Image links to YouTube: "Town Musicians of Bremen"

For me, this is a story not about music, and decidedly not about Bremen.  (I have never been scratched, bitten, stomped, or screeched at in Bremen - their hospitality is simply outstanding!)  It is a story primarily about teamwork.  It is about the power inherent in the ability to integrate disparate parts into a completely new whole.  And it is about the need to 'get the team right,' even perhaps more than to 'get the right team,' or to 'seek the right goal,' before one can expect to achieve success of any kind.  

Driven by a common need and objective, and with each individual playing their unique roles which could not be played by the other, they found collective success.  They are improvisational, collaborative, and build on their mutually-recognized strengths, talents, and capabilities.  On the way to becoming musicians in Bremen, they became instead a band of a different kind:  A coherent team, finding their reward in a completely ingenious and unexpected way, not by 'who they were,' or 'what they were after,' but by 'how they interacted.'

Bremen Main Train Station - Photo by the author

Aside from Bremen - which notably the "Bremen Town Musicians" never reached - what does this have to do with the economic and business development trip?  In some way, we are all in a position where we need to continue to journey to find the future.  The present may be wonderful, and may be successful, but is hardly permanent.  We seek to grow business, not simply maintain business, or - heaven forbid - take pride in a well-managed decline.  

We cannot succeed, we cannot move forward, and we cannot grow without movement, change, and a journey.  In Bremen, the trip was about finding new opportunity, new growth, and new partners.  While we may be happy and content with our economic development situation today, tomorrow will be full of new challenges.

We are also not alone on this journey.  On this trip, we - the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the Morgan County Economic Development Association, the Alabama State Government (in the person of Senator Arthur Orr), and the representative of companies which also helped sponsor the visit - were the musicians.  Coming from different areas of expertise, different parts of our region, managing for different (but hopefully harmonious) outcomes, and needing/seeking change and growth for a variety of reasons, we were on this journey together.  As were many, many others from around the world who attended the Space Tech Expo.  

As we were journeying to Bremen, so were thousands of others.

Our success together is a function of how we integrate, how we operate, and how we leverage each others strengths.  None of us alone can build a brighter economic future for our city, region, or state.  But if we put ourselves together properly, and coherently, with each playing our unique but collaborative role, we may find more abundant and diverse successes than we could have imagined.

Time will tell if we were successful on this trip.  Our outcomes do not arrive as quickly as the end of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, or a 30 minute sit-com.  We need a bit more strategic patience, and sustained effort to really grow a healthy economic ecosystem for the future, based on our strengths, our valence, and our collaboration.  But early indications are positive.  Other companies looking to locate here.  Local companies looking to expand there.  Research collaborations discussed and pursued.  Cultural understanding enhanced.  Bridges built.  

Looking at the headlines, the slower-than-we'd-like economic recovery, and many of the challenges facing the world, one might say the future is grim.  However, after  our trip to Space Tech Expo in Bremen, I'm optimistic that it is better described as  "Grimm."

Here's to making fairy tales come to life, in 2016 and beyond.

This article appeared in the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce "Initiatives" magazine, February 2016.