Inspiring through impact in economic development

OK, true confession - I am a TED fan. For those who are not TEDaholics, TED is short for Technology, Entertainment and Design and is a nonprofit started in 1984 dedicated to spreading ideas that matter through presentations or "talks," each of which is 18 minutes or less. This one by Jim Hemerling, a Senior Partner and Manager at Boston Consulting Group, just got posted online this week, and it stuck with me.

In it, Hemerling talks about five strategic principles for leading (yes, that's what we as economic development professionals do) in an era of constant change (yes, we live this every day), which all have "Putting People First" as a common thread. Today, I wanted to share thoughts I had about his first strategic principle - "Inspiring through Purpose."

"Most transformations have financial and operational goals," he begins (4:37). He points out that leaders often get excited about the achievements of the organization, and I know I do. This year, we worked on 90+ projects, helped create and retain more than 1000 jobs, and helped stimulate $73 million in new investment. Check. We got our Downtown Development Plan completed. Check. We secured $450,000 in competitive funding for our downtown. Check. And on and on. We have our scope of work, which is our big goal and achievement list, and we're checking things off. We have quantifiable numbers to show we're producing a great return on investment for the public and the private sectors. Yes! I live for this kind of stuff. And I haven't even started on the fiscal impact analysis and increased tax revenue these projects will create.

But--and here's where he made me stop and think--most people don't get inspired by this (even though I, and I suspect many of my colleagues, do). Hemerling continues..."These (financial and operational goals) are important, and they can be energizing...to leaders. But they tend not to be very motivating to most people in the organization" (or people the community, I think.) He argues that in order to "motivate more broadly," we have to connect with "a deeper sense of purpose."

In the case of Lego, their sense of purpose is "Inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow." Lego's corporate growth is "not about increasing sales, but about giving millions of additional children access to Lego building bricks." Yes.

When I think about this for economic development (and downtown and community development), I think about more than the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) traditional definition of economic development, which is to "promote economic well-being and quality of life for their communities, by creating, retaining and expanding jobs that facilitate growth, enhance wealth and provide a stable tax base." Yes, OK, but boring. I feel like I just memorized a definition at school (oh wait, I did for the CEcD exam...lol). But, it simply doesn't have the emotional gut punch that the Lego purpose has.

The heart of economic development and what keeps it beating is the people whose lives we often drastically impact, but whom we usually never meet. The person who was without a job or looking to better their situation who has work that puts food on the table, a roof over their head, pays insurance, lets them go on vacation, lets them save for college for themselves or their kids. It's the person who spends time with their kids in a park we helped make happen, or the people who enjoy life more because they feel better about the community they live in. They have hope (or more hope). They have pride (or more pride). Their financial situation is better. Their emotional well-being is better. They are happier, and because of that, they contribute more to their family, friends, and community at large. And the whole thing just builds on itself, spreading out and impacting the world.

So, yes, the IEDC is right. We are looking to promote economic well-being and quality of life for communities. But what that really translates to is looking to promote economic well-being and quality of life for people in our community. So, a new focus area of activity has formed in my head (and heart) for us at SIEDC (my organization). I want to intentionally and strategically work to find and meet the individuals whose lives we have affected, get their stories, and share those stories with the great people I work with here at SIEDC, with our board and members, and with our partners, stakeholders, and the community at large. Many nonprofits do this a lot, but it is more challenging for us because we work directly work with businesses, not the people impacted by the projects they do.

The jump I'm looking to make, then, is from defining and communicating results to communicating impact. And I can't wait to find and tell those stories and experience the inspiration that is going to unleash. It's going to become one of the defining characteristics for 2017 for us.