I don't think it matters who sits in what deck chair on the titanic as long as our laws are designed to stop bad things from happening. I wonder if there is a way to dovetail this with a move toward a post-regulatory world where we eschew our imaginary sense of control and realize that our best chance at human survival is to set a general course and then government/electeds get out of the way. There will be graft and some bad things will happen, but guess what - we have this tightly controlled system and we still have graft and bad things happen. The folks who are hampered by the myth of regulatory control are very often the ones trying to do good things. If we could loosen up and shift our view toward cultivating good things, creating flexibility, and embracing a higher risk threshold we just might make space for more good things to happen. This would be a cultural shift and would require greater engagement by the voting public and would need to happen in parallel with a shift in leadership.
That's really interesting! Are there any places -- cities, states, countries -- that have taken that approach and seen success? Or would it be an entirely new approach?
I don't know of any cities, states, or countries. Trust is foundational. Most cultures today are rampant with distrust and fragmentation. There are indigenous cultures oriented toward seeing humans as helpers. The helper mindset engenders efforts to make good things happen.
I haven't worked in government, but based on conversations with lots of talented, motivated government workers, this diagnosis seems spot on. Our lack of trust makes it impossible for people to do their best work in government. Unfortunately this isn't something we can legislate a solution to! But it does seem that the public / journalists / electeds can work to change the culture slowly, starting by identifying it as a problem.
Do you know of any good articles or books that discuss this problem in more depth?
- Current resourcing for all of this is threadbare relative to the need. A big opportunity for more fundraising.
- Check out the Pipeline Initiative (pipeline.fund) for groups that do this work. There are several “campaign accelerators” like you describe; Run for Something in particular would be a model to invest in or, if you want a different focus, to replicate.
Thanks, David! And I think you're right that Run for Something and others (Arena , NDTC) have some overlap with what I talked about and will spend more time there.
I don't think it matters who sits in what deck chair on the titanic as long as our laws are designed to stop bad things from happening. I wonder if there is a way to dovetail this with a move toward a post-regulatory world where we eschew our imaginary sense of control and realize that our best chance at human survival is to set a general course and then government/electeds get out of the way. There will be graft and some bad things will happen, but guess what - we have this tightly controlled system and we still have graft and bad things happen. The folks who are hampered by the myth of regulatory control are very often the ones trying to do good things. If we could loosen up and shift our view toward cultivating good things, creating flexibility, and embracing a higher risk threshold we just might make space for more good things to happen. This would be a cultural shift and would require greater engagement by the voting public and would need to happen in parallel with a shift in leadership.
That's really interesting! Are there any places -- cities, states, countries -- that have taken that approach and seen success? Or would it be an entirely new approach?
I don't know of any cities, states, or countries. Trust is foundational. Most cultures today are rampant with distrust and fragmentation. There are indigenous cultures oriented toward seeing humans as helpers. The helper mindset engenders efforts to make good things happen.
I haven't worked in government, but based on conversations with lots of talented, motivated government workers, this diagnosis seems spot on. Our lack of trust makes it impossible for people to do their best work in government. Unfortunately this isn't something we can legislate a solution to! But it does seem that the public / journalists / electeds can work to change the culture slowly, starting by identifying it as a problem.
Do you know of any good articles or books that discuss this problem in more depth?
Great piece. Some quick thoughts:
- Current resourcing for all of this is threadbare relative to the need. A big opportunity for more fundraising.
- Check out the Pipeline Initiative (pipeline.fund) for groups that do this work. There are several “campaign accelerators” like you describe; Run for Something in particular would be a model to invest in or, if you want a different focus, to replicate.
Thanks, David! And I think you're right that Run for Something and others (Arena , NDTC) have some overlap with what I talked about and will spend more time there.