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When Howard Moskowitz realized through his work that there was no single perfect pasta sauce, no single, perfect pickle, or no single perfect Pepsi, he tapped into the power of including multiple perspectives and choices in solving needs. He said – perfect sauceS, perfect pickleS, perfect PesiS. He tapped into the power of possibility in the ‘no single bullet’ way of solving problems. Recently George Nemeth asked me what small acts could people do to bridge the cultural divide from 20th Century methods of leading to 21st Century methods of leading. There are a million of small acts people and organizations could do – and should do – to strengthen our Region and its economy. After all, if there is no one perfect pickle, Pepsi or sauce, there can be no one perfect way to strengthen our Region and its economy.
A group of citizens from across the region – ages 14 to very wise – from at least 8 of the 16 ANEO counties – individuals from business, non-profits, government and the general public, convened to talk about forming a Northeast Ohio Citizen’s League. It was a small act. A small act with the purpose of committing to build an vehicle to solidify the citizen’s voice in regional improvement and innovation. It was a first step and they’ve got a lot of work to do, and welcome input and energy from committed, interested individuals from all over Northeast Ohio. More info will be posted here about it, and in the meantime you can contact the leaders, Mike Gesing and Georgia Reash, if you are curious to learn more.
The best parts of the meeting, in my opinion, were the passion, the commitment and the active listening that took place. To and by everyone at the table. When was the last time you had that experience – with people from 8 counties, aged 14 to very wise? Wow. The potential is huge.
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Comments
# Submitted by Georgia Reash -… on Thu, 07/10/2008 – 18:03.
Georgia Reash
Thanks, Laura, for acknowledge the first official meeting of The Northeast Ohio Citizens League. The beauty in this small act is the strength of vision of those who were present, as well as their commitment to citizen empowerment and action taking. Indeed, there was not one “small” in the room – as I believe anyone who believes in the power of one voice is a walking Giant.
My personal testimony in helping bringing the vision to life is this: for the first time in my 40plus years, I have a sense of empowerment, involvement, connection to my community. It is the first time my view toward governance structures is NOT apathetic. It is the first time I feel like we (and I mean all of the collective ‘we’) has a venue for facilitating objective, non-partisan vision.
It’s never easy to launch a vision, and most certainly challenging. But the truth is? Something about it already feels PERFECT. Because it originates from the hearts of all who are involved.
We are on the verge of something powerful.
And it begins with US.
# Submitted by Lou Schott (not verified) on Tue, 07/22/2008 – 07:35.
I am a little unsure of our ‘shared purpose statement’. I understand the scope of application is NEO. I understand the intent is to include all members of NEO. And, I have read the strategy.
Assuming that we have clarified our shared purpose then the next step in the creative problem solving process is to ‘list all of the problem statements’ that might keep us from reaching ‘our shared purpose’.
Can you point me to the ‘list of problem statements’?
Thanks,
Lou
