Blog
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Take the Obama 100 Days Citizen Test
As President Obama's first 100 days near completion, the question is: Where do you think we are as a nation? The pundits and pollsters and press will try to steal the limelight by pontificating endlessly and giving us their prognostications. Let them do their thing, and in the meantime let us think for ourselves. Take the First 100 Days Citizen Test below, and let me know where you think we are.
For many people Barack Obama's election last November signaled a dramatic change in the direction and tone of American politics. In fact, in the last month or so, I've been with civic leaders from numerous other countries, and many felt compelled to tell me how positive they feel about the U.S. now that Obama is in office.
Since before his inauguration, Obama set out to aggressively put forth his agenda. Action has been taken, or initiated, on a whole host of fronts -- including the financial bailout, the stimulus package, auto-company supports, health care, and various foreign policy shifts from closing Guantanamo to ending torture to sending new signals to Iran.
For sure there's lots of action, maybe even more than any president since Franklin Roosevelt. But what do you make of it? The president ran on the notion of "hope and change," how are we doing? Here are some questions that I hope you'll consider about the president and his administration's first 100 days:
1. Do you believe the nation is moving in the right direction and, if so, what do you point to?
2. To what extent do you feel the first 100 days is generating "authentic hope," and to what extent do you see "false hope?"
3. Is your confidence in the ability of government to act effectively growing or not -- and why?
4. How do you feel about those who have different views from the president: are they providing an effective opposing voice -- and, if not, what would make them more effective in terms of a healthy public debate?
5. Do you feel there is emerging common ground among people about how the country needs to move forward?
The reason why I believe questions like these are important is because when change occurs, it is often hard to see, confusing to interpret, and for every couple of steps forward there are steps backward. So, on balance, what do you make of what's happening? How does this current period feel for you?
You can answer one or all of the questions I posed. But I urge you to think about them. And I also encourage you to use them with others -- at a staff meeting, in a book club, with others at your place of worship, around the dinner table.
We'll all hear a lot from those who get paid to give us their opinions. For sure, it makes sense to factor those voices into our own thoughts. But they ought not to serve as a substitute for own thinking and judgment.
For me, my goal is to find ways to make hope real for every person in America. Such change won't happen overnight, but are we on the right path?
Take the First 100 Days Citizen Test, and let me and others know what you're thinking. -
When inflection points haunt you
We've all come face-to-face with inflection points in our professional lives and our personal relationships too. In these moments it is clear we must address a deep problem or make difficult choices; the current trajectory must change. But the problem is most of us run away from inflection points just when we need to face them.
During these topsy-turvy times you've probably encountered some wicked inflection points that are causing sleepless nights and much consternation. How you deal with these moments will determine your effectiveness and success. In just the past few weeks I've seen a number of inflection points:
*At a board retreat, participants who had traveled from across the nation, and some from around the globe, became agitated about the direction of an afternoon strategy discussion, and brought it to a head by pointedly saying that much of the meeting was a waste of their time. What to do, and was all lost?
*Many organizations, including my own, face budgetary decisions as a result of the economic downturn. Our instinct can be to turn inward and try to squeeze every last nickel from our budgets, but is that the right way to proceed?
*In civic engagement efforts there is often a fear of conflict,because it's uncivil, seemingly unproductive, and uncomfortable. But where does this leave us since most issues people care about are emotional?
Inflection points are inherently dramatic. At each inflection point, people reach a critical juncture, when their actions will determine whether they'll move ahead, be derailed, or simply get stuck. If people can leverage the energy of the inflection point, they can propel themselves forward -- indeed, make a leap.
But too often we try to go around inflection points, which leave the underlying issues unresolved. We seek to diffuse them, only to be haunted by the issues at a later time. In some cases, we try to ignore inflection points, hoping they'll go away.
My own experience is that we must run into an inflection point, bringing a desire to engage it, own it, and work it. This takes an undying willingness to see reality for what it is -- not to try to reframe or recast it, or deny it, or wish it was different. For inflection points to propel us forward, we must first step forward, and then we must open our eyes and be willing to see what exists before us. This is far from easy.
We must also "name" the inflection point, and its underlying issues, to de-mystify them, so we no longer fear them. Indeed, inflection points are riddled with dissonance, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Only by putting these on the table, and squarely engaging them, can you shape a path that propels you forward.
So what about the board retreat? By placing the inflection point on the table, people no longer believed they had to let the discussion derail their meeting; instead, they could see that the off-putting discussion had actually led them to deepen their commitment to their strategic direction. In the case of organizational budget cuts, we can choose to look inward, or use this moment to look outward and test the relevance and significance of what we do. In civic engagement, we can smooth over conflict, perhaps short-circuiting hard issues we must address, or seek to uncover the real tension that is at the heart of every significant conversation.
Inflection points offer us a choice. We can run from them, avoid them, or seek to diffuse them. Sometimes that will work. But at important moments we must take a different path: to run into inflection points. -
Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?
The dreaded April 15th Tax Day is upon us, a day it’s safe to say no one likes. But this year, perhaps more than any other in recent times, a basic question confronts us: What will we pay to help the nation, our communities, families and individuals get through this tough time and create a better future? As you race to meet the April 15th deadline, would you pay more?
Make no mistake there is a growing battle within the nation over government spending and taxation. For instance, the “Tea Bag Protest” is urging Americans to mail a tea bag to the White House to protest current tax policies and President Obama’s budget. I’m not sure placing a 42 cent stamp on an envelope demands the same bravery as those involved in the Boston Tea Party, but the protest is noted.
Few of us will send a tea bag to the president, but there are plenty of people of all political persuasions concerned about government spending – from the bailouts of financial institutions, auto companies and housing foreclosures, to pending health care reform, education investments, and other major initiatives, each and all of which will require new spending, at least in the short run.
And all this activity raises some penetrating questions. For instance, one individual who commented on a recent blog of mine asked, should communities like Detroit receive special assistance when their own community is struggling? Just who does deserve public aid, and under what conditions? What kinds of investments are worthy of public support? Nothing is for free; even if your own taxes don’t go up this year, we’ll be borrowing so much money that you or someone’s kid eventually will have to pay it off.
I don’t intend for these to be abstract questions. Nor do I wish to get into the decades long debate about “deficit spending” that so many groups, like the Concord Coalition, took on. God bless them for their efforts.
For me, as we near Tax Day, this is a more immediate concern, and a more personal one, and one that goes to the very heart of how we want to move ahead – and now!
My question is, if signing on the dotted line tomorrow meant that you were committing yourself to pay more in taxes because you thought we needed to spend more to get ourselves out of this economic ditch, and to lay the foundation for the future, would you do it? How much more would you be willing to pay? What, if any, conditions would you set? What level of confidence would you have that these funds would ultimately make a difference – and how would that color your thinking?
I ask these questions because I believe we must be clear on the level of commitment we’re willing to make for moving ahead – and under what conditions. Indeed, Tax Day is not simply about what each of us “owes,” it is about what each of us believes must be done, and what we’re willing to ante up.
On this Tax Day, what are you willing to do?
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Detroit's Call
Driving through Detroit yesterday it was clear this town is barely hanging on by its fingertips, but that many of the people who will bring it back are already here. The question for me is what will the rest of us do – will we hear Detroit’s call or turn away. I know what I want us to do.
The NCAA championship game between North Carolina and Michigan State was played just blocks from my hotel. Outside my hotel window last night I could hear and see droves of people filing down the street making their way to Ford Field. A festive mood had come over this part of town.
But I could also see from my hotel window the towering GM building hovering over this city, a constant reminder of looming bankruptcy and failed manufacturing. Indeed, everywhere I looked I could see buildings draped with for-lease signs, begging for occupants.
I found myself speechless as I drove through some of Detroit’s neighborhoods. Blocks of boarded up, burned out, stripped homes, many standing right next to houses still occupied. I kept wondering who lives in these remaining homes, what are their names, where do they go during the day? I could keep driving, but what about them?
One neighborhood was bordered by a multi-story abandoned factory, which literally stretched three or four blocks. Nearly every window broken, parts of the building crumbled, with unruly weeds surrounding it all. This ominous building came right up to the sidewalk; people lived in dilapidated homes less than fifty feet away.
Some people have suggested that Detroit is living through its own Katrina. Yesterday I was reminded of my time driving throughout New Orleans after Katrina. There, block after block was left in disrepair; FEMA’s white trailers dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. In Detroit, just as in New Orleans, one wonders if the rest of the country can hear people’s call.
But when we do, we should not just hear the call of despair in people’s voices. There are amazing people who live in Detroit, who care deeply about their community. I spent the morning with Mike Foster and Bishop Anthony Russell who spearhead the Detroit Community Initiative, where they are building new homes, training people in financial literacy, and providing important human services. We met in an old hospital building they are now turning into a new center.
Charlie Anderson and Alan Dozier, from Communities in Schools of Detroit, are bringing schools and communities together to change schools and the surrounding communities. We met in a former elementary school building that CIS turned into their headquarters and training center. The building was just a couple of blocks from the factory I described.
Rich Homberg from Detroit Public Television is demonstrating that public broadcasting can be an important community catalyst and convener, and that even (especially) in hard times stations can step forward and help communities move forward.
Finally, there was Luther Keith, John X. Miller, and Genevieve Clark from Arise Detroit, a coalition of more than 300 block clubs, community groups, churches, businesses and other organizations that connects people to hundreds of opportunities to mentor, tutor, clean up neighborhoods and to get involved in positive programs to help children and families.
These examples tell us something important about Detroit: while this city has hit hard times, it is not without its own public innovators and powerful success stories. Now, our task is neither to dictate solutions to the city nor pity the people, but rather to stand beside this great community and join hands with these individuals.
But will we? It's one thing to celebrate the fact that Detroit hosted the NCAA Final Four games, but such games come and go. People and the place remain. My hope today is that we do not turn our backs on Detroit after the game’s final buzzer. That would be far too easy to do; instead, we must hear Detroit’s call.