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Here's a white paper on Strategic Doing. We've also launched a new web site on Strategic Doing, where we will be collecting stories, tools and insights into how to do strategy in open networks.

Next week at Workforce Innovations, I'll be releasing a white paper on open innovation models of economic development and workforce development. I've attached a copy.

I will also be releasing a white paper on Innovating Networks. I've attached a copy of that one, as well.

There will be a third one on Strategic Doing for a session I am conducting on that topic. It's not quite ready yet. I'll post it here shortly.

Strategic Doing is a set of principles, practices and disciplines for implementing strategy in a network. Old models of strategic planning were designed for hierarchical organizations, and they do not work well.  Strategic Doing represents the alternative.

(All this material is distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License. That means you are free to distribute and modify anything you see in the white paper for commercial or noncommercial purposes. You do not need permission. Just tell people where you got it.)

Here's an overview of of what the KY Cabinet for Economic Development has been up to through its Department of Commercialization and Innovation.

[T]he state has funded $114 million worth of technology projects, programs and infrastructure since 2001, when her office was formed...About $16 million in development assistance has been awarded to 32 companies. That number is "fairly low because up until 2005, the effort was really focusing on building incubators," such as Louisville's MetaCyte Business Lab, and "supporting academic programs that ultimately would spin out companies," [Deborah Clayton, commissioner of the state's Department of Commercialization and Innovation] said. "In 2005 we made a shift to focus more on companies."

Read more.

William Winter, a former governor of Mississippi, stands as an inspirational leader both for his state and country.

Recently, the 85-year-old former governor shared his thoughts on the history and prospects of Northeast Mississippi. His comments remind us that economic development is not a destination, but a journey.

Read more.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is one of the best newspapers in the country focusing on regional economic developmen.  Taking the Southeast Wisconsin economy as a backdrop, the paper regularly explores how the regional economy is transforming.

Unlike many papers that focus on economic problems, the Journal Sentinel spends a good deal of effort identifying new patterns of wealth creation.

Here is an example.

In a recent series of articles, the Journal Sentinel profiled a small group of engineering students engaged in building new business around bio-diesel. Read more.

The series underscores a number of new trends at work. First, of course, entrepreneurship plays a central role in the new story of regional transformation and wealth creation.

Second, the series illustrates the growing importance that universities are playing in regional economic development. Finally, the series underscores the importance of seeing some of our older economies with new eyes.

So, for example, Milwaukee is building off its manufacturing assets to create new hubs of innovation and faster growth companies. Here's an article that underscores these trends. As one manufacturer in the article notes, "We've peeled the rust off the belt."

Creating a new narrative for older economies represents one of the central challenges of economic development. Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin are in the middle of re-writing their story. Re-crafting a region's core narratives is what branding is all about.

Read more.

Begining in the late 1970's and early 1980's communities began implementing "strategic plans" for econmic development. Not surprisingly, these strategic plans followed models developed by large scale businesses to plan their investmwent strategies.

Now, these traditional planning models -- which never worked very well with economic development to begin with -- are even more dysfunctional. Part of the problem: They take too long to implement.

Here's an example.

IN Springfield, MA, civic leaders are beginning what looks to be a two year process for developing a strategy. The first phase -- costing $125,000 and taking six tio nine months, it appears -- "includes an initial survey of Springfield's 'economic setting,' that will include 'identifying opportunities and challenges to growth,' " according to one of the leaders.

Read more.

A second phase, which will begin in 2009, will "involve engaging stake-holders in the community in drafting and completing the long-range economic growth strategy plan".

This process is entirely too slow, costly and inflexible in todays world.

In the (roughly) two years that it will take Springfied to complete this exercise, the Chinese economy will have moved the equivalent of 6 to 9 years. (They are growing at 3-4 times the speed we are.)

We need to develop new ways to think and act strategically. The old approaches just do not work very well.

With the development of Open Source Economic Development at Purdue, we are experimenting with models of Strategic Doing to replace these models of strategic planning.

Here's a good commentary from Northern Colorado. The author does a good job summarizing how the dynamics of economic development have shifted and why innovation and regional collaboration iare so critically important.

In the face of growing global competition, the only sustainable advantage for U.S. regions will be continuous innovation, according to research conducted by the Council on Competitiveness.

Innovation is the process by which individuals, companies, regions and even entire countries remake themselves in the face of changing markets.

It is the driver of productivity growth and, ultimately, of a rising standard of living.

For more than a decade, reputable organizations have studied how regions become more innovative, thus poised to be globally competitive. They share the belief that an economy is no longer defined by the political boundaries of a city, county or state.

This regional concept promotes partnerships among key community players, including K-12 districts, community colleges, universities, lifelong learning centers, regional primary employers, work force centers and economic development organizations.

Read more.

As we move toward a network-based economy, stories play an important role in building prosperity. Stories convey meaning. They shape our perceptions, our mental maps.

Most branding efforts in economic development are driven by marketing techniques that have little connection with these deeper stories.

Here's two examples of regions that are changing their stories.

• In Western Virginia, the recruitment of two high tech firms has started to change how young people are viewing their future prospects. As one high schooler noted: "Now, there’s going to be a lot more jobs for college-educated people. I guess you could say we feel like more opportunities will follow since these came here." Read more.
• In Southeastern Michigan, a region battered by manufacturing shutdowns, the regional EDPros are shifting the story to the new investment that is flowing into the region. Read more.

There are other places in which civic leaders are actively shifting the story. My favorite is Youngstown, where a group of young professionals -- led by a young mayor and Congressman -- are embracing the notion of a shrinking city. View a couple of the blogs that are shifting the conversation here and here.

A couple of years ago, the Vermont legislature established the Commission on the Future of Economic Development. From the looks of it, the Commission bogged down in bureaucratic slag. After 18 months, there's not much to show. Here's an excerpt fromteh web site, e-mail correspondence from one member to all: 

...18 months into the process - there is nothing in the "reports and information" section of the web site except the CFED's report to the legislature. 

So why wait? I have offered "information, studies and links" that should be of "interest and direct relevance to the public and to stakeholders." Why is my input (and others like me) somehow less valuable than "regional stakeholders"? And who exactly are these regional stakeholders? I am a Vermonter; aren't we all "stakeholders"?

I'm not sure any government-inspired commission will help us to define the future of economic development. That will come from communities and regions learning to move legacy, vertical programs into horizontal, networked initiatives. In sum, we will learn by doing. 

Visit the Commission web site here. 

Casper, Wyoming has a new strategy.

The strategy focuses on the strength to the regional economy and highlights the importance of manufacturing.  Business Facility Planning Consultants prepared the report for $49,000. 

You can read more about the summary here. I have not found it posted on the web. 

The Economic Development Administration and Western Carolina University have teamed to produce a useful web site: Know Your Region.

There are a range of helpful materials on the site. Here's an example: a short presentation on defining a region.

Western Carolina has also developed a curriculum on regionalism. I'm currently reviewing it to see how we can integrate the material into different WIRED initiatives  and the advanced strategic planning courses at OU/EDI. 

Civic leaders in Detroit and southeastern Michigan are gaining momentum in transforming their economy. Last week, leaders of the New Economy Initiative announced that John Austin would be heading up their effort.

Austin has written extensively about the opportunities emerging in the Great Lakes. Here's his report from Brookings: The Vital Center. 

In this context, here is an interesting article comparing Detroit to Pittsburgh. Read more.