The "reverse engineering" of Long Island: Part One

"Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. It often involves taking something (e.g. a mechanical device, electronic component, or software program) apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually to try to make a new device or program that does the same thing without copying anything from the original."

OK. So I'm not 100% against taking things from "the original" as it relates to the "re-organization" of our governing structures and policies if, after careful examination, they work and are able to adapt to a dynamic view of Long Island as opposed to a static one. We've examined many of these ideas in previous posts.

But in order to create a Long Island for the next 50 to 100 years (technology may actually make that too long a window) we must re-examine everything we do.

As we've previously stated, new study, no matter how comprehensive and worthwhile, will become just another "layer" on the information pile if it is static.

It will be almost impossible to mobilize the public sentiment to achieve large scale positive change because we are not "singing from the same hymnal." The Long Island "hymnal" must be a collaborative creation.

So if we're serious about real change (in whatever form that ultimately takes), then we have to do a comprehensive, thorough analysis of what type of Long Island we want and what is even possible give our inherent physical limitations within a dynamic structure that allows for dynamic real time change and analysis and "meta-collaborative" participation.

With out a shared "Long Island Philosophy" it will be difficult for any Long Islander to trust that the information they are receiving is accurate and trustworthy.

More in Part Two.

Another plan ...

More static planning?

Not that this a bad idea, in fact it may turn out to be very productive.

But the idea of, once again, one group trying to plan an entire region's future strikes me as more of the same. A new report, no matter how professional, divorced from or marginally connected to all the other projects, ideas, organizations etc, won't get the job done.

As one example in hundreds, how will the creators of this report interact with the study being conducted at Dowling regarding a possible 51st state? Aren't both looking at many related issues?

Another example. How will the creators of this report interact with the many planned and operating business incubators/accelerators to determine potential business growth and the type of business growth for the next 50 years or so?

The point is that almost everything on Long Island has some bearing on everything else occurring on Long Island. Changing one thing potentially creates a domino effect.

We must know with reasonable certainty what these outcomes are likely to be or making change will be almost impossible to sell to elected officials, general public and Long Island organizations.

We need dynamic, real time planning. It must be inclusive and collaborative. It can not be mandated, it must contain many options and it must contain productive public input (not complaints or NIMBYism) from a diverse assortment of individuals and groups.

Before you plan, you must know what and who you're planning for. What type of future are you planning for Long Island?

Traditional planning models and techniques may be helpful, but they are not enough to change the course of Long Island history in a meaningful, sustainable manner.

Create a Long Island philosophy. Rethink how everything is done.

Editorial: LI needs new planning blueprint

April 9, 2008

Long Island can't go on like this: choking traffic, little mass transit, lack of affordable housing, threats to open space, unbearable property tax burdens and a sputtering economy - to name a few of our problems. We need a smart plan to recommend specific actions, and we need the commitment of our public officials to carry it out.

The Long Island Regional Planning Board took a first step yesterday toward that kind of plan. It looked westward to New York City, whose PlaNYC is a model of both crunching the numbers and laying out doable recommendations.

The consulting firm that had a lot to do with creating that plan is McKinsey & Co. And Long Island's planning board served notice yesterday that it intends to hire McKinsey to create a blueprint for sustainability here - unless another firm offers a better proposal. Local not-for-profits have offered $500,000 toward the eventual $1.5 million to $2 million cost of the study if McKinsey does it.

To be a success, any plan must have strong action recommendations, plus staunch political backing. A word of warning: One of the 127 initiatives in PlaNYC was congestion pricing, which timid Albany lawmakers have just killed. The lesson is not that we don't need a plan, but that even the best blueprints need courageous politicians. Whatever McKinsey recommends, if the top leaders of the two counties don't fight for the tough changes this study is likely to urge, we'll be stuck in the same sad rut.

Long Island: The 51st State - Part Two

Some have found it amusing that this subject has reappeared. In fact, some have dismissed it out of hand.

But we should look at it as an opportunity to do some real analysis in a dynamic manner.

The folks at Dowling will, I have no doubt, do a thorough and professional job on the analysis, just as Mr. Koppelman and others have done previously.

But what will happen with the results?

Will they sit on a shelf somewhere never to be seen again?

As we have stated previously, there are many good ideas and intelligent folks on Long Island. What is missing is a coordinated approach to the issues.

Dowling should reach out to other universities (Stony Brook comes to mind on the technology end) and create a dynamic, sustainable dialogue about how government operates and how best to provide services among many issues to be addressed.

For example, what would the "perfect" government structure be? Form follows function as they say. What functions do we require on Long Island for the next 100 to 200 years? Can we achieve what is necessary with existing organizations and laws?

Is there something that can take the place of government in providing these services? How do we make the public (who own the government after all) more involved in the governing of Long Island?

The results can not go on a shelf (or even a static web site) or they will become useless.

The process of being or becoming excellent never really takes a break. Our new organization(s) and governing structures must be dynamic, collaborative and perpetual as we've described in many previous posts.

More in part three.

Long Island School of Meta-Interdisciplinary Study: Lesson One

We've posted previously about the need to create an environment where we can all learn to think in a "cross disciplinary" manner.

Meta-interdisciplinary simply means you are exhausting all possible means of determining the correct public policy by leaving no one or no possible solution or idea out of the equation.

Here is a simple exercise.

Take 100 randomly selected "things" (concepts, ideas, existing programs, physical structures what have you) and put them on index cards. Next, select five cards. Create three possible connections (collaborative activities) between all of the five cards selected.

As you get more adept at the process increase 100 to 200, five to ten, three to five and so on until your brain starts to hurt. Now we're thinking "out of the box."

If you are a software savvy, there are "randomizer" programs out there that connect to databases to achieve the same results.

It doesn't matter that some or most of the ideas won't work. That isn't the purpose of the exercise.

The purpose of the exercise is to get us to think differently.

The purpose of the exercise is to break the "cycle of stagnation" we've talked about on a number of occasions.

More in Lesson Two.

A brief intermission ...

Sorry about the lack of posts recently.

I'm actually engaged in attempting to put some of the "One Long Island" theories into practice.

I should have a few updates soon.

Acceleration, not incubation ...

Turning the former Navy property in Bethpage into a "jobs incubator" is potentially a very good idea, although the "incubator" concept should really be an "accelerator" concept as we have described in previous posts linked to all other Long Island Accelerators (meta acceleration).

Again we have an example of a good idea which could be made even better if it linked to "similar" projects and concepts being planned or underway on Long Island.We should first look for links on Long Island and "consolidate" concepts and programs where it makes sense to do so.

I understand there is an inherent competitiveness and need for autonomy between jurisdictions, but "regional planning" and "consolidation" does not only refer to land use issues and organizations.

Maybe regional planning is a somewhat outdated term. Perhaps it should be a "shared regional philosophy" instead.

A "Long Island Philosophy."

LIA Breakfast ...

I attended the LIA breakfast this morning featuring the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives as I do most years. It is always a well run, well attended event and this morning was no different.

Both individuals are bright fellows, it seems, and their hearts are in the right place. But I came away more convinced than ever of the need for better communication and collaboration along the lines of the efforts we're engaged in with our One Long Island series of projects.

Without going into too much detail, there is a disconnect between all of the various projects, commissions, ideas, between organizations, between the various levels of government, between existing projects and proposed projects ...

Healthy competition is great, so long as we can shake hands after the competition and get things done. To the victor belongs the responsibility to reach out and collaborate, even with his or her oppponents. Long Island requires this type of magnanimity to move forward.

Whether its the new "tax cap" commission" leaving out school administrators (there may be good reasons for this) or Suffolk and Nassau talking about creating alternative energy centers when Stony Brook is already in the lead on that issue (again there may be valid reasons for this) or a whole host of issues which require the type of "dynamic collaboration" we've been promoting, again, there is just a "disconnect" which prevents us from acting as a region while the reasonable amount of autonomy and local control that residents seem to like and demand.

For all the talk about consolidation and streamlining and all the benefits it may bring, we don't seem to be able quite yet to consolidate or streamline our ability to organizate projects and ideas for the greater good.

The good news is that more folks are recognizing that we're in this together, regardless of affiliation of whatever type, and that we must find a way to "get things done." And as I stated many times previously, I'm always impressed by the sheer number of bright folks we have at our disposal her on Long Island.

We just need to break this "cycle of stagnation" which impacts on all Long Islanders.

I'll keep trying to do my small part.

More interesting information about how we think ...

"Situationism is premised on the social scientific insight that the naïve psychology—that is, the highly simplified, affirming, and widely held model for understanding human thinking and behavior—on which our laws and institutions are based is largely wrong. Situationists (including critical realists, behavioral realists, and related neo-realists) seek first to establish a view of the human animal that is as realistic as possible before turning to legal theory or policy. To do so, situationists rely on the insights of scientific disciplines devoted to understanding how humans make sense of their world—including social psychology, social cognition, and related disciplines—and the practices of institutions devoted to understanding, predicting, and influencing people’s conduct—particularly market practices."

Constituent Expansion and Interchange: Part One

One of the more powerful aspects of the One Long Island series of projects is the ability to "share" constituencies and even "share" constituencies which may at first seem to have nothing to do with one another.

This is the "meta relational" aspect to what we are working on. Once information is more freely available in an "open" format and the public is given the tools to access the information and to collaborate with one another, relationships will become apparent which were heretofore not realized.

Who would be for this type of access? Individuals and organizations who want real information, collaboration and who wish to build broad based coalitions to effect a positive outcome for Long Island.

More in part two.

"One Long Island" Metachart 1.7.08

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Interesting viewing ...

"Sanford Levinson is a heretic in some people's eyes — he has the temerity to suggest that not only is the Constitution not written in stone but that it's actually in some ways quite undemocratic.
Among its flaws; a veto power that allows presidents to stop legislation 95% of the time; a contradiction of the "one person, one vote" principle in the Senate which gives Wyoming, with one-seventieth of the population of California, the same political power... "

Collaborative Spheres of Influence: Part One

We've previously posted about organizational autonomy on Long Island (and elsewhere) and the apparent affinity most people have for smaller groups over which they feel they have some influence.

One way to change this is through consolidation, mandated by law or otherwise.

As stated previously, another way to effectuate change is to create an environment where organizations may maintain their autonomy but have the tools to work collaboratively.

The above diagram shows the "organic" nature of the later, wherein the collaborative participants literally come together to "breathe in" or otherwise "absorb" the "nutrients" from other similar or preferably diverse organizations then return to their "spheres" energized with new ideas and methods for improving their performance. This is a continuous process necessary for the health of the entire "organism" (Long Island).

More in part Two.

Another energy idea ...

A friend of mine directed me to this site recently. Personal wind power (no jokes please).

One is apparently installed at the Stony Brook Southampton Campus. It would be interesting to see how effective it is.

How about we put these right down the spine of the LIE? On existing water towers and smoke stacks? On light poles? On all compatible public property? How effective would it be?

Add that to the SunEdison concept and other "complete solarization" ideas and the Plasma Converter projects we spoke about earlier and where does that get us?

What if all the garbage/solid waste companies and municipalities on Long Island got together and built one Plasma Converter in Nassau and one in Suffolk? How much energy would it create? How many landfills could be reclaimed? How much less gas would be used? What about (you fill in the question) ...

How about energy from the ocean ? How about an earth battery ?

How many cost effective megawatts can we really generate from alternative sources if we put our minds to it? When you give the public accurate data about the cost benefit analysis and impact on the environment, then they can make rational choices about aesthetics and other issues.

The point is, unless you ask "out of the box" questions, maybe even seemingly "crazy," creative questions and then do the analysis, you never really know what is possible.

What is known is that we will have to make major changes to the way we create and consume energy on Long Island if we are to have energy that is remotely affordable.

Alternative energy, another good candidate for our "One Long Island" metadata analysis concept.

"Dare to be Different."

A couple of quick points ...

First, we are assembling a good team of highly competent diverse folks for the implementation phase of the "One Long Island" series of projects. If you are interested in participating please contact me.

Second, I won't publish comments on this blog without knowing who is making the comment and having a way to respond to them. I invite criticism and alternative views, just not anonymous criticism and alternative views.

There are plenty of other sites for that and they do serve a purpose by letting folks vent and to opine without any repercussions. Its part of the "rich tapestry of life" as they say. These sites generally don't hurt and some good ideas sometimes rise through the fog, but if you're not willing to stand behind your convictions, in the end, what have you really accomplished?

"One Long Island" is all about collaboration. Collaboration is at the very least however, a two way street between folks trying to work through and solve difficult issues.

"One Long Island" is also, among other things, about building bridges between issues, individuals and organizations. It is not about one single issue. It is not about the promotion of one view or organization over another. There would be no point to the project if it was.

Are all the ideas here winners? Of course not. But I hope it helps in some way to encourage others to have the courage of their convictions and to publicly express your advocacy in a positive, collaborative way.

Long Island needs teamwork, not individual heroes. No one person or organization has all the answers. With the "One Long Island" project we are trying to assemble a "critical mass" of folks who wish to collaborate in a positive way on Long Island.

If we are successful things will change for the better, and will change for the better pretty quickly.

Evolutionary Long Island: Part Three

What is "Evolutionary Long Island?"

I know, this should have been part one. Sorry. That's just how my brain works sometimes.

"Evolutionary Long Island" is the process that takes hold when the "One Long Island" concepts have become ingrained in the way we "do business" on Long Island.

It is the "self correcting and self adapting" process we've previously discussed that allows Long Island to anticipate change and prepare itself to "take advantage of" the opportunities that change presents. It removes bureaucratic lethargy, "personal agendas" and other non-productive "agents" by focusing on collaboration and results.

If "One Long Island" can help create a "Long Island Philosophy," it can also help put the processes into effect that will shape our region for the foreseeable future. The three elements (plus many others) are intertwined.

Think, collaborate, create, implement, repeat. The "One Long Island Creative Loop."

More in Part Four.

Evolutionary Long Island: Part Two

Some additional Long Island Wiki ideas ...

Monday comments ...

Thanks to all of you who have called and emailed since the NY Times ran the article on this blog. I'm pleased to say that the vast majority of the responses have been positive.

Some have criticized me for not being "more detailed" or more "opinionated" on specific issues that are of interest to the writers and to specific sections of Long Island generally.

Fair enough, but that isn't the purpose of this site. I do feel we are very detailed on how to construct a process for arriving at good public policy for Long Island. We are probably up to over 200 or so pages of ideas (some more specific than others) to date on methods to construct a more productive system and "philosophy" for solving problems and addressing issues.

Quite frankly, my personal opinion on specific issues is irrelevant to the process or to bringing the "One Long Island" project to the implementation phase. What is important is creating an organizational structure that permits diverse entitles to work together for a common purpose.

We'll get back to work this week on "Phase II" of the One Long Island project.

Please keep the comments and suggestions coming. If there is any part of the project you are interested in becoming a part of (or the whole project generally), please do not hesitate to contact me.

More on the way ...

I'm in the process of setting up a number of meetings to begin the implementation of some of the "One Long Island" concepts. I'm also supplementing and refining a good portion of the material.

Additionally I'm reviewing my notebook(s) of ideas to see where the next "suite" of concepts fits into the overall "One Long Island" game plan.

Thanks to all of you who have offered advice and support.

I look forward to a productive remainder of 2007 and an even more productive 2008.

"One Long Island" Metachart 10.24.07

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