Change ...

With all the talk about "change" in this presidential election, I thought I would republish this post as I think it has some relevance to the current debate.

What do you think?

Newsday and the Long Island Business News are actively soliciting public input as to what the public believes are the most important issues facing Long Island. This is both an interesting and positive development.

I suspect that what they will find at the end of the day is what they already suspect or know the issues to be; taxes, housing, transportation, energy, real estate development and perhaps open space, job development and a number of other quality of life issues.

Long Island is, right now, a pretty nice place to live for most folks and Newsday and others properly point out that we must start planning now so that it remains in good shape.

Of course Newsday and LI Business are also reacting to the new way people get their information and are, as they should, attempting to stay current. That aside, what they are doing does help create part of the open dynamic we've are striving for in our Long Island 3.0 and New York 3.0 concepts.

Identifying the issues is probably the easy part. Solving them is not.

To solve the issues we need a new approach to public policy. Organizations, of all stripes, must think outside their "silos" and find real approaches to cooperate with one another. We've suggested a number here on LIIF, but as we've also said, Long Island is home to some of the smartest folks on the planet. There are many good, workable ideas out there just waiting for leadership.

If you were an engineer and had a "design flaw" in your project, would you keep trying to get the design to work or would you change your design? Using the same methods for approaching Long Island issues is analogous to a "design flaw." No matter how hard you try the results will never come out the way you want them to be.

Leadership may be political, the media or from a host of other sources. Leadership requires sacrifice not only on those the "leaders" are attempting to motivate, but on the "leaders" as well.

The idea of sacrifice for the common good is essential for long term positive change. It is what got our parents and grandparents through World War II. Big changes require big sacrifice.

People must "buy in " to the change and trust that the information they get is accurate and fairly presented. We've attempted in some past posts to begin to construct a "decision model" for Long Island which is essential in entering a new phase of Long Island's future.

Can we put aside partisan and pre-established opinions and methods of thinking to forge a new Long Island? Time will tell.

I prefer to think we're up to the challenge. How about you?

What do you think?

Static Thinking versus Dynamic Thinking

A few more examples of "static" thinking here, here and here. Not bad ideas, just limited.

As we explored in 1993 and more recently here and here among many other posts, the key to change is cooperation and "dynamic interaction."

Change is a continuous process and public officials as well as others need the tools and the correct approach to problem solving to create good, comprehensive public policy.

Reports and commissions are helpful. But if the information is not dynamic, it still may have some result, but it will never be a long term building block for sustainable growth and change.

The LI Regional Planning Board has an interesting proposal here on affordable housing.

Unfortunately we do not yet have a comprehensive method for analyzing all these potentially good ideas as a unified concept. Long Island 3.0 is one possible solution.

Who do we trust?

A key component in the distribution of information is, obviously, the validity of the information to be distributed and by whom. This chart and additional information may help us begin the discussion about how we start that process here on Long Island.

This is of some interest as well. We'll continue to look for a model most folks can support. Some additional information on metadata and metadata anylysis here , here and here.

Social Networking Theory and Long Island: Part One

"Social network theory look at the social structure between individuals or organizations. It investigates the ways in which they are connected through a variety of social commonalities. ... Social networking could also refer to a category of Internet based applications working to connect friends, business partners, or others using online interactions, forums, newsgroups, blogs, and a variety of other means..."

What is the composition of the social network or social networks of Long Island? How do we, as a region communicate with one another and with the "outside world?" Is there a Long Island "collective mind?" Will this "collective mind" eventually supplant traditional information and news sources?

Long Island is a diverse region and we protect our diversity and our individuality. No matter the community organization, government or media outlet, we strive to be the best. That should be a good thing and for the most part it is. But perhaps we, as a region are so competitive with one another we miss the greater opportunities cooperation offers.

Our previous posts on a LIWIKI and LI Metadata project and Virtual Community Congress are attempts to begin to forge the dichotomy between autonomy and coordinated efforts for the public good. In future posts we will try to tie this all together in a simple format.

Because as we all know, if it isn't simple to use and understand, it's probably doomed to failure. Not because of a lack of intelligence, just from a lack of time. Even with the best intentions these types of projects are difficult.

Can't hurt to try however.

Some additional current readings here, here, here and here.