Policy Insight: Don’t reinvent the wheel, create wings and soar
By Tiffany Edwards | Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce
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A few of our Chamber team members traveled to Anaheim for the annual three-day Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) Conference in early February. The theme was “Don’t Just Fly, SOAR,” appropriately themed with the story of Disney’s “Dumbo.”
At our opening session, our speaker had the group do an exercise where we were asked to write our signature, as legibly and as many times as possible, in 30 seconds. Seemed easy enough. But then he said to put the pen in our non-dominant hand and repeat the exercise. Not so easy. It put everyone outside of their comfort zone. We felt silly, awkward, and resorted to self-deprecating humor in order to preserve our egos. This exercise was intended to demonstrate why so many organizations don’t achieve greatness, or “soar.” It’s because they fail to try new things, push past the discomfort and awkwardness, and take something that they thought was already “good enough” and make it great. So often, we want to gravitate toward the adage “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” or “If it’s working, why change it?” We don’t consider how much better we can make something that might already work pretty well. Certainly, if we had decided the rotary telephone worked just fine, we may still be living our lives tethered to a cord to avoid missing that important call. This got me thinking about what types of things our Chamber has been doing well, with regards to advocacy. Reflecting back on 2018, we had a lot of successes. I struggled to recall a single policy or community decision, in which we had a part in, where the business community couldn’t claim a win. We’ve been highly engaged and assertive in our stance on issues. The voice of the business community has spoken up on tough, important conversations. We’ve been a convener of voices, a catalyst for positive change and a champion of our community. And sure, we’ve made progress, but we haven’t solved all of our community problems. This is where the creativity comes in. If we’re going to move the needle on things like homelessness, workforce housing affordability, downtown revitalization, economic development, public safety, sustainability and world peace, we’ll need to be nimble, try new things, take new approaches and maybe fail a few times, so we know how to improve, adapt and overcome. What’s always worked will eventually stop working, because the world around us is changing, our members are evolving. As a Chamber, we need to be there, flying right alongside our members. The issues facing the business community are not unique to Eugene. And, as far as I can tell, nobody has found a magic formula to solve them. Perhaps eventually, we will create a community in which everyone has a job, a roof over their head and a happy, healthy life. Until then, we have to get creative and get uncomfortable and keep moving forward. We’ll need to stretch to grow. This is going to be a year of bold leadership for the Eugene Chamber and its members. Rather than having to constantly respond to policy-maker decisions that will have an impact on the business community, we’re committed to leading on issues and not just taking the wheel, but paving the road ahead—or even taking to the sky. Lend your voice and leadership to the policies shaping Eugene. Connect with Tiffany Edwards at tiffanye@eugenechamber.com |
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Lend your voice and leadership to the policies shaping Eugene. Connect with Tiffany Edwards at tiffanye@eugenechamber.com
Lend your voice and leadership to the policies shaping Eugene. Connect with Tiffany Edwards at tiffanye@eugenechamber.com
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