PLANNING SUCCESS

As the Chamber works to unite businesses, amplify the voice of our members and ignite opportunities that power a thriving community, a number of initiatives have begun in our community to create an innovative culture that will drive measurable results. Stemmed from the three-year strategic plan launched last fall, the Chamber has played a distinctive role in the economic vitality of our region, requiring innovation in organizational structure, partnerships and programming. In February, The Chamber hosted award-winning speaker, Sarah Miller Caldicott, to share with the community the details from her years of research and her book Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor. Sarah offered step-by-step guidance on how to harness ones own innovation potential. A great grandniece of Thomas Edison and his second wife Mina Miller Edison, Sarah brought to the forefront a term that has been used in multiple conversations since: “dense networks.”

Dense networks are crucial for driving change, virtually any kind of change. Thomas Edison used dense networks extensively to drive innovation during the Industrial Revolution. Dense networks can be leveraged today to bring about change in a company or community. As a next step, The Chamber implemented a series of workshops for individuals interested in creating positive change in our community by attending leadership workshops facilitated by The Pacific Institute. Individuals committed to participating in both session 1 and  session 2 of the designed workshops, create a dense network in our community, which result in faster and more effective change accomplishing our community’s vision plan. To-date, nearly 70 people have participated in the training opportunity; attendees not only improve their own area of personal effectiveness in such areas as leadership effectiveness but understand how they can build effective and positive cultures in their organization and their community.

In June, nearly 20 individuals attended facilitator training offered by Pacific Institute; another step towards creating an adaptive culture for our community. By building our own community facilitators, we have the ability to expand our dense networks into the necessary segments that will assist in creating positive change and economic vitality in our community.

The reason for this extensive training is to change the culture in our community. Culture drives performance not only within a company but also in a community. As our region has researched other successful innovative regions around the nation it has been apparent that the successful community has an adaptive culture.

“An adaptive culture entails a risk-taking, trusting and pro-active approach to organizational as well as individual life. Members actively support one another's efforts to identify all problems and implement workable solutions. There is a shared feeling of confidence: the members believe, without doubt, that they can manage whatever new problems and opportunities will come their way. There is widespread enthusiasm, a spirit of doing whatever it takes to achieve organizational success within the limits of their agreed values and what is collectively agreed to be ethical behavior. The members are receptive to change and innovation.” Professor John P Kotter and Dr Jame L Heskett Corporate Culture and Performance Free Press 1992 

What can you expect?

After participating in the program individuals have greater expectations of success, more self-belief and more self-esteem; they are more willing to challenge the status quo, and to provide inspiring and inclusive leadership. This new sense of confidence has a direct correlation to the desire to also impact a positive change in our community.

After completing the workshop individuals will have:

. Higher levels of motivation
. Improved problem solving and innovative thinking
. More commitment to organizational/community goals
. Measurable improvements against targets
. Increased accountability at all levels
. Transform downward spirals into springboards for success
. Better team functioning
. Attain goals that were once out of reach
 

This curriculum affects not only the individual, but the family, workplace, community and much more.

Progress is already being made in our community and the desire to shift our community’s culture is taking hold. This initiative looks to create the following:

. A constructive culture will dramatically outperform defensive cultures
. Strategy needs the support of culture
. Leaders create culture
 

The Chamber will continue its initiative to drive an innovative culture in order ignite opportunities and power a thriving a community. By implementing the sound principals for success with leaders throughout the community the result will translate into results including the implementation of our community’s vision.