Institute for Local Government What’s the Future of Local Government? A Conversation with Frank Benest Institute for Local Government May 14, 2010 Dr. Frank Benest frank@frankbenest.com

Let’s Start With Two Questions 1. What are 2-3 major challenges that will impact local governments in California in next 5 years? 2. To effectively address these challenges, what are 2-3 indispensable competencies for local government leaders?

A Disruptive World Local gov’ts are overwhelmed with accelerating and discontinuous change Problems are complex, difficult-to-solve, emotion-laden, and divisive No one institution, including gov’t, can solve any major problem

A Disruptive World (cont) Local gov’ts face era of “permanent fiscal crisis,” further depleting capacity to respond Power is diffuse (“veto” power) Citizens have lost confidence in all institutions, including gov’t Our local government agencies are structured to deal with a fairly static world The talent required to address challenges of this disruptive world is scarce

The Demographic Crisis The Numbers 80 million Baby Boomers (1946-1964) leaving economy 50 million Gen Xers (1965-1981) replacing them Large “Talent Replacement Gaps”

Age Distribution of Gov. & Private Sector Workers – 2001

The Nature of the Challenges Technical challenges Solutions are known and can be addressed through management Adaptive challenges Solutions are unknown and require leadership at all levels

The Essence of Leadership “Leaders do not force people to follow — they invite them on a journey.” -Charles Lauer

Indispensable Competencies Active futures orientation Boundary-crossing and partnering skills Ability to start conversations and tell stories People skills (“soft” skills produce the hard results) Learning agility

“Are we learning as fast as the world is changing?” --Gary Hamel

A Sampling of Key Questions If local govts are confronted with “permanent fiscal crisis,” what are the implications for our practice? In our organizations, are we teaching and promoting the indispensable competencies required of our leaders? How will our organizations be reshaped if we are forced to shed a variety of functions?

A Sampling of Key Questions (con’t) How does local gov’t continue to honor our long-standing value of “home rule” yet take the lead in creating a structure to more effectively address the big challenges which are mostly regional problems? As we downsize and further constrain compensation and benefits, will local govt be able to attract scarce talent? How can our organizations be restructured to promote fluidity and continuous learning?

The Conversation Given this disruptive world of local government, What is the role of the Institute and How can the Institute add value?

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