Ed Morrison presented this material to the California Workforce Association in Newport Beach on April 7, 2010 This material is copyright Ed Morrison and distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 attribution license. That means you are free to modify, copy and use this material for commercial purposes provided that you attribute it as follows: Source: Ed Morrison, Distributed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license. You can learn more about the Creative Commons license at

Synch or Sink

Experience...Skills...Connections....Focus...

Tools for Accelerating Collaboration: Synch Lessons Ed Morrison Purdue Center for Regional Development April 7, 2070

Slides: Ed Morrison Purdue Center for Regional Development April 7, 2070

Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we heading? How will we get there?

That started in our Grandfathers generation

Our Grandfathers S- Curve started with relentless innovation

Our Grandfathers economy generated a lot of wealth

And is ending with financial manipulations

We are left with some legacy systems that do not work very well...

High rates of 3d grade illiteracy

High school drop out rates over 30%

Too many high school graduates with weak skills and no career plans

Not enough graduates for Middle Skill jobs

High rates of college remediation

Too few STEM graduates

Really expensive re-entry programs

No easy way out for the working poor

High rates of adult illiteracy

Weak skills among many unemployed

Escalating skill demands in the career cycle

Conclusion: Were not likely to fix this mess...(Well have to innovate)

Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we heading? How will we get there?

Our Grandfathers economy ran on highly efficient hierarchies People at the top did the thinking People at the bottom did the doing

This formula created enormous wealth

Global integration Collapsing costs The Internet explosion But these business models were blown apart by... Every few hundred years in Western history, there occurs a sharp transformation. Peter Drucker, The New Realities (1989)

Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we heading? How will we get there?

Toward our Grandchildrens economy...

By now, we have all caught a glimpse of our Grandchildrens economy

The iPhone production network Question: Who makes the iPhone? Answer: A network led by Apple

How did regions deal with challenges in our Grandfathers economy?

How are most regions dealing with these challenges in todays networked world?

Our challenge is to find the pathways to our Grandchildrens economy Connecting our many assets with link and leverage strategies

Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we heading? How will we get there?

We need to Synch

The Rules of Synch Rule 1: Guide conversations Focused conversation fuels collaboration

The Rules of Synch Rule 2: No whining Whining wastes time 30 people X 20 minutes X $100 per hour equals $1,000

The Rules of Synch Rule 3: Create a civic space for complex thinking In May 1787, the Constitutional convention started with rules of civility

The Rules of Synch Rule 4: Stop looking for permission Welcome to The Permission Room

The Rules of Synch Rule 5: Close triangles Bill You Cathy introductions take 5 minutes 100 people 3 triangles a week per person equals 15,600 new links per year

The Rules of Synch Rule 6: Go slow to go fast Ride the wave... Going slowly at first enables you to accelerate later

The Rules of Synch Rule 7: Dont fear invisible fences (They dont work on humans)

The Rules of Synch Rule 8: Take the Shanghai Perspective Our ViewTheir View

The Rules of Synch Rule 9: Help someone to help someone

The Rules of Synch Rule 10: Practice strategic doing Strategic doing connects Big Ideas with Next Steps

Heres strategic doing in a nutshell...

By Synching, we generate swarm innovation to transform our economies

Regions across the country are synching Locations of strategic doing workshops in 2009

Kokomo, IN

Milwaukee, WI The Milwaukee 7 region used strategic doing to build its water cluster

Boise, ID Idaho used strategic doing in their Governors Workforce Development Summit

Cape Girardeau, MO Southeast Missouri used strategic doing to shape a strategy for its P-20 Council

Denver, CO Colorado used strategic doing to explore new connections in its workforce system

Where we are: In a major economic transformation Where we are heading: To our Grandchildrens economy and a world of open networks How we will get there: Building action-oriented networks by Synching

Where we are: In a major economic transformation Where we are heading: To our Grandchildrens economy and a world of open networks How we will get there: Building action-oriented networks by Synching

Where we are: In a major economic transformation Where we are heading: To our Grandchildrens economy and a world of open networks How we will get there: Building action-oriented networks by synching

Can we... Swim upside down under water, stick our feet in the air, and do this together without getting water up our noses? You bet we can.

A time to Synch...It all starts with sharing

Thank you! Ed Morrison Purdue Center for Regional Development