My friend Chip, who lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, flipped a column to me from one of his local politicians recently, and it resonated.
The column, titled “Good Ideas Have No Party,” was written by Frank Gunsallus, a former and probably future town councilman who is running for election. He is a Republican but wrote approvingly of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s recently launched initiative called PAyback.
To recycle the cliché, there’s no Democrat or Republican way to pick up the garbage or plow the roads. That also applies to permits, drainage, recreation programs, senior transportation, traffic safety, business vacancies, budgets, or whatever else you can think of that local government does.
The concept was simple: Pennsylvania publishes expected response times for citizens to receive permits. If they fail to meet the promised time, the permitting fee is refunded. Not surprisingly, the lead time for permits dropped dramatically. Business licenses, for one example, dropped from a two-week waiting time to one day. Since the program was fully implemented, there have been only five instances in which they refunded a permitting fee. As an old boss of mine once said, “What you measure improves.” Not sure what the waiting time is in your town for permits, but it’s a common source of frustration for residents in many communities.
To improve outcomes, invest in the folks who produce those outcomes. First, the process must be examined. But you may end up doing what the city of Miami did when it ran into the same problem of long lead times for building permits. Although I’m a fiscal responsibility guy, its solution was to increase permitting fees, double the staff, and cut the lead times to almost nothing. Sometimes you need to invest in players to win more games.
As a local government geek, I love stuff like that, but that wasn’t what really struck me about the Maryland column. The big aha is how much more gets done when we don’t worry about which side of the aisle an idea comes from, especially when it comes to local government. Local government can’t fall into “not invented here” thinking. Good ideas are still good ideas, regardless of the origin.
Years ago, as a rookie school board president, I had very little idea of what I was supposed to do. So, I put together an email list of every school board president I met through my travels to conferences and education sessions. I didn’t hesitate to email the group, asking them, “Has this ever happened to you?” or “What do you do when someone asks this question?” I got great responses. Over my career, I’ve never hesitated to steal a good idea.
Leaders sometimes feel that they must have all the answers. But those who realize they may not be the smartest person in the room usually get more done. Good leaders don’t need to own every idea, and they also don’t lose anything by recognizing the people who did the work. Giving away credit is one of the least expensive things a leader can do. If someone you routinely disagree with comes up with a better solution, use it. Give them credit.
Volunteers on a committee frequently have different experiences than the elected officials sitting in the front of the room. That’s valuable. Listen to them. Caring about getting the answer right is much more important than being the person who was right. That’s healthy. That concept has taken me a few decades to embrace, but I’m almost there.
We have all had the experience of working hard on something and not getting the thank-you or “attaboy” that we were looking for. It stings, but you need to take a cleansing breath and remind yourself of why you are doing the work. It’s to produce an outcome for an organization you are invested in.
That’s also why our list of 101 ideas for Bedford is free for the taking, by anyone, with or without credit.
My advice for local leaders: steal good ideas shamelessly and give credit generously. You will probably be surprised at what you can accomplish.