Strategic Planning Big Ideas

May 17

2012 Prepared By:

Larry Arrington; Director of Strategic Planning and Initiatives

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Introduction

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners is engaged with its staff in a process to

produce on-going policy and strategic direction in a visionary and innovative manner. The BCC

envisions a General Plan that integrates the County’s major planning and policy-making efforts, as

depicted in the chart below.

Work on the General Plan began in 2011. The BCC established concepts for an over-arching

vision of Pinellas County, set strategic direction, and outlined desired outcomes and results.

The BCC also decided to pursue during early 2012 a series of “deep dives” into several areas of

strategic interest in preparation for budget decision-making later in the year. The following

functions involving one of the BCC’s Core Service Areas (CSA) are the subject of these deep dives:

Health and Human Services; Community Development; Justice and Consumer Services; and Code

Enforcement.1 Separate presentation workshops centered on these functions were conducted

during January and February. An additional “deep dive workshop” is scheduled for May 17, 2012

for the purpose of considering in an integrated manner the goals and strategies encompassing

policies, programs, and projects (strategic initiatives) within the CSA. This holistic approach is

taken because the combined initiatives are designed to serve a similar overall visionary

purpose: to help foster Healthy Communities.

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The following summary narrative is designed to help frame the BCC’s leadership work as it

considers strategic initiatives within the Healthy Communities Core Service Area (CSA). The

narrative presents a planning template for the CSA that likely will be used throughout the General

Planning process. The template includes:

● An Overview

● Challenges confronted

● Strategic Response • Vision and Values

• Strategic Direction/Leadership Philosophy • Strategic Initiatives

A facilitated discussion of each of these components will be conducted so that BCC direction is

obtained. The desired outcomes of the workshop are:

Understanding of the challenges facing distressed communities and individuals, the

Healthy Communities target population.

Validation of a Master Strategy to establish target communities of special collaborative

emphasis.

Consensus on concepts for a vision of Healthy Communities and of core values being served

through strategic initiatives undertaken by the BCC and community partners. The focus of

the strategic initiatives is in on the system of policies and institutions that are in place to

empower and to support citizens and communities, especially those that are in distress.

Consensus on the general content of the BCC’s leadership philosophy, the ways and means

used to provide public leadership for Healthy Communities.

Validation of specific integrated and collaborative strategic initiatives undertaken by BCC

departments and community partners.

This summary narrative is understood best as a means to generate ideas and to frame deliberations

during the BCC’s leadership work in this Core Service Area. The narrative is developed by a cross-

functional staff team under the leadership of the County Administrator.2

The summary narrative incorporates several innovative best practices, including so-called Big

Ideas. Many of the ideas are being used by local government thought leaders nationwide; and are

consistent with the BCC’s strategic direction-setting accomplished during 2011. The ideas,

including the proposed strategic initiatives, will be vetted at the Board workshop(s) and adjusted to

reflect BCC direction.

Taken as a whole, the BCC’s strategic direction emphasizes big ideas and pragmatic solutions

grounded in impartial analysis. What follows here is a summary of the Big Ideas.

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BIG IDEA 1 - A Holistic Approach to Healthy Communities3

Pinellas County to keep its competitive edge must address simultaneously three aspects of urban

regeneration and redevelopment:

economic development and opportunity

social cohesion and stability

The condition of the natural and built environment.

The three are interdependent. If one of these components is damaged, the health of the other two is

threatened. If the components are understood holistically and are in reasonable harmony,

communities and the individuals that inhabit them are able of stay healthy and self-sufficient; and

are empowered to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. This is our first

Big Idea.

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ECONOMY

NATURAL &

BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

SOCIAL

QUALITY OF LIFE:

Healthy CommunitiesWith self-sufficient individuals

meet the needs of the present without compromising

the future

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BIG IDEA 2 - No Single Cause, No Simple Solution

The interactions among the challenges facing distressed communities4 and individuals are unpredictable and seemingly endless in their possibilities and complexity. There is no single cause and no simple solution.

Healthy Communities

Challenges

Housing

Education

Homelessness

Economic Development

and Job Creation

Public Safety, Recidivism, and

Victimization

Access to Health,

Behavioral Health, and Substance

Abuse Assistance

Infrastructure and

Neighborhoods

Changeable Regulatory

Environment and Mandates

BIG IDEA 3 - Breaking Vicious Feedback Loops

Disadvantaged citizens are mired in “vicious feedback loops” that drive them into a quality of life

below the standards of healthy vitality necessary to be productive and self-sufficient. The

egregious dynamics of these self-reinforcing cycles carry escalating public and human costs

in health and human services, law enforcement and criminal justice; the condition of the

natural and built environment; and, worst of all, in the loss of productive economic and

social contributions of citizens.

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Poverty

Poor Health

Less Able Workforce

Decrease in Human Capital

Lower Economic Output/

Unemployment

Increased Demand on Government

Resources

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BIG IDEA 4 - Be Comprehensive, Collaborative and Community-centric

The best means of responding to the challenges involves another Big Idea: to deploy an array of diverse community-centric strategic initiatives. This comprehensive approach demands the combined commitments of public, private, and non-profit sectors to help foster healthy communities. The hope is that through combined community-centric approaches, the complex challenges will “meet their match” as equally complex and collaborative strategic initiatives respond to them.

BIG IDEA 5 - A Vision of Smart Investments in Healthy Communities/Self-sufficient Individuals

The vision is of a Pinellas County of healthy communities and self-sufficient individuals with these features:

There is a common vision, a sense of belonging, of community identity and of place. The diversity of people with different backgrounds is positively valued. People with different backgrounds have similar life opportunities. Healthy relationships are developed among people with different backgrounds in places of

work, within neighborhoods, and within schools. There is recognition that the fundamental self-interest of individuals is inter-connected

with the fundamental self-interest of the community. Each has a stake in the health and prosperity of the other.

The vision recognizes that economic security depends upon economic opportunity. There is a willingness to ‘step-up” and to make smart public investments in economic and in social development as well as in the natural and built environment. Required are strategic initiatives that foster the entrepreneurship and innovation required for prosperous regeneration and redevelopment. Individuals, families and communities must be engaged not only as participants in the economy and the broader society, but also as responsible citizens who are contributing, innovative, educated and ready to help lead. Healthy communities are capable of helping produce such people. These characteristics are consistent with the concepts of the vision of Pinellas County articulated and validated by the BCC in its strategic directions workshops.5 They are generally consistent with the work of Pinellas by Design, the major countywide redevelopment planning effort undertaken a few years ago, and with the County’s existing Comprehensive Plan. Together, these comprise another Big Idea.

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(The following is a vision statement example for Healthy Communities, a Core Service Area of Pinellas County Government. The example is intended to be used to incite deliberation. The BCC ultimately approves the vision statement).

Healthy Communities Vision6 Pinellas County is a “community of communities” that fosters self-sufficiency by protecting individuals and the places they inhabit from the consequences of disease and crime; and from economic, social and environmental distress. This vision seeks to meet the needs of the present on behalf of the future. Pinellas County Government contributes leadership to this vision of Healthy Communities through core services it provides; and by bringing together collaborative stakeholders to work in common cause for the common good; by facilitating efficient problem-solving; by integrating and aligning with the interests and the initiatives of other parties, especially the education, human services and economic development communities; and by mobilizing effective cost-saving action on behalf of engaged citizens.

BIG IDEA 6: Transformational Leadership through Quality Citizen Engagement and Deliberative Democracy

Transformational leadership occurs as the needs, aspirations and values of citizen-stakeholders align with the initiatives put forward by public leaders. The work of leadership demands high-quality engagement and deliberation among citizens and their public leaders. This results in better decisions, and heightened levels of public trust and confidence. Thus, “deliberative democracy” with quality citizen and stakeholder engagement is the essence of a productive leadership philosophy, another Big Idea.

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Transformational Public

Leadership

Citizens’ Needs,

Aspirations &

Values

Governance

Leadership

Initiatives

Leadership

Alignment

Adapted from James McGregor Burns

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Deliberative democracy rests on the core notion of citizens and their representatives deliberating about public problems and solutions under conditions that are conducive to reasoned reflection and refined public judgment; a mutual willingness to understand the values, perspectives, and interests of others; and the possibility of reframing their interests and perspectives in light of a joint search for common interests and mutually acceptable solutions. It is thus often referred to as an open discovery process, rather than ratification of fixed positions, and as potentially transforming interests, rather than simply taking them as given.7

A companion Big Idea is that transformational leadership occurs within organizations as well as communities. Leaders of organizations, whether policy-makers or executives, exercise transformational leadership when high levels of performance are achieved. Transformational leadership is often compared to “transactional leadership,” a distinction defined in the following quote:8

Transactional leadership appeals to followers’ self-interest, but transformational leadership changes the way followers see themselves—from isolated individuals to members of a larger group. Transformational leaders do this by modeling collective commitment (e.g., through self-sacrifice and the use of “we” rather than “I”), emphasizing the similarity of group members, and reinforcing collective goals, shared values, and common interests.

BIG IDEA 7 - Focusing on Core Services, Improved Service Levels, and Efficiency

In these resource constrained times, public leaders need to engage in difficult conversations focused on redefining the expectations, roles and systems of local government. It is wise to commit to core services as a means to stay focused on essential and required functions. This should be done in a spirit of humility, the self-knowledge that there are limits to both public resources and to the possibilities of successful use of them. Associated with a dedication to core services are related commitments to maximize and improve their delivery and levels, and to improve efficiency of operations.

The establishment of core services by the BCC is an on-going process that culminates each year with the budget. This process also is driven by the approvals and updates to an over-arching General Plan, which includes a strategic planning component, and is linked to the budget.

BIG IDEA 8 - Emphasize Collaboration

Two broad benefits result from effective collaborations. First, efficiencies and synergies among direct providers of core services are gained when they communicate with each other, share resources, and generally work holistically and in common cause to respond to challenges.

Pinellas County Government provides many direct core services that affect distressed individuals and communities. Strategic initiatives pursued by the BCC should cross boundaries by forming productive external partnerships with other service providers. Many of the strategic initiatives presented later are designed to accomplish these goals.

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Secondly, as stated in the Vision of Healthy Communities, quality leadership also results when elected leaders use the power of their office strategically by “bringing together collaborative stakeholders to work in common cause for the common good; by facilitating efficient problem-solving; by integrating the interests and the initiatives of other parties; and by mobilizing effective action on behalf of engaged citizens.”

BIG IDEA 9 - Build a High Performance Organization

It takes a High Performance Organization to contribute optimally to Healthy Communities, and to otherwise advance toward the BCC’s broad vision, serve its strategic direction, and successfully deploy strategic initiatives through time. A High Performance Organization practices Adaptive Management.9 It constantly assesses challenges and problems; designs and implements responses; monitors, measures and evaluates performance, and makes adjustments as more is learned.

Taken as a whole, this Big Idea and the others are embodied in the Board’s vision and values, its strategic direction, and its leadership philosophy. Together, these ideas produce a transformation from a government-centric to a community-centric model, and recognize that while county government has an important role to play; it must play it within the context of a broader network of collaborative partners.

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The following matrix summarizes some major characteristics of the shift to a high performance organization.

SHIFT FROM GOVERNMENT-CENTRIC APPROACH TO

HIGH PERFORMANCE COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY-CENTRIC VISION

Dimension Government-centric

Approach

HPO Community-centric

Vision

View of Organization: Closed System Part of a Network of Inter-sector Collaborative Partners

Metaphor: Assembly Line Internet

Structure: Vertical; Dependency on Uniform Function & Rigid Structure and Authority Metaphors: Skyscraper

Horizontal; Cross-functional; Empowered employees

Metaphor: Geodesic Dome

Major Actor: Government

Various combinations of engaged citizen-stakeholders representing public, private and non-profit sectors

Power, Authority, Decision-making:10

Centralized command & control; bureaucratic experts attacking “problems” in isolation within narrowly defined jobs

Decentralized & dispersed; Deliberative with increased reliance on participatory decision-making in Cross-Functional Teams addressing challenges holistically

Policy-making Process: Representative Add Deliberative and Participatory to Representative

Leadership Philosophy11 Transactional; Emphasis on Individual, self-interests; Management Functions

Transformational; Emphasis on Team, Organization and Community Interests; Vision and Strategy

Focus: Internal Focus on Bureaucratic Management of people and programs

External Focus on collaboration, negotiation, network management; Adaptive Management of Service Delivery Networks

Policies: Centralized/Uniform Decentralized/Diverse/Flexible

Accountability: Process/Outputs/Efficiency Outcomes, Results, Impacts

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We described the challenges, the vision, the values, the leadership philosophy and the strategic direction. Now we put the Big Ideas to work in a Master Strategy, followed by the specific strategic initiatives defining the roles of Pinellas County Government in adapting to the challenges of those citizens and communities that are in distress.

SUMMARY

These following Big Ideas are reflected in the Healthy Communities strategic narrative and initiatives. The BCC, at the May 17th workshop, will be asked to establish strategic direction; and to validate the Big Ideas, the Master Strategy, and the strategic initiatives.

BIG IDEA 1 - A Holistic Approach to Healthy Communities

BIG IDEA 2 - No Single Cause/No Simple Solution

BIG IDEA 3 - Breaking Vicious Feedback Loops

BIG IDEA 4 - Be Comprehensive, Collaborative and Community-centric

BIG IDEA 5 - A Vision of Smart Investments in Healthy Communities/Self-sufficient Individuals

BIG IDEA 6 - Transformational Leadership through Quality Citizen Engagement and Deliberative Democracy

BIG IDEA 7 - Focusing on Core Services, Improved Service Levels, and Efficiency

BIG IDEA #8: Emphasize Collaboration

BIG IDEA #9: Build a High Performance Organization

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References

1 Other Core Service Areas that will be the subject of strategic planning in the future include: Public

Safety; Natural Resources, Surface Water, Recreation and Culture; Transportation and Utility

Infrastructure; Economic and Tourism Development; and Effective Government.

2 Members of the staff team include: Bob LaSala; Carl Harness; Larry Arrington; Jim Bennett; Gwendolyn Warren; Tim Burns; Anthony Jones; Mike Meidel; Todd Myers; Cheryl Reed; Massiel Garcia-Tanner; Tom Funk; Gordon Beardslee; and Elizabeth Freeman. 3 Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/opinion/brooks-flood-the-zone.html. Journalist David Brooks sums up a wealth of scholarship and practical experience when he writes:

The essential truth about poverty is that we will never fully understand what causes it. There are a million factors that contribute to poverty, and they interact in a zillion ways.

Some of the factors are economic: the shortage of low-skill, entry-level jobs. Some of the factors are historical: the legacy of racism. Some of the factors are familial: the breakdown in early attachments between infants and caregivers and the cognitive problems that often result from that. Some of them are social: the shortage of healthy role models and mentors.

The list of factors that contribute to poverty could go on and on, and the interactions between them are infinite. Therefore, there is no single magic lever to pull to significantly reduce poverty. The only thing to do is change the whole ecosystem…If poverty is a complex system of negative feedback loops, then you have to create an equally complex and diverse set of positive feedback loops. You have to flood the zone with as many good programs as you can find and fund and hope that somehow they will interact and reinforce each other community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood. The key to this flood-the-zone approach is that you have to allow for maximum possible diversity…

…(A) realistic antipoverty program (is) not like a military unit. It’s like a rain forest, with a complex array of organisms pursuing diverse missions in diverse ways while intertwining and adapting to each other.

Brooks’ commentary helps with understanding of Big Ideas #1 through #4

4 The term “distressed communities” is a term of art that is used in strategic planning for the Healthy Communities Core Service Area (CSA). The term includes disadvantaged individuals and communities that are in distress economically, socially or environmentally. A community-based, public response is deemed warranted and in the public interest. Distressed individuals or communities may be thought of as inhabiting specific geographical areas; or, as including disadvantaged citizens in distress located in the County generally.

5 The BCC adopted these vision concepts: 25 = 1 (Pinellas as a “community of communities, “Out of Many, One); Municipalities, other providers and County working together; Inclusive community of engaged citizens; Aligned economic and education community; Revitalized and redeveloped communities; Protect and promote our region’s unique natural resources.

6 Vision Tips by John P. Kotter, author of Leading Change:…The most effective transformational visions I’ve seen in the past few years all seem to share the following characteristics: 1. They are ambitious enough to force people out of comfortable routines. Becoming 5 percent better is not the goal; becoming the best at something is often the goal. 2. They aim in a general way at providing

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better and better products or services at lower and lower costs, thus appealing greatly to customers and stockholders. 3. They take advantage of fundamental trends, especially globalization and new technology. 4. They make no attempt to exploit anyone and thus have a certain moral power…

Over the past decade, I’ve closely observed a dozen companies as they tried to create effective visions for change. From that experience, I conclude the following: developing a good vision is an exercise of both the head and the heart, it takes some time, it always involves a group of people, and it is tough to do well. The first draft often comes from a single individual. Such a person draws on his or her experiences and values to create a set of ideas that both makes sense and is personally exciting. In successful transformations, these ideas are then discussed at length with the guiding coalition. The discussion almost always modifies the original ideas by eliminating one element, adding others, and/or clarifying the statement. I have seen some people try to accomplish this in a process that is as disciplined as the formal planning system, but that never seems to work well. Vision creation is almost always a messy, difficult, and sometimes emotionally charged exercise.

Kotter, John P. (1996-08-07). Leading Change (Kindle Locations 1199-1202). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

7 Go to http://www.cpn.org/tools/dictionary/deliberate.html. Democracy demands openness to the views of others and a healthy tolerance and respect for diversity and dissent. The theory of democracy rests on the belief that no single interest or individual alone can apprehend what is best for the common good. Collective wisdom arising out of the democratic process is needed to achieve a stable and orderly society that enjoys unity.

Scholar Jonathan Haidt helps when he writes:7

…(E)ach individual reasoner is really good at one thing: finding evidence to support the position he or she already holds, usually for intuitive reasons. We should not expect individuals to produce good, open-minded, truth-seeking reasoning, particularly when self-interest or reputational concerns are in play. But if you put individuals together in the right way, such that some individuals can use their reasoning powers to disconfirm the claims of others, and all individuals feel some common bond or shared fate that allows them to interact civilly, you can create a group that ends up producing good reasoning as an emergent property of the social system. This is why it’s so important to have intellectual and ideological diversity within any group or institution whose goal is to find truth (such as an intelligence agency or a community of scientists) or to produce good public policy (such as a legislature or advisory board). (Haidt, Jonathan (2012-03-13). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Kindle Locations 1754-1755). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition).

8 Haidt, Jonathan (2012-03-13). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Kindle Locations 4218-4221). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

9 The following quote describes the virtues of Adaptive Management: “People who have been jerked around in marginally effective restructurings, quality programs, and the like often worry that this ever changing, adaptive organization will be hell on earth. It’s not… (T)his type of organization can be a far more fulfilling workplace than is today’s norm. Remember, change doesn’t happen in this kind of enterprise as a means of satisfying someone’s ego or as a knee-jerk reaction to yesterday’s events. Changes occur to help make better and better products or services that serve real human needs at lower and lower costs. Living and winning in that environment can be fun, because you feel like you’re doing something worthwhile. The pace of change does require getting used to, especially if you have spent most of your work life in old-fashioned bureaucracies. But after

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a period of adjustment, most people seem to like the dynamic quality of the environment. It’s challenging. It’s never boring. Winning is fun. And for most of us, making a real contribution is pleasing to the soul.” Kotter, John P. (1996-08-07). Leading Change (Kindle Locations 2576-2578). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

10 The following quote makes the point: “Narrowly defined jobs, risk-averse cultures, and micromanaging bosses are the norm in far too many places—especially in big companies and many government organizations.” Kotter, John P. (1996-08-07). Leading Change (Kindle Locations 2497-2498). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition. 11 The following quote sums up the “leadership shift”: “In the twentieth century, the development of business professionals in the classroom and on the job focused on management—that is, people were taught how to plan, budget, organize, staff, control, and problem solve. Only in the last decade or so has much thought gone into developing leaders—people who can create and communicate visions and strategies. Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we will have to become much more skilled at creating leaders. Without enough leaders, the vision, communication, and empowerment that are at the heart of transformation will simply not happen well enough or fast enough to satisfy our needs and expectations.” Kotter, John P. (1996-08-07). Leading Change (Kindle Locations 2474-2477). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.