Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 17

from the institute chair
On the Path to a Statewide Plan
Mike Schwenk
In developing a vision for the state of Washington, the AWB
Institute has chosen the path of not starting with a clean
sheet of paper. Rather, we are accessing documentation that
already exists, which represents current thinking, as well as
reaching into the past to benefit from those who have come
before us.
We have collected three dozen planning documents from
throughout the state. These plans represent the aspirations
of entire industry sectors, business and social infrastructure
organizations, and geographic regions. Collectively, the
fingerprints of literally thousands of fellow Washingtonians
are on these documents. They represent the best thoughts of
“the many” translated into a myriad of goals, objectives and
actions directed at ensuring a better tomorrow for all of us.
In parallel, the Institute has been researching how to
measure progress once a vision is created and specific
strategies are decided. We have uncovered methodologies,
which thankfully already exist, that enable us to measure
multiple important economic indicators at the county level
around the state, as well as in aggregate at the state level (the
latter you should be familiar with through our Opportunity
Washington partnership with the Washington Roundtable
and the Washington Research Council).
With this data, we will be able to understand where we are
today, what success in the future will look like and measure
progress, both factually and anecdotally, along the way.
Coming along shortly, the Institute will be moving from
the information and data collection phase to the analysis
phase. What do all these plans tell us about ourselves?
What picture of the state do they paint? Where are there
similarities and conflicts, the complementarity and
the competition? What is missing — left unaddressed?
Where is there duplication? Is there the capacity to
deliver — whether human or financial? How will we
organize for action?
This is not easy stuff. There is little that is black and
white. To help get us into a comfort zone, Institute
board member Kristin Kemak of the Lewis Clark
Valley Chamber of Commerce recently recommended
a book: “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” by Doug
Griffiths and Kelly Clemmer. I highly recommend it.
To whet your appetite, here are the “13 ways”:
1. Water Quality
2. Business Attraction
3. Youth Involvement
4. Assessing Community Needs and Assets
5. Shop Elsewhere
6. Appearance of Business and the Community
at Large
7. Cooperation
8. Live in the Past
9. Ignore the Seniors
10. Nothing New
11. Ignore Immigrants and Newcomers
12. Take No Risks
13. Don’t Take Responsibility

Several of these speak directly to the Institute’s adventure:
4, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 — not to detract from any of the others.
But in listening to a YouTube video of a presentation by the
book’s author, he made a profound comment. He said that
the common thing that lies beneath all “13 ways” is attitude.
If you believe you can, you have a chance; if you believe you
can’t, you will fulfill that belief.
At the Institute, we believe we can deliver on creating
the vision, deliver on the actions it will take to realize that
vision, and believe we will be able to organize and measure
whether or not we are going in the right direction to fulfill
that vision. We are committed to inventing the way.
winter 2019
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