The Adnostic

I submitted a strategic brief to Planning For Good to help Idea Village recruit and retain young professional and entrepreneurial talent in the New Orleans area.

First, the excuses - I think the central strategic idea is sound, but the brief is poorly written. I had done a bunch of research over the two weeks in late August and early September using every article I could find on the internet (I'm so used to finding my research on the internet, the possibility of one day having a research budget sounds like a distant and futile dream). Then work got super busy writing a major Point of View, doing some researching a new business pitch, an important side project that I can't talk about, and working at the PSFK LA conference. By the time the September 21st deadline rolled around, I had a good understanding of the problem but no ideas on how to solve it and no brief. So I felt guilty and gave up.

Then I avoided any news on PFG because I didn't want to feel any worse than I already did from my failure to turn in any work. It wasn't until the 26th, when I read Ed Cotton's blog post that they had extended the deadline to the 28th and that we only had 24 hours to turn it in, that I realized that I still had a chance to alleviate my guilt. I then sat myself down in front of the computer and hammered out a strategic brief in two hours (maybe less). I had to fly to Nashville the next day, so it was either get it done right then or don't do it at all.

The brief is poorly written, for sure. I'm afraid to even look at it again because I did it with such haste, but I think that the idea behind it is sound.

I won't post the whole thing because I'm chicken, but here are the basic points of the brief:

1) Recruiting won't be nearly as much of an issue as retention, because New Orleans is a great place to start out your life (a vibrant art scene and nightlife, a desperate need for talent and new business ideas makes it easy for young bright people to make their marks, and a reasonable cost of living) but an unwelcoming place to stay. How can you expect people to want to settle down, get married, and raise children in a place with a poor school system, corrupt government leaders, a high crime rate, and a lack of quick response to glaring infrastructure issues?

2) Idea Village should start a lobbying arm to influence legal, governmental, and social change in New Orleans. This is because there is only so much change that business and economics can bring to the area. There are a lot of glaring issues that can only be dealt with through good city management and social programs. Make New Orleans a place not only for young idealistic entrepreneurs, but also a place for young idealistic politicians to affect the changes they want to see.

That's it in a nutshell. The brief had a lot more to it, like ten expectations should the strategy be implemented, but they weren't really well thought out and therefore not worth repeating. I'm sure another participant came up with something much better and thoroughly thought out.

Good luck Idea Village and New Orleans, and as for PFG, I expect to be scrambling for solutions to non-profit problems again soon.