Dear Members,

We’re excited to provide you with this fourth Leading Ideas Series offering. The series features prominent authors and thinkers discussing how their ideas apply to local government leadership and management.

In this video, Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect, talks about how to instill new methods of innovation and ways of thinking into organizations to help drive progress, especially in lean times. Johansson addresses many of the elements that he covers in his book and discussed at ICMA’s 94th Annual Conference, in Richmond, Virginia. As with the previous videos, we’ve included a discussion guide to help you get conversations started. 

Many of you have let us know how you made use of the previous videos featuring Jim Collins, Daniel Pink, and Peter Block. Some of those uses were: 

• As a learning tool with civic groups and other key stakeholders in the community
• As a training tool to support the development of staff and other members of the management team
• As a foundation for dialogue with governing bodies
• As part of visioning and strategic planning work
• As a way to attract the next generation to public service

This member benefit is an example of how ICMA continually seeks ways to help advance your career, enrich your community, and contribute to your professional fulfillment.

Now, in an effort to get more with the times, we’ve moved to online streaming. You can watch Frans Johansson online at icma.org/leadingideas on a members-only page, either in full-screen view or in a mini-viewer. The added benefit of this new format is that by allowing us to convert the DVD production and mailing costs into more filming and editing, it enables us to get more of these videos to you over the course of the year. Another benefit is that we're able to share all the other Leading Ideas interviews in this same format, in case you missed one or would like a more convenient way to share these videos with your team.

Feel free to e-mail me at roneill@icma.org with your thoughts. Or better yet, start a conversation in ICMA’s new Knowledge Network!

Warm Regards,

Bob

ICMA's Leading Ideas Series features best-selling authors and creative thinkers discussing their concepts with ICMA Executive Director Bob O'Neill. The Series is made possible with support from ICMA-RC.