Mentoring month reminds us that it is important to plan for the next generation of local government leaders.

We were involved in ongoing change and improvement. This is one of the reasons why we were so actively involved in the Alliance, because it was a hot bed of ideas.

This is the final installment of the Ambassador Book Review of The Ten Faces of Innovation, written by Tom Kelley of IDEO. In the previous two installments we learned about The Learning Personas (Anthropologist, Experimenter, and Cross-Pollinator) and the three Organizing Personas (Hurdler, Collaborator, and Director).

To help fashion the vital new future for a downsized and restructured local government, executives
must understand that the psychological impacts of downsizing seriously exacerbate the actual reductions in resources. Employees typically feel victimized, pessimistic, overwhelmed, and resistant to any change or opportunities. An executive cannot manage an organization’s way to a new, more vital future.

Rather, an executive must spend a lot of “face time” with employees, exerting visible, confident, and optimistic leadership and then engaging employees in envisioning a new story and fulfilling

In debunking the mystery it is important to think about why great performance is critical in today’s society. One explanation is the trend of rapidly rising standards. Whether it is reducing your police response rate, ecoming more transparent, or doing more with less, constituents and organizations are faced with the ever ending demand to improve performance.

The search for innovation starts with engaging employees.