This blog post has been a long time coming with all the meetings, events scheduling and traveling I have been doing. So while it has been promised a few times other priorities have taken precedence. So now here is my take on the Inspiring Education Dialogue with Albertans report on Governance in public education. For the record, I did not participate in the process except to attend one day to listen to some key speakers including Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.
SOME CONTEXT ON INSPIRING EDUCATION REPORT:
There is much more to the Inspiring Education document than governance. So a brief overview, without commentary, I expect will be helpful for context to those who have not read the report. It was a process about setting a long-term vision for public education in the province. Minister Hancock wanted to raise awareness of the importance of education in the life of Albertans and its contribution to a prosperous society and economy. He wanted to “develop a clear understanding of what it will mean to be a successfully educated Albertan” in the future and finally, to develop a broad policy framework around the overall direction, principles and long-term goals for public education in Alberta.
PRINCIPLED-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
The goal was to be “transformational” about the education system by empowering educational innovation throughout the province. Time will tell if that is going to happen, but the governance provisions in the report are one fertile place to focus for transformation to occur in public education.
The underlying aspect of governance transformational directions in Inspiring Education is a “principles based” approach instead of rules based. There is merit in this but if it is to be effective the school trustees are going to have to pick up their game and be more engaged in policy development and execution.
The over reliance on the Carver governance system that has been adopted by many school districts is a significant barrier to school trustees being principled based governors. This old-fashioned and outmoded governance model is antithetical to a principles shift in accountability for learning excellence and away from accountability to bureaucracy. In a horizontal networked connected community engaging world the centralizing narrow approach to governance in the Carver model is more than a barrier, it is a danger to realizing the transformational direction Inspiring Education is all about.
There is a shift in focus to local direction form central influence which is a good thing too but that means school trustees are going have to be much more engaged in the overall life of the communities they serve, beyond the limited interests of schools and students as isolated form community. The potential for more direct and collaborative engagement of the local schools and school districts in other critical aspects of their communities is where the transformational change in public education needs to happen first.
GOVERNANCE TEAMS AND WHAT THEY COULD MEAN:
These principles based shifts is very significant but received scant attention compared to the more politically contentious provision for “Governance Teams.” This idea was seen by some as a provincial government power move to replace locally elected school boards, or at least to dilute and decrease the role and power of local school boards.
I don’t think that is the intent of this Minister, but political power is so centralized in the Premier’s office in Alberta and Cabinet shuffles happen. Who knows what might happen in the future that sees local school boards eliminated or at the very least, even more eviscerated? Regional health authorities were eliminated overnight an unceremoniously without advanced warning or consultation so it would be naive to think the same could not happen to local school boards in one way or the other.
My take is the potential for effective governance teams is that they can be the key to the culture change in public education that needs to happen so other changes can be enabled and empowered as well. More public engagement and involvement in the political culture of the province can start with the local schools and municipalities. That is where the citizen’s concerns are closest to the politicians and policy-makers. Adding talent and expertise to school boards in governance teams, on an as needed basis, to serve the greater good of the community by integrating schools and increasing learning capacity is a critical issue for the future prosperity of Alberta is there ever was one.
The key questions are who decides the need for a governance team, who sets the objectives for the team and who selects the team members? It the Minister or the provincial bureaucracy who makes these decisions then we have a serious governance problem. It will be paternalism at best and more likely lead to the eventual elimination of effective local governance in public education. That is a policy decision that needs to involve all Albertans and not just the unilateral imposed action by the government of Alberta, as they have done in the past.
If the essential issues about governance teams are in the control of the local school boards then we can see public education transforming and finding renewed relevance as a positive political force and as effective public policy instruments to enhance local communities. This is the preferred option in the execution of governance teams. The reality is that most school boards and individual trustees are not nearly prepared, experienced, engaged, focused or even competent enough at present to take advantage of this transformational opportunity emerging with governance teams.
There is a lot more to say on the subject but for now, I think cautious optimism is the appropriate response to governance teams. That optimism is justified so long as Dave Hancock continues as Minister. There is a reasonable likelihood of another Cabinet shuffle before the next election so time is of the essence for enlightened school boards to embrace governance teams. Not every board has to take on the challenge and opportunity inherent in governance teams but those with the inspiration to do so need get at it.
I will be doing a number of blog posts on the Inspiring Education implications in the weeks ahead as my part in increasing citizen engagement in school board and municipal elections coming this October. In the meantime there is energy and effort available to transform public education for the better but it needs more and continuing citizen engagement to be realized and effective. Elections are a great time for citizens to get informed and engaged and Inspiriting Education is healthy fodder for that to happen.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Politics in Cyberspace Presentation to ASBA Spring Conference
Here is the PowerPoint slides I used for the presentation to the Alberta School Boards Association on "Politics in Cyberspace" last week at their Spring Conference. I adapted the presentation for the workshop then next day for aspiringng and prospective school board trustees.
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
Reviving the RebootAlberta Blog to be About Informed Citizens for the Fall Elections
I have revived the RebootAlberta blog after 6 months of hiatus. I will be using it for information and activities on citizenship, citizen engagement, the democratic deficit in Alberta and the pending municipal and school board elections. The first post in that theme is about the Edmonton and Calgary municipal elections.
You can expect follow up posts on school board elections in the province as well. I am encouraged by the increased interest in both orders of government, especially the number and quality of candidates I met at the Alberta School Boards Association Candidate School I presented at in Red Deer last week. If you are interested in running for school board election, the ASBA is there to help you get started.
If you want to more about what you might be getting into as a School Trustee you may want to research the fiscal status of your district. The Alberta Teachers' Association has gathered all the information together in a section of their website they call "The good the bad and the ugly."
I am also encouraged by the signs of citizen re-engagement in politics in Alberta based on the number of fine and qualified candidates running for Mayor in Calgary. I know many of them and can assure you they cover a wide swath of interest and approaches to politics and governing. Calgary will have a range of leadership styles and political approaches as it decides what kind of a city is aspires to be in the next Alberta.
So visit the RebootAlberta blog for a more non-partisan approach to public policy and democracy in Alberta. I hope you comment and share your thoughts on the posts there too. I welcome guest blogs there as well. So if you are interested to writing about 500-750 words of your thoughts and commentary, send them to me by email ken@cambridgestrategies.com
You can expect follow up posts on school board elections in the province as well. I am encouraged by the increased interest in both orders of government, especially the number and quality of candidates I met at the Alberta School Boards Association Candidate School I presented at in Red Deer last week. If you are interested in running for school board election, the ASBA is there to help you get started.
If you want to more about what you might be getting into as a School Trustee you may want to research the fiscal status of your district. The Alberta Teachers' Association has gathered all the information together in a section of their website they call "The good the bad and the ugly."
I am also encouraged by the signs of citizen re-engagement in politics in Alberta based on the number of fine and qualified candidates running for Mayor in Calgary. I know many of them and can assure you they cover a wide swath of interest and approaches to politics and governing. Calgary will have a range of leadership styles and political approaches as it decides what kind of a city is aspires to be in the next Alberta.
So visit the RebootAlberta blog for a more non-partisan approach to public policy and democracy in Alberta. I hope you comment and share your thoughts on the posts there too. I welcome guest blogs there as well. So if you are interested to writing about 500-750 words of your thoughts and commentary, send them to me by email ken@cambridgestrategies.com
Are Albertan's Finally "Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take it Anymore"?
I have written a lot about the "culture war" going on between the Stelmach PCs and the Wildrose Alliance Party as they fight for the right (sic). That political drama is playing itself out but is only intriguing to media pundits and the chattering-class because of the conflict between the vulnerability of the PCs who are adrift and taking on water under Stelmach's leadership. Couple that with the quasi-charismatic libertarian leadership of Danielle Smith in front of the Wildrose Alliance Party which, to my mind, is a stagnating and stifling force for fundamentalist values. Hardly the stuff of an inclusive, modern, progressive and diverse society that is Alberta today and going forward.
THE POLITICAL CULTURE WARS ARE ON THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT:
The progressives are leaving the PCs and the social conservatives are waiting in the wings to reclaim their place as the value core of the Reform-Wildrose Alliance. Leaders of both parties are conventional to a fault that they try to control the message, coerce compliance with intimidation and use the power of position recklessly and abusively in order to sustain political dominance. These are the death throes of the old political system but do we have a viable alternative to take over?
On the other side of the tired old left versus right spectrum of political framing, we have some of the same culture war things happening to the Liberals and New Democrats as the same-old, same-old practice of conventional politics. This too is causing thoughtful people begin to leave the parties or at least go dormant and they don't show up to participate anymore. The "culture war" on the left comes from the Democratic Renewal Project as it pursues a political co-operation approach they claim to be "strategic." It is a scheme designed to not run NDP or Liberal candidates against each other in close constituencies. It is intended to eliminate vote splitting on the left and potentially electing someone other than a PC or WAP, who will split the right-wing vote next time.
This is an interesting idea if merely acquiring political power it your dominant purpose. It has the effect of reducing choice for citizens, adding to cynicism that politics is in reality all about parties and politicians and not the needs of the people. The DRP is an interesting exercise in conflict resolution and leadership negotiation because it comes from individual party members not the traditional party leadership or executive groups.
The NDP leader Brian Mason rejecting the idea out-of-hand and Liberal Leader David Swann being cold to tepid about the idea. The Liberals recently passed a vaguely worded resolution at their AGM around to pursue some idea of working with other progressives to try and change government in Alberta.
UNCERTAINTY PERVADES POLITICS, ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY:
All this shows the uncertain and unusual state of political flux these days in the province. Couple that with the on-going economic uncertainty as Albertans come to realize that yesterday's Alberta is gone and the new Alberta is still embryonic and emerging. We are not our of the recession woods yet but we have spent billions of borrowed dollars to tide us over the storm, leaving an unfair debt burden to future generations.
With climate change being the elephant in the room, Albertans know the future will not be all that friendly to our current energy dependent economic activities. We are realistic about the oil sands as a blessing and a burden as Albertans try to develop them responsibly and sustainably with the intent of using the wealth they generate to convert from a hydrocarbon economy to a more creative human and social capital economy.
There is a yearning and longing by Albertans for change - not just different politicians sitting in the Legislature with the same tired thinking and tedious gamesmanship. Albertans sense we need substantial and transformative change that is authentic and capable of thinking differently about long-term integrated inclusive governing. All we are being offered these days is conflicting personalities with minor variations of obsolete political themes that will ensure that Alberta will continue to squander it promise and potential.
The PCs are the party of the status quo, believing that once energy, agriculture and forest commodity prices return all will be well and they will be assured of continuing as the natural governing party of the province. The WAP is even scary than the status quo PCs because they are regressive in just about everything they believe in and in what they want to do to Alberta and Albertans. They mostly denying that the world has changed and believe if we merely returned to the 1950s value sets all will be well again. That reliance on the "Father Knows Best" attitude along with a social conservative faith-based fundamentalism and a contention that government just gets in the way is the other "viable" alternative we are being offered at the ballot box next time.
The Liberals and NDP are all too familiar and therefore get branded as conventional and inconsequential. As a result they get written off as incapable of transformative thinking and action and unskilled at governing. They are seen as appropriate as opposition but they are not a government in waiting, individually or collectively.
THE FUTURE IS NOT HOPELESS BUT IT IS CHALLENGING
So what is going to happen politically in the next Alberta as a consequence of the next election? I am seeing positive signs that citizens are catching on to the dire consequences if they stay out of participating in the political culture of the province. Early signs come from the slow but steady work being done by the budding Alberta Party as it gets organized to participate as a post-conventional alternative and reaches out to listen to Albertans in the Big Listen small groups.
I also see a resurgence of people stepping up as candidates for school boards and municipal elections coming this October. Many of these candidates are very young and novices when it comes to the conventional game of politics. But that is not a barrier to success because they are plugged into social networks and are campaigning online and making connections and that is a new formula for electoral success. Don Iveson, a young progressive candidate for city council, came out of nowhere in Edmonton in the last election. He soundly defeated a strong right-wing incumbent using face-to-face meetings, issue focused conversations and social media muscle blending the election techniques of the tried and true along with the new media connectivity. He came in third in popular vote as a brand new face and is a political force to be reckoned with.
I recently did a campaign school workshop for the Alberta School Boards Association for about 40 aspiring school board candidates from all over the province. They were all progressives in mindset, influentials in their communities and eager and realistic about what they were getting into. That was reassuring and reinforces my belief that real political change is about to happen and a different group of Albertans are seeing the need and will take the lead for this real change. They are not interested in just replacing one set of conventional politicians with another set who are merely different faces but have the same out-moded attitudes about politics, governing and pursuing the potential to transform the province.
I think Alberta is already into early stages of transformative change but it has not yet taken off. I see some serious turmoil bubbling just below the serene surface of the people in this province. The current and possible alternate government and business conservatives collude in their own best interests of sustaining power and exploiting short term economic gain.
We have lost confidence that the so-called Alberta Advantage was ever for the ordinary Albertan. The rising tide in Alberta's boom in the past years did raise all boats, only the yachts. We are not realizing the wealth from our non-renewable resources as the PCs and the WAP pander to the energy giants with subsidies and royalty give-aways as we close schools and lay off teachers. We see our environment neglected by corporations and our government being complacent and compliant in the decline through poor regulation and lax enforcement.
Some telling results of our recent research at Cambridge Strategies Inc. is what causes me to say we are at the trial head of a Renaissance, a Reformation, a Re-enlightenment and a Revolution in Alberta and it is and will all happen at once and in the next few years. When nearly 90% of Albertans say the oil sands are important to our prosperity and companies operating in the oil sands should be held liable for damages caused by their operations and 85% say those companies should be solely responsible for reclamation. We also know that there is not enough being done by our conventional politicians to deal with these issues.
Sooner than later corporations will come to realize their social license to operate comes from the governed - not the government. They will soon realize that expensive PR and advertising is no substitute for real performance in meeting environment and social obligations to Albertans which is required of them under lease and tenure agreements. While jobs are important we know there is no loyalty to local people by head offices when push comes to shove. We saw the intimidation power of these masters of the universe head offices energy types when they exercised some muscle on dependent communities when they did not like the new and absolutely reasonable recent increase in royalty rates. BTW, my sources tell me that our government has retreated so far from the reasonable royalty rate they passed that now we get less revenue from royalties than we did before the review. How sad is that!
HAVE ALBERTA'S POLITICIANS HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE?
Albertans have high expectations but not much is happening to satisfy those expectations. In fact there is less and less honesty, openness, transparency and accountability from government all the time to the point that Albertans are now very unimpressed with their politicians. Our recent research shows that 56% do not believe the Alberta-based Members of Parliament are satisfactorily representing Alberta's best interests in Ottawa and only 15% of Albertans believe our MPs are doing enough to protect Alberta's energy resources. The Stelmach government is no better off in the eyes of Albertan's. When asked if they were very satisfied with the Stelmach government only 12% Agreed or Completely Agreed while 46% Disagreed or Completely Disagreed.
Finally, in our research we asked "Who do you trust the most to responsibly manage Alberta's growth?" The results are astounding. Brian Mason (NDP Party) 4%, David Swann (Liberal Party) 9%, Danielle Smith (Wildrose Alliance Party) 19% EdStelmach (PC Party) 23% NONE OF THE ABOVE 45%. That is a formula for revolution and revolt in the making.
Albertans are waking up and returning to activitist and engaged citizenship - and it is about time! While we are becoming mad as hell and not going to take it any more I doubt we will ever go so far as in the scene from the 1976 movie Network. That said, it is eerie how relevant this mad as hell sentiment is to Alberta these days.
THE POLITICAL CULTURE WARS ARE ON THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT:
The progressives are leaving the PCs and the social conservatives are waiting in the wings to reclaim their place as the value core of the Reform-Wildrose Alliance. Leaders of both parties are conventional to a fault that they try to control the message, coerce compliance with intimidation and use the power of position recklessly and abusively in order to sustain political dominance. These are the death throes of the old political system but do we have a viable alternative to take over?
On the other side of the tired old left versus right spectrum of political framing, we have some of the same culture war things happening to the Liberals and New Democrats as the same-old, same-old practice of conventional politics. This too is causing thoughtful people begin to leave the parties or at least go dormant and they don't show up to participate anymore. The "culture war" on the left comes from the Democratic Renewal Project as it pursues a political co-operation approach they claim to be "strategic." It is a scheme designed to not run NDP or Liberal candidates against each other in close constituencies. It is intended to eliminate vote splitting on the left and potentially electing someone other than a PC or WAP, who will split the right-wing vote next time.
This is an interesting idea if merely acquiring political power it your dominant purpose. It has the effect of reducing choice for citizens, adding to cynicism that politics is in reality all about parties and politicians and not the needs of the people. The DRP is an interesting exercise in conflict resolution and leadership negotiation because it comes from individual party members not the traditional party leadership or executive groups.
The NDP leader Brian Mason rejecting the idea out-of-hand and Liberal Leader David Swann being cold to tepid about the idea. The Liberals recently passed a vaguely worded resolution at their AGM around to pursue some idea of working with other progressives to try and change government in Alberta.
UNCERTAINTY PERVADES POLITICS, ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY:
All this shows the uncertain and unusual state of political flux these days in the province. Couple that with the on-going economic uncertainty as Albertans come to realize that yesterday's Alberta is gone and the new Alberta is still embryonic and emerging. We are not our of the recession woods yet but we have spent billions of borrowed dollars to tide us over the storm, leaving an unfair debt burden to future generations.
With climate change being the elephant in the room, Albertans know the future will not be all that friendly to our current energy dependent economic activities. We are realistic about the oil sands as a blessing and a burden as Albertans try to develop them responsibly and sustainably with the intent of using the wealth they generate to convert from a hydrocarbon economy to a more creative human and social capital economy.
There is a yearning and longing by Albertans for change - not just different politicians sitting in the Legislature with the same tired thinking and tedious gamesmanship. Albertans sense we need substantial and transformative change that is authentic and capable of thinking differently about long-term integrated inclusive governing. All we are being offered these days is conflicting personalities with minor variations of obsolete political themes that will ensure that Alberta will continue to squander it promise and potential.
The PCs are the party of the status quo, believing that once energy, agriculture and forest commodity prices return all will be well and they will be assured of continuing as the natural governing party of the province. The WAP is even scary than the status quo PCs because they are regressive in just about everything they believe in and in what they want to do to Alberta and Albertans. They mostly denying that the world has changed and believe if we merely returned to the 1950s value sets all will be well again. That reliance on the "Father Knows Best" attitude along with a social conservative faith-based fundamentalism and a contention that government just gets in the way is the other "viable" alternative we are being offered at the ballot box next time.
The Liberals and NDP are all too familiar and therefore get branded as conventional and inconsequential. As a result they get written off as incapable of transformative thinking and action and unskilled at governing. They are seen as appropriate as opposition but they are not a government in waiting, individually or collectively.
THE FUTURE IS NOT HOPELESS BUT IT IS CHALLENGING
So what is going to happen politically in the next Alberta as a consequence of the next election? I am seeing positive signs that citizens are catching on to the dire consequences if they stay out of participating in the political culture of the province. Early signs come from the slow but steady work being done by the budding Alberta Party as it gets organized to participate as a post-conventional alternative and reaches out to listen to Albertans in the Big Listen small groups.
I also see a resurgence of people stepping up as candidates for school boards and municipal elections coming this October. Many of these candidates are very young and novices when it comes to the conventional game of politics. But that is not a barrier to success because they are plugged into social networks and are campaigning online and making connections and that is a new formula for electoral success. Don Iveson, a young progressive candidate for city council, came out of nowhere in Edmonton in the last election. He soundly defeated a strong right-wing incumbent using face-to-face meetings, issue focused conversations and social media muscle blending the election techniques of the tried and true along with the new media connectivity. He came in third in popular vote as a brand new face and is a political force to be reckoned with.
I recently did a campaign school workshop for the Alberta School Boards Association for about 40 aspiring school board candidates from all over the province. They were all progressives in mindset, influentials in their communities and eager and realistic about what they were getting into. That was reassuring and reinforces my belief that real political change is about to happen and a different group of Albertans are seeing the need and will take the lead for this real change. They are not interested in just replacing one set of conventional politicians with another set who are merely different faces but have the same out-moded attitudes about politics, governing and pursuing the potential to transform the province.
I think Alberta is already into early stages of transformative change but it has not yet taken off. I see some serious turmoil bubbling just below the serene surface of the people in this province. The current and possible alternate government and business conservatives collude in their own best interests of sustaining power and exploiting short term economic gain.
We have lost confidence that the so-called Alberta Advantage was ever for the ordinary Albertan. The rising tide in Alberta's boom in the past years did raise all boats, only the yachts. We are not realizing the wealth from our non-renewable resources as the PCs and the WAP pander to the energy giants with subsidies and royalty give-aways as we close schools and lay off teachers. We see our environment neglected by corporations and our government being complacent and compliant in the decline through poor regulation and lax enforcement.
Some telling results of our recent research at Cambridge Strategies Inc. is what causes me to say we are at the trial head of a Renaissance, a Reformation, a Re-enlightenment and a Revolution in Alberta and it is and will all happen at once and in the next few years. When nearly 90% of Albertans say the oil sands are important to our prosperity and companies operating in the oil sands should be held liable for damages caused by their operations and 85% say those companies should be solely responsible for reclamation. We also know that there is not enough being done by our conventional politicians to deal with these issues.
Sooner than later corporations will come to realize their social license to operate comes from the governed - not the government. They will soon realize that expensive PR and advertising is no substitute for real performance in meeting environment and social obligations to Albertans which is required of them under lease and tenure agreements. While jobs are important we know there is no loyalty to local people by head offices when push comes to shove. We saw the intimidation power of these masters of the universe head offices energy types when they exercised some muscle on dependent communities when they did not like the new and absolutely reasonable recent increase in royalty rates. BTW, my sources tell me that our government has retreated so far from the reasonable royalty rate they passed that now we get less revenue from royalties than we did before the review. How sad is that!
HAVE ALBERTA'S POLITICIANS HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE?
Albertans have high expectations but not much is happening to satisfy those expectations. In fact there is less and less honesty, openness, transparency and accountability from government all the time to the point that Albertans are now very unimpressed with their politicians. Our recent research shows that 56% do not believe the Alberta-based Members of Parliament are satisfactorily representing Alberta's best interests in Ottawa and only 15% of Albertans believe our MPs are doing enough to protect Alberta's energy resources. The Stelmach government is no better off in the eyes of Albertan's. When asked if they were very satisfied with the Stelmach government only 12% Agreed or Completely Agreed while 46% Disagreed or Completely Disagreed.
Finally, in our research we asked "Who do you trust the most to responsibly manage Alberta's growth?" The results are astounding. Brian Mason (NDP Party) 4%, David Swann (Liberal Party) 9%, Danielle Smith (Wildrose Alliance Party) 19% EdStelmach (PC Party) 23% NONE OF THE ABOVE 45%. That is a formula for revolution and revolt in the making.
Albertans are waking up and returning to activitist and engaged citizenship - and it is about time! While we are becoming mad as hell and not going to take it any more I doubt we will ever go so far as in the scene from the 1976 movie Network. That said, it is eerie how relevant this mad as hell sentiment is to Alberta these days.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Alberta is Changing But for the Better or the Worse is the Question
"Why is this Man so Happy?" is an interesting "must read" from Avenue magazine's Edmonton edition on Mark Anielski, the award winning best selling author of "The Economics of Happiness."
Mark is a good friend and recently pitched in at the last minute at the Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta public dialogues in Edmonton and Calgary when David Peat became ill and could not travel from Italy. He also added to the dialogue at the symposium on the same theme with Gwynne Dyer and Scott Murray. Cambridge Strategies Inc. was please to sponsor this event with the ATA, Literacy Alberta, the University of Calgary and the four ATA locals in Edmonton and Calgary.
One of Mark's key messages has been that Genuine Progress Indicators are so much more relevant than old fashioned misleading Gross Domestic Product rates for measuring the stuff that really matters to individuals, communities and societies - and that is its well-being!
Mark noted at his presentation at the Learning Our Way event that happiness is 50% is genetic, 10% is education and capacity and 40% as a function of the quality of personal relationships. Interesting mix of influences on one's happiness and something to work with for sure. Seems to me we, as a society, better starting working on our personal and community capacity for people to relate better with each other and more often too if we are going to enhance our well being as individuals and groups and communities.
Mark's work in Edmonton in 2009 charted 49 genuine progress indicators. His findings included that "Overall, the results of the well-being assessment show that Edmonton's overall state of well-being is in a health and improving condition, though there are some economic, social and environmental conditions that need attention, [such as] rising income inequality, rising levels of family disputes, loss of urban agricultural land..." to name a few. We are well positioned for progress in this city but we can't rest on laurels.
Albertans are finding themselves on unfamiliar moving ground in the political, economic, social and environmental aspects of life in our province. It is time to re-evaluate what we think is important - and how we measure success. Our research at Cambridge Strategies shows a yearning and longing for change but an uncertainty of how to get there and what "there" looks like except it must be very different than the "here and now" because the latter is not working. There is general feeling of dismay over the lack of leadership politically, economically and socially. There is more apparent leadership in environmental aspects but it is either too aggressive or too anemic. There is a feeling that we lack viable alternatives to choose from to enable and empower the transformational change that many people aspire to pursue. Mark is way ahead of the pack on that new path towards that transformational aspiration, both personally and professionally.
As we go into the red zone of the October municipal elections in Alberta, it is perhaps timely for us a citizens to reflect on what make the "good life." It is timely to rethink what it is we ought to strive for in pursuit of the good life and what we need to do as individuals and in society to achieve it. Then we can ask our politicians - incumbent and aspiring, what they see that needs to be done in public policy to enhance our overall well-being.
Mark' s book "The Economics of Happiness" is a good primer to help being to answer those questions. It will help you find some better questions to ponder while you move along the pathway to well-being and happiness. I recommend it highly to anyone feeling anxiety about the future, uncertain about the present and no desire to return to the harsh unjust realities of the past.
Mark is a good friend and recently pitched in at the last minute at the Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta public dialogues in Edmonton and Calgary when David Peat became ill and could not travel from Italy. He also added to the dialogue at the symposium on the same theme with Gwynne Dyer and Scott Murray. Cambridge Strategies Inc. was please to sponsor this event with the ATA, Literacy Alberta, the University of Calgary and the four ATA locals in Edmonton and Calgary.
One of Mark's key messages has been that Genuine Progress Indicators are so much more relevant than old fashioned misleading Gross Domestic Product rates for measuring the stuff that really matters to individuals, communities and societies - and that is its well-being!
Mark noted at his presentation at the Learning Our Way event that happiness is 50% is genetic, 10% is education and capacity and 40% as a function of the quality of personal relationships. Interesting mix of influences on one's happiness and something to work with for sure. Seems to me we, as a society, better starting working on our personal and community capacity for people to relate better with each other and more often too if we are going to enhance our well being as individuals and groups and communities.
Mark's work in Edmonton in 2009 charted 49 genuine progress indicators. His findings included that "Overall, the results of the well-being assessment show that Edmonton's overall state of well-being is in a health and improving condition, though there are some economic, social and environmental conditions that need attention, [such as] rising income inequality, rising levels of family disputes, loss of urban agricultural land..." to name a few. We are well positioned for progress in this city but we can't rest on laurels.
Albertans are finding themselves on unfamiliar moving ground in the political, economic, social and environmental aspects of life in our province. It is time to re-evaluate what we think is important - and how we measure success. Our research at Cambridge Strategies shows a yearning and longing for change but an uncertainty of how to get there and what "there" looks like except it must be very different than the "here and now" because the latter is not working. There is general feeling of dismay over the lack of leadership politically, economically and socially. There is more apparent leadership in environmental aspects but it is either too aggressive or too anemic. There is a feeling that we lack viable alternatives to choose from to enable and empower the transformational change that many people aspire to pursue. Mark is way ahead of the pack on that new path towards that transformational aspiration, both personally and professionally.
As we go into the red zone of the October municipal elections in Alberta, it is perhaps timely for us a citizens to reflect on what make the "good life." It is timely to rethink what it is we ought to strive for in pursuit of the good life and what we need to do as individuals and in society to achieve it. Then we can ask our politicians - incumbent and aspiring, what they see that needs to be done in public policy to enhance our overall well-being.
Mark' s book "The Economics of Happiness" is a good primer to help being to answer those questions. It will help you find some better questions to ponder while you move along the pathway to well-being and happiness. I recommend it highly to anyone feeling anxiety about the future, uncertain about the present and no desire to return to the harsh unjust realities of the past.
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