Integrity at Scale Blog

Chapter 21.

 A National Interest Incubator

 

When Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin decided to create a new middle school, one that would far outperform the typical middle schools of the Houston school system, they faced an enormous design challenge.  How to pack the new school with as many causes of success as possible?  How to remove design features that push schools toward failure?

If one tries to imagine an incubator for civic competence and the national interest, one faces much the same design challenge.  How to mobilize as many causes of success as possible?  How to ease ourselves away from all those habits that turn into causes of failure?

The starting point is relatively simple.  “A competent nation manages scale effectively and with integrity.”  “A competent public helps its country manage scale effectively and with integrity.” 

Let’s imagine an incubator not as a place but as a network, or even as a series of networks.  A true incubator is a place of warmth; a virtual incubator will also want to be a place of warmth.  A true incubator is a place of light; a virtual incubator also wants to be a place of light.

Those who reach out to one another to create an incubator of civic competence will want to do so in a spirit of warmth and light.  What matters first is the warmth of the civic hearth.  If we remind ourselves that we are an affectionate and responsible people, and that we benefit from good manners, we will be on our way. 

An incubator, though, is not an in-group project.  It creates a neutral setting to which all are invited.  No Republican signage.  No Democratic signage.  The code is very broad.  We are Americans, we want America to be competent, we want to be part of a competent public, let’s see if we can give ourselves a fresh start.

One element of a fresh start is that one views all Americans as part of the same conversation.  It isn’t easy, with more than a hundred million different households, to drop a flyer in everyone’s mailbox, wish them well, and ask them for their good wishes in return.  Yet that’s exactly the right spirit.  A conversation about civic competence should always strive to be a conversation that says, “let’s keep everybody posted.” 

Conventional politicians design targeted mailings.  Democrats let other Democrats know what they’re doing, but they don’t bother to send their mailings to Republicans.  Republicans send mailings to other Republicans but ignore the Democrats.  A competent public knows that scale cannot be managed effectively without everyone being part of the conversation, so a competent public announces what it’s working on and invites even those who disagree to stay tuned. 

As an ice-breaker, this might be one way of framing the core concern.  “We want to ask ourselves three questions:

“If special interests always prevail over the national interest, what happens to America?

“If we behave only as Small Hat citizens, never as Large Hat citizens, does America benefit?

“If American citizens have no interest in integrity, what sort of nation will America be?”

Americans of all persuasions are affected by these concerns.  What happens if America is nothing more than a nation of special interests?  What happens if we as citizens are nothing more than special interest partisans?

Now let’s imagine six phases of activity.  Step by step, we develop our personal competencies by giving ourselves new challenges.

 

1.  Think Aloud Together

If we are to be a competent nation, surely we would want to be comfortable both thinking aloud and listening to one another as we take turns thinking aloud.  We enrich ourselves and one another when we do.

My church did this, some years back.  We pulled groups together based mostly on a random draw.  Quite a number of gatherings took place, each with its own host or hostess.  At each gathering, the same three questions were placed in front of the group.  One question asked about strengths, one asked about concerns, and one asked about hopes.  The rules were simplicity itself.  Go all the way around the circle.  Give everyone a turn.  Have a notetaker who records each person’s comments, so that the church could have a permanent record.  When finished with the first question, move on to the second, then the third.

Refreshments were served. It takes time to go all the way around a circle three times, with three distinct questions.  Almost no one thinks aloud for ten seconds and then stops.  It takes time to get in touch with one’s feelings and to share concerns. Listening as others think aloud is both relaxing and engaging.  We didn’t argue.  No one dominated, no one felt insulted by the twists and turns of an unfriendly debate.  The process bore fruit; from all this thinking the church evolved a strategic plan that has served it well for quite some time.

Imagine something similar for conversations among citizens on the larger subject of America’s future and America’s competence.

Perhaps we would think aloud about questions like these:

“To what extent is America’s direction shaped by special interests?”

“Describe a negative scenario for America’s future that worries you.”

“Describe a positive scenario for America’s future that would appeal to you.”

“How would you like citizenship to be understood?”

Some gatherings might get through these questions in one session; some might want more time and might stretch the discussion out for a second session.

The first goal is quite simple.  Through the simple act of listening respectfully to each person in the room, remind ourselves of our common humanity.  Appreciate one another, our warmth and our sincerity as Americans.

The second goal is equally simple.  Discover the value of thinking aloud.  Discover the value of listening to others as they think aloud. 

Connection.  Good manners.  Mutual respect.  Warmth.  Listening to our hearts.  These are the ingredients for success in so many situations; surely they are the ingredients for national competence as well.

 

2.  Develop a Code of Civic Ethics

Not long ago, I Googled the phrase “Democratic Party Code of Ethics.”  Zero hits. When I Googled the companion phrase, “Republican Party Code of Ethics,” I got a few hits – glancing blows, really – and they all centered on Illinois.  When I searched state by state, from “Alabama Republican Code of Ethics” to “Wyoming Republican Code of Ethics,” I got zero hits on forty-nine states and the District of Columbia.  Only in Illinois, it seems, has anyone experimented with the idea of a code of ethics for a political party.  (Early 2011)[1] 

Think of it.  Ours is a vast nation with a $14 trillion per year Gross Domestic Product.  Republicans and Democrats alike proclaim themselves fit for the responsibilities of national leadership.  Yet neither party has ever bestirred itself to create a meaningful code of ethics and communicate its code to the nation.  [There is now - June 2011 - a modest amount of discussion under way on the need for some Codes of Ethics.]

Let’s not wait.  Let’s take this on as an early project for a civic competence incubator. 

One might well begin by throwing the question open for discussion everywhere.  “If we are to be a competent American public, in a competent nation, by what Code of Ethics should we operate?  As citizens?  By what Code of Ethics should both parties operate?” 

Let’s hear from everyone, regardless of political persuasion.

Let’s enrich the discussion by gathering examples from other fields, and perhaps from the field of politics in other nations. 

What ideas might we bring forward for a Code of Ethics for America’s civic life?

We might want to say something about good manners being better than bad manners.

We might want to say something about evidence-based reasoning as a desirable ethical standard.

We might want to affirm listening to others as an ethical obligation.

We might take a cue from the Fisher-Ury book Getting to Yes:  “Be hard on issues, be soft on people.”

We might want to discourage flaming on the internet.  We might want to discourage the spirit of slander.

There are dozens of ways to carry out polling of this sort.  One of the best tools has been created by the British company Imaginatik.[2]  Its Ideation software supports instantaneous open-ended polling of tens of thousands of employees within a global corporation; it supports swift distillation of the a vast range of replies into the full set of themes that respondents have proposed; it supports additional rounds for enriching and refining the suggestions offered in the first round.  Why not adapt a tool with these capabilities to the public discussions we want to hold as citizens of a vibrant democracy?

How might such a discussion come to closure?  Perhaps closure at a national level isn’t the aim.  Coming to closure locally or regionally might be sufficient.  Do we want a healthy civic life in America?  A Code of Ethics for Public Life would be a step forward.  A Code of Ethics for Political Parties would be another step forward.

 

3.  Initiate Core Asset Tracking and Reporting

As presented in this book, a Core Asset Balance Sheet is a tool for discovering Consequences.  Understand which assets are healthy and which are unhealthy.  Understand which assets have a positive trendline and which assets have a negative trendline. 

A competent nation manages scale effectively and with integrity.  If we see deteriorating assets, we might reasonably suspect that some important activity at scale has been badly designed.  Its replication engines are causing damaging consequences rather than beneficial consequences. 

Where the nation sees deterioration, the nation can redesign the way it does business. 

Core asset balance sheets are a natural project for the civic incubator suggested in these pages.

The key issues have already been touched upon elsewhere. What, precisely, is the best design for a core asset balance sheet?  How many tracking capabilities already exist?  How many new capabilities ought to be added?  How does one launch a Core Asset Balance Sheet?  What will a mature infrastructure look like in years to come?

An early start makes sense.  No point waiting to finalize a comprehensive design before a launch.  Begin with a rough sketch and a few initial datasets.  Engage the public in a testing and feedback process.  Refine the approach. 

Think of such a project as a modern version of a barn-raising.  People come together for fellowship and food; they also come together as a resource-rich team in order to accomplish something big in a short period of time.

21.1 Revision 2011-06-27

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[1] For extra credit, try Googling “Republican Party Science Advisor.”  Try  Googling “Democratic Party Science Advisor.”

[2] See www.imaginatik.com.

21.2 A National Interest Incubator, continued

    

4.  Initiate a National Interest Agenda

Now for a larger project.  Consider the following vision.  If America were already a competent nation, it would have a national interest agenda.  Its agenda would have been drawn from the suggestions of insightful Americans from all parts of the political spectrum, from all regions of the nation.  From those topical concerns, a Top Twenty-Five list would have been distilled.  In time, solutions that express the nation’s commitment to integrity at scale would have been evolved.  The body of law would be significantly better.  America’s competence would be widely recognized.

Today’s America is not that America.  But the path to competence does involve those action steps.  Identify the topics where smart policy is essential to the national interest.  And then, topic by topic, whittle away irresponsibility at scale and replace it with policies that call forth our capacity for integrity, at scale. 

How might one proceed, from a standing start?

One develops a list of insightful individuals who will have thought deeply about America’s future and those areas where the national interest is not well-served.  Poll widely.  Get suggestions from the broadest possible cross-section.

My starter list would include people who address national issues from all points on the spectrum. All current and former candidates for President.  All Vice Presidents, all Secretaries of State, all Secretaries of Defense, all Treasury Secretaries, all Energy Secretaries.  David Brooks, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins, Clyde Prestowitz, Ralph Nader, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Thom Hartmann, Glenn Beck, and thousands more.  With a rich set of suggestions in hand, and an implicit framework emerging, expand the reach to take in everyone.  Continue to refine the list as new themes are added and new angles suggested.

Two prompts will serve for all. 

“If America is to be a competent nation, it needs strong competencies in a number of areas.  If you could have your top four or five choices implemented tomorrow, what would those competencies be?”

“Will these capabilities support good behaviors at vast scale?”

In the end, one wants a Top Twenty-Five list.  And also an Everything Else list. 

To be among the Top Twenty-Five, a topic ought to meet the national interest test:  “Get this right and we strengthen the national interest.”  And it ought to meet the integrity test:  “Get this right and we prevent badly designed sectors from damaging the nation at a vast scale.”

A topic, of course, is merely an action item.  The entire list is, in essence, “A To Do List for Making America Work Better.” It is a starting point for creating scenarios that point us toward real solutions.

 

5.  Create Solution Scenarios

Now take the next step.  The Top Twenty-Five have been identified.  Were America able to redesign its way of doing business for all twenty-five, this would be a competent nation indeed.

And that’s the next task:  Fashion a robust policy scenario for each topic in the top twenty-five, and a few more as well. 

Isn’t this ultimately the responsibility of the Congress and our state legislatures?  Yes, that has to be the long-run goal. Unfortunately, today’s legislatures are not up to it.  The initiative must begin from within civil society, and a national interest incubator could be just the host we need.

Let’s open our minds to fresh ideas.  Current Tea Party activists have an interesting suggestion.  Don’t put a bill up for vote, they say, till the final version has been available online for two or three days.  Nothing should be voted upon until it’s been read and understood.

There is in this the germ of a very important idea.  On major issues, what if we set an expectation that the public ought to understand the issue first, so that Congress can be held to a higher standard?

And what it the public learns to understand the issue by taking on the analysis of the problem, the weighing of options, and the design of one or more legislative scenarios for its resolution?

Imagine a civic competence incubator hosting a solution design process.  The goal is not a partisan solution for the right, or for the left.  The goal is a national interest solution, a solution that manages vast scale responsibly.  Call it a Solution Scenario.

Use an architectural analogy to understand the challenge this presents.  As a society, we face a significant problem.  We have a sector whose present design principles lead to damaging behaviors, sometimes at vast scale.  The sector requires significant redesign, much as an aging building might require significant remodeling.  The aging building is essential, the sector is essential, and therefore the remodeling is essential.  With an aging building, one convenes an architectural team.  With a badly-designed sector, one convenes something analogous.  There is diagnostic work to be done.  There are benchmarking studies to be done, gathering examples from other states or nations.  There are solution scenarios to be envisioned, mapped out, shared with the public.

In the world of architecture, one conducts charrettes, public discussion sessions in which the architects share their design ideas, and public stakeholders from all points of the compass offer their feedback.  Architects take the feedback to heart, modify their design, and come back to the public with a new way of looking at the issue and how it might be resolved. 

In the world of creating solution scenarios for misbehaving sectors, much the same processes can be used.  The charrettes can be far reaching. Hundreds of thousands of voices can participate if everyone lives by rules of courtesy, evidence, and succinctness. 

A competent nation understands scale.  A competent nation understands the interaction between powerful sectors and core assets.  A competent nation values integrity; sector behaviors that cause harmful consequences on a massive scale are to be avoided through sensible redesign of that sectors operating rules.

In each such design project, the goal is a solution scenario capable of improving America’s competence.  Add it to the nation’s code of laws, and the code becomes more competent.  Adapt the sector in question to its new rules, and the sector will succeed commercially with much less risk of causing great damage somewhere along the way. 

Imagine a Congressional debate on affordable medicine taking place in a climate where no one understands the issue.  We will end up with a special interest mess, will we not? 

Imagine a Congressional debate on affordable medicine that draws upon ideas the public itself has created.  The debate will be considerably more disciplined and honorable, will it not? 

The Tea Party instinct about the relationship between the Congress and the public is a valuable one.  Let’s take the nation’s most serious weaknesses and address them with redesign charrettes.  Let’s use the discipline of redesign to educate ourselves as a public.

 

6.  Elect National Interest Politicians

The rules by which we run elections contain almost no quality standards.  We have legislative bodies that by law get staffed up with elected officials.  We have elections.  We have contests so that voters will have choices.  Except for constitutional provisos regarding citizenship, age, and full freedom of religion, we have no quality standards.  We are essentially free to elect whomever we like. 

At the same time, the realities of modern life cannot be wished away.  Producer sectors have vast powers.  Consumer sectors have vast powers.  Public sectors have vast powers.  Nonprofit sectors have vast powers.  The political sector – our parties and our advocacy organizations – also has vast powers. 

If we want America to be a competent nation, we must begin with ourselves.  We must hold ourselves to standards of integrity and competence. 

And we must end up with a competent code of laws.  A society with a competent code of laws is likely to function as a competent nation.

And our elected officials, the chosen agents who write our laws, must be competent enough, individually and collectively, to produce laws that help America function as a competent nation.

The basic paradigm is timeless.  A competent public insists on living by a competent worldview.  It elects competent public officials.  They write competent laws.  Each of society’s major sectors operates within the rules those laws create.  With competent rules, the sectors go about their business without causing damage on vast scale.  Society’s core assets thrive.  Society’s measurement system provides accurate feedback.  Citizens use the feedback to stay informed and protect their competence.

Each two years, we are put to the test again.  Are we sufficiently competent as a public that we will know how to elect competent legislators?  Will we have enough competent legislators in the House and the Senate to write competent laws?  To weed out laws that are incompetent and corrupt? 

Just now, the answer is no.  We as an American public lack the competence the times require of us.  We fumble the ball repeatedly on matters of scale.  We are careless about integrity.  We become passionate about our special interest concerns while taking little note of the national interest. 

How do we change a “No” to a “Yes”?  How do we change special interest politics into national interest politics?  How do we pull national interest politicians into public life, both within the Republican Party and within the Democratic Party? 

When the time is ripe, we will know it.  And then Americans who have a clear vision of America’s national interest will be ready to support national interest candidacies in both political parties.  National interest PACs will form.  Local PACs.  Statewide PACs.  Nationwide PACs.  These PACs will support the election of National Interest Republicans, in Republican districts.  They will support the election of National Interest Democrats, in Democratic districts. 

At some point, the virtue of national interest politics will win broad-based support from the American people.  Special interest politicians will have a difficult time getting re-elected.  Who will want to run for office on a platform that defends irresponsibility at scale while denouncing integrity at scale?

 

A Competent People, A Competent Nation

We Americans are at heart a decent people.  Our shared virtues outweigh our differences.  We have talents to contribute.  We value craftsmanship.  The challenge of competent citizenship is not beyond our reach; the promise of living in a competent nation is not beyond our reach.

A competent nation understands scale, its dangers as well as its abundance.  A competent nation affirms integrity, the principle that it bears moral responsibility for its behaviors and for their consequences.  A competent nation protects its core assets by writing sensible rules for the behaviors of its major sectors.

An astute public understands this and teaches itself a series of supporting competencies.  It learns the arts of collaboration.  It creates a measurement infrastructure to track the condition of society’s core assets.  It affirms integrity and the national interest as core principles.  It pays attention to the subliminal content of its worldview, and does all it can to scrub away damaging rationalizations.  It teaches itself to be courageous in its choice of success standards.  And it teaches itself to care about fine craftsmanship in its search for good solutions.

It understands its civic terrain, and it knows how to create competence at scale. 

Competent Public --> Competent Legislators

Competent Legislators --> Good Policy

Good Policy --> Good Sector Design

Good Sector Design --> Good Replication Behaviors

Good Replication Behaviors --> Healthy Assets

 

It is our destiny to seek principled competence. 

In the days when the Constitution was written and ratified, America was young and small – four million Americans nestled in thirteen East coast states.  Now our fifty state nation stretches across the continent and beyond.  We number more than three hundred million and our numbers continue to rise.  Our history has carried us on quite a journey. It is a privilege to live in a technologically and economically accomplished age.  It is a privilege to live in an energetic capitalist democracy and to enjoy our American freedoms.  America’s vast scale challenges us and benefits us.  And it calls out to us, with a challenge that goes to the core of our character:  It is through stewardship at scale that we earn the privilege of being consumers at scale.

History’s journey continues.  There are new competencies to learn and new roles to fill.  Our guiding traditions remind us of our timeless purpose: 

“Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

These truths are written on America’s heart; they tell of a people and a nation forever linked.  It is through integrity at scale that we Americans will give of our best and help our beloved nation achieve its best.

Steven Howard Johnson, 21.2 Revision 2011-06-27