Stick to Your Knitting, Work Within Your Circle of Control

These messages - Stick to Your Knitting and Work Within Your Circle of Control, are, I believe, more compelling than expending any more energy or effort to debunk a bill that has little chance at becoming the law of the land as it is currently written. Bills metamorphosize during the legislative process, and whatever we will get to replace FTA 96 will be a while in coming. So how can you be effective at this juncture? For one, spend as little time on such water cooler talk as possible and focus on the task at hand.

My recommendations in this regard stem from my adherence to the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, which most of you are probably familiar with. I posted two new books on the Recommended Reading list this morning, recognizing the importance of staying focused and not being distracted by all the commotion in Washington, or in your particular state capital, for that matter, should this virus of Legislative-Municipal-Network-Bans-to-Protect-Incumbents spread in your direction.

In my opinion, the best innoculation against such a virus is to maintain a focus on local issues and getting the job done. We can become paralyzed with fear and frustration as we watch the powers that be take steps that would directly and negatively impact our ability to manage our local affairs. Better to let it blow by you as you go about your business, as the people of Lafayette did in passing their fiber plan bond package, or those in Philadelphia, or Minneapolis with their municipal wireless RFPs. Get busy and it will not matter what they do in Washington, because it will be too late to stop you.

You can see that if you were to apply these habits to your network project, you could start to see some results.

A. Personal Independence
1. Be Proactive. (initiative) - Get educated here on this site and elsewhere. Kick off a local campaign by asking your city leaders why you don't have such a project on the books and asking your community leaders what they would do with such a tool.
2. Begin with the End in Mind. (leadership) Take the lead and sketch out a compelling vision for your community. Publicize it.
3. First Things First (Management) Begin a diligent planning process by identifying the steps you need to take to make things happen.

B. Social Interdependence
4. Seek First to Understand, and Then to be Understood (listening) Take surveys and poll the communities that make up your city. Ask what they need and how a broadband communications infrastructure could help them to meet their needs.
5. Go For Win Win Solutions (cooperation) Find a way to incorporate private sector solutions and needs in with your public sector needs and approach.
6. Synergize (creativity) Take the time to design a network that works for all parties, meets all the purposes defined, and can be built for the least amount of money.

C. Regeneration
7. Sharpen the Saw (health and balance) Keep things in perspective and realize that community integration is more important than speed. Better to move as one than to race ahead with a plan that lacks widespread buy-in. Transform your temporary project approach into a permanent means for binding the community and planning for your future.

It all starts with Step One. Do Something.

Oh, the other book I recommended is the classic Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. Given our current political climate, I think we all would benefit from revisting this book written in 1937.