Build It, Then Drag Them Through The Door
When Field of Dreams was released two decades ago, I remember stories of men in their 40s and older, in tears, as they streamed out of theaters. Now that I’m almost 40, I think I need to go back and take a look at this movie again, because to me the premise seems flawed. Of course, the movie played on the concept “If You Build It, They Will Come.” If experience tells me anything, it’s that building it is the beginning and not the end. In fact, in almost all worthwhile efforts, the hard work begins after the thing is built. Even with the strongest planning, the best of intentions, and the right relationships in place, getting people in the door takes intense bottom-up, grassroots effort. Getting them to come requires hand-holding and time. In other words, after the planning work takes place in sterile conference rooms, and the trough is built after descending from the ivory tower, visionaries need to take the final step of gathering people together and leading them to the water.
At New Media Cincinnati on Saturday, I had an opportunity to talk about grassroots efforts to build the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in IT (COI) at the University of Cincinnati. Initially, I wondered if anyone would care about the topic as the 4 other topics focused more on social media subject matter. It didn’t take long to understand that the COI efforts struck a nerve among the attendees. Whether offering help or looking for help, I had some great conversations with John Buehler, Daniel Lewis, Brent Billock, Anne Castleberry, Kristen Beireis, Amybeth Hale, Dori Gehling, Mark Homer, Tom Phillips, and Margy Waller. Many of these folks offered input and assistance connecting me with others who could help guide my efforts. Others discussed the need to develop a local entrepreneur class of software developers, a topic I hear about consistently in a number of different communities.
A conversation with Molly O’Toole, the Communications and Community Engagement Director for the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), struck me as indicative of the effort necessary to make great ideas succeed. Molly has a fantastic vision of how the Cincinnati streetcar can directly build and support a new community of young arts patrons that transitions into a base of long-term supporters. Partnering with, say, the University of Cincinnati, the CAC could develop programs and services that directly benefit students and develop relationships that create long-term arts patrons. The streetcar, which would loop from uptown to downtown, provides an easily understood mode of transportation for students who may otherwise avoid a trip downtown.
Yet, without a strong bottom-up effort to organize student trips to the CAC, where organizers work with university administrators and planners to detail how these trips will happen, and then taking the time to reach out directly to students and walk them through the process and experience of visiting the CAC, all the efforts to develop a partnership will result in no more than unread posters and brochures littering campus. Building it, without intense follow-up effort, and they will not come. And this is where most great visions fail. An initiative like this requires the time and effort of someone walking onto campus, meeting students in person to describe the benefits of the CAC, organizing gathering places to meet students, then serving as a guide that leads students from campus, onto the streetcar, down to the CAC, on tour of the facility, and back. Finally, organizers of a program like this need to develop a strong follow-up program with interested student leaders who can, over time, begin to introduce other students to the benefits of the CAC and lead their own tours. Yes, this is exhausting. But as Jimmy Dugan so elegantly stated, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”
So what does this mean for you? The more I get involved with the great people working to unlock the value of what Cincinnati has to offer, the more I see the need for folks to roll up their sleeves and get to work. The talent you have fits in this effort somewhere. And your ability to sustain will drive changes in people’s lives. The work is hard. Making a difference is not for the faint of heart, which is why relatively few truly give of themselves. In the words of Don Meyer, the winningest coach in the NCAA, “If you’re a leader, and you’re not a servant leader, then you’re not a leader.”
So take a look at the Agenda 360 report, or volunteer to help at Cincinnati Works, or find any number of regional efforts where you can apply your time and your talent to make a difference. Then, when you find something that you think might fit, raise your hand. Take part in building your piece of our community. You’ll be amazed how quickly you can make a difference.