Like so many of these little essays, this one is long past any kind of timeliness. In fact, it's only because I was rummaging around in my graphics folders that I found this graphic I created just after one of the six workshops we ran for the Creative Providence project.

Jack Templin, who by his own admission is not any kind of an artist or designer, sat on the panel focusing on the economic issues facing creatives. In his introductory remarks, he outlined something he had watched develop, and until he mentioned it, I had not put the pieces together. 

The basic idea is that the IT sector would not be as successful as it is had there not been a very strong artistic / cultural component to the city's social fabric. He went on to elaborate on what I'm calling The Super-Cluster - a set of incongruous sectors that all are somehow connected to the Arts cluster.

NB: This is a two-dimensional representation of an abstract concept. All sector have some level of connection to all other sectors.

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Some of my local contacts pinged me recently to ask "What's up with RI.gov winning awards?"

The short answer: THIS! IS! MASSIVE!

First, let's get a few things sorted out. RI.gov has been a successful program for several years. This award is _recognition_ of existing excellence. So it's not like the state websites suddenly got great. They've been great (or at least great for government sites) for some time now. In fact, they've received other awards in the past, but only now broke through to this big win.

More important is that people understand that RI.gov isn't a website, or even a group of websites. It's a web publishing platform that's available to all kinds of state and, potentially, municipal entities. Adherence to existing standards represents a cornerstone of web usability, and, as a ubiquitous central platform, RI.gov "bakes in" a good portion of the usability. 

That basic concept - a very high quality platform that can support a wide range of government functions - is tearing across the government IT space right now, at least at the federal level. More typically (like, if you're not working directly for POTUS) major and massive change in governmental computing is _NOT_ a fast-moving situation. Thus it has taken some years to build up and build out the RI.gov websites, and, more importantly, train up the user base (aka, state workers) in producing content via RI.gov's content management system (CMS). 

Clearly, the project has reached a level of attainment, hence the award. But beyond recognition, this puts Rhode Island into a select class of states demonstrating genuine IT leadership. Chief among these is Virginia, to which state we can look for examples of more than just IT. 

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Bad news this morning when we came to set up for Providence and Beyond with John Abrams - South Mountain Company offices were burglarized last night, and John must stay on Martha's Vineyard to deal with the police, insurance, etc.

We are soldiering on in his absence and with Robert, a longtime colleague, playing both roles in what was to have been an In the Actors Studio type interview. We'll shorten this portion considerably and add the time to the cafe. 

John and Robert worked together on the Martha's Vineyard 50-year plan. The Island sought to diversify its economy from just tourism. But the planners recognized the need to look at the ecology, the economy and the Island's culture _before_ examining the built environment.

We also hoped John would talk more about the cooperative structure of South Mountain. Rather than an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), it's a true cooperative where a finite number of people are both employees and owners. At least two factors are driving an increasing popularity of this model:

1. Baby Boomers who have started businesses want to get out, but don't want to sell out
2. Many entrepreneurs want to stay connected to their companies after they step away from full time management

We were going to talk some about the counterintuitive business approach at SoMoCo. They insist on building high levels of affordable housing, and it is very difficult to determine which units are affordable and which are "market rate".  

Lastly, we were going to ask him about how SoMoCo is dealing with the current economic downturn, especially in the housing sector. They list six steps they will take, and none of them is layoffs. Never was it suggested that the newest employees be more vulnerable, nor was it suggested that they take the opportunity to "cull" the workforce, eliminating the least effective workers.

Instead, the crisis has served to unite the company even more strongly.  

Our current plan would reschedule John sometime in January or February 2010. We hope to announce it in a few days.

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Consultants love the phrase "complex adaptive systems." In the jargon, it ranks right up there with "systems view" and "change management". Like most jargon, it becomes cliche when overused, but it's overuse comes from its essential core of truth. Understanding the qualities of complex adaptive systems is crucial to managing the successive waves of change that sweep through business, non-profits, governments and society with each new technological upgrade.

"And this has what to do with New York City?"

At the Providence & Beyond transit cafe last year I sat at a table that discussed issues related to cycling in the city. Philip Marshall from Roger Williams University talked about cycling in New York, and how the tensions between cyclists and drivers were so much less because the standard of attention is so much higher. This rekindled a notion I've been toying with for some time about how pedestrian traffic in New York is a non-stop complex adaptive system worthy of our consideration and study.

Now, many months later, I ask the question, "How is it that millions of people can move at that New York City pace without more collisions?" It's a network that senses and reacts quickly, of course. But there's something more - a simple set of standards and a high expectation of compliance. 

More after the jump.

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