Visioning 2026 Blog

Mental Models Case Problem

The Leadership Norfolk Class was asked to read the following scenario and come up with probable solutions to the case for its February Class.  Your thoughts and insights are welcomed!  This case is based on High Noon with Gary Cooper playing Will Kane the marshall of the town of Hadelyville.

It is now 2007, and Hadleyville has grown to about 25,000 from the village it was in Will Kane's time. The state economy that is dependent on agriculture has gone through a recession, and the effects have been:  decreased retail sales and local plant reductions-in-force.  A significant manufacturer has begun to reduce its employees, intends to "outsource" work and reallocate jobs to production facilities it owns in other countries.  THe leadership of Hadleyville has tried unsuccessfully to create a source of incentive financing from a local sales tax, but has been defeated on seral occasions by a small, but vocal and effective opposition group.  The opposition group has continually undermined the municipal and Chamber of Commerce leaders with the citizens of Hadleyville.

You are a Leadership Hadleyville team that has been asked by civic leaders to devise sucessful strategies to create economic development (increase in 'quality' jobs in Hadleyville).  Among the options for consideration is another effort to pass the incentive financing program that the opposition defeated (LB 840 as example).

1) Assume that the opposition will be unimpressed that you soon will graduate from Leadership Hadleyville, and that they will attack you as vociferously as they have the municipal government and Chamber.

2) Have your team organize itself to develop a strategic plan that manages the opposition that will not abate, persuades the citizens of Hadleyville to support the financial incentive program.

3) Whatever the outcome, survive whe your plan and implementation are finished

Leadership Norfolk Future Trends

The Leadership Norfolk Class was asked to pick three of the following 12 Megatrends that are going to affect our world, in preparation for next month's class.  Each participant will come up with two references or 'factoids' about the trend and one quote.  Please join in this exercise!

1) Energy - changing from fossil fuels to hydrogen and alternate fuels
   ex: Anything into Oil
        What is the Hydrogen Economy?
  Quote: As Jeremy Rifikin postulates in his book The Hydrogen Economy :  “A decentralized, hydrogen-energy regime offers the hope, at least, of connecting the unconnected and empowering the powerless. When that happens, we could entertain the very real possibility of "reglobalization," this time from the bottom up, and with everyone participating in the process.”

2) The Limits of Representative Democracy - Representative Democracy confronts the challenges of accelerating change.

3)   Global Warming - We face an increase of 2.5 degrees F to 10.5 degrees F over the next 100 years.

4)   New Diseases - Unknown viruses and resistant bacteria are emerging.

5)   Changing Demographics - The differential aging and youth of the world population creates an economic and social time bomb.

6) Reduction in Biodiversity - 1/2 of existing species could be lost in the next fifty years.

7) Technological Singularity - We are approaching a moment when runaway advances outstrip human comprehension and all our knowledge and experience becomes useless as a guidepost to the future.

8) Cognitive Complexity and Continuous Innovation - Real time change requires a new way of thinking and seeing connections as the world becomes increasingly complex.

9) Clashing Civilizations and Terrorism - The confrontation of Islamic and Western cultures will create an environment of mutual anger, distrust and even hate unless new types of bridges are built.

10) Three Economies in Churn -     We are in a thirty-year transition from an Industrial Economy to a Creative Knowledge Economy to an Electronic Web/Network Economy.

11) National Boarders May Disappear - As poverty confronts economic affluence, communications connect and travel expands, immigration will overpower the capacity of borders to control human migration.

12) Artificial Intelligence Emerges - The concept of what it means to be human will change as a result of the rise of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and nanotechnology.