Real change requires real change 

If you seek a dysfunctional state government, look about you.

The theme of the Mackinac Policy Conference this year was “The Quest for Common Ground.” I agree with the chamber’s statement that “Now is the time for business, civic, government, and philanthropic leaders to embrace cooperation and help shape a future that reflects the needs and aspirations of all who call Michigan home.”

Will we?

Michigan’s government is broken and needs to be fixed. But don’t look to Lansing or Mackinac Island for solutions.

We continue to have a spend-and-pretend mentality at the state Capitol with both parties that ignore the long-term problems plaguing our state.

While residents often view the state as “middle-of-the-pack,” studies suggest it is falling behind in crucial economic and educational metrics. “Michigan Future” and the Detroit Regional Chamber argue that Michigan’s economy, education, and population standings are in a “free fall.”

The focus on the island has largely been on the state’s declining metrics for income, population growth and education.

As citizens of Michigan, we can’t afford for the “common ground” to be quicksand or more of the “same old” pretending to fix systems that benefit the existing power structure on both the left and right.

Clearly the island confab meets its primary objectives as a premier networking hub and an incubator for ideas.  Equally clear, it yields mixed results on delivering concrete, actionable items that can be measured year over year that actually benefit the citizens.

We need to move beyond being “unified” around continuing to pretend to address the problems that haunt the citizens of this great state.

We, the region and state “that put the world on wheels,” the “hub of mobility”— has descended into a pogo convention — just a lot of bouncing up and down and going nowhere.

We pretend to fix problems in Michigan and usually simply kick the can down the road.

As the data tells us, we are falling behind and have been doing so for at least two decades — educationally, economically (affordability), healthcare, and being competitive — in a fast-paced world where ideas and jobs can and do move around the globe effortlessly.

Pretending is neither a strategy nor a plan.

Change is often the most talked about and least acted on concept in Lansing today. Change is only of value when it produces beneficial progress.

We have met the enemy and it is us.

Be honest, most of the people gathered and represented on the island are the same people/organizations that have helped to create the mess and have benefited from the status quo that exists today. Where is their incentive to change?

A rational person will not jump out of a ten-story window until the flames are so intense that they are forced to do so. Have we reached that point where leaders are willing to risk the leap? Doing so will require the relinquishing of power from the likes of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Consumers Energy, DTE, the chamber and its members, the Michigan Hospital Association, the profit-generating health plans, MEA, etc. that are looking for their chunk of the taxpayers’ pie.

Power is fundamentally gained through dominance and coercion. Modern social science demonstrates that enduring  beneficial power is  built by advancing the welfare of the broader society . The question remains which group will be enriched by the proposed changes?

We cannot use the same thinking, the typical echo chamber that has brought us to this point to get us out.

So, what is the gameplan to keep Michigan from becoming the Pogo Capital of the world?

Is it “Physician, heal thyself?”

Is there a hint of hypocrisy along with the aroma of horse dung and fudge on the island?

Should those who helped create the hole we are in as a state be expected or allowed to attempt to fix it?  Should they, as a start, have to admit they are partially responsible for the predicament we find ourselves in?

It is said those who stir the dung pot must lick the spoon.

Should people who live in glass houses be asked to throw stones? Real changes that truly produce progress for the people of this state will require real change and for all to act like a two-year-old and ask, “Why?”

Leaders have a responsibility to not simply to manage the crisis in front of them, but the ability to look around the corner and over the horizon and pave the way to a new and better future.

Convincing reluctant participants benefiting from the existing order of things to change – that is real leadership.

Leaders help envision and create a path to new heights and paint a picture that many are not ready to see.  They create a path forward and bring others together to be a part of it. True leaders shake things up not just seek mediocre common ground.

The conference participants are leaving the island without a shared vision and common agenda to move our state forward.

The data shows that incremental adjustments have not reversed long-term trends in population retention, educational outcomes, or economic competitiveness.

We need to exploit the tension between finding a comfortable “common ground” and implementing radical disruption needed to fix long-standing systemic issues confronting our state.

We need public policymakers, lawmakers and decision-makers at the national, state and local levels to take a moment of self and collective reflection and ask “Why?”.

Clearly, if Michigan is going to be competitive on the world stage, where ideas and jobs can and will continue to move around the globe effortlessly, we need change, transformation and progress. No, it is not easy to act as a two-year-old and ask, “Why?” Yet, we do know that progress is not made by standing still.

Pogo or progress?