Creating an Agile Strategy
for Diversifying the Valdez Economy
Scott Hutcheson, Ph.D.
February 2015 - Valdez, Alaska
Seeing the Unseeable
Seeing the Unseeable
1) Good Money – Increase the
amount of money coming into
the community.
2) Neutral Money – Increase the
velocity of money circulated in
the region among local
businesses
3) Bad Money – Reduce income
leaving the community via
outside purchases
Good money increases when
products are exported and when
outsiders visit and spend.
Bad money is reduced when
locals invest more at home.
Neutral money speeds up
with business to business
trade.
The Valdez Economy:
Three Flows of Money
Adapted from the work of Ed Morrison & David Morganthaler
Strategy
Strategy = the employment of battles to win the war.
- General Carl von Clausewitz
I will build a motor
car for the great
multitude. It will be
so low in price that
no man will be
unable to own one.
- Henry Ford
Source: Bently Historical Library, Josephine Fellows Gomon Papers, Box 10,
draft manuscript, The Poor Mr. Ford.
In 1928 Henry Ford’s River Rouge
Plant in Dearborn, Michigan
became the world's largest
industrial complex, pursuing vertical
integration to such an extent that it
could produce its own steel. In this
year he also established
“Fordlandia” his rubber tree
plantation in the Amazon Rainforest
The Ford Motor Company
The world has changed
a lot since we first
started using strategies
to chart our course
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
71 cast and crew
members all working
for MGM
17
18
What do the military and vertical business
models have in common?
19
What do the military and vertical business
models have in common?
20
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast and crew of
2,000+, hardly any
working for MGM
iPhone
Strategic
planning often
spoils strategic
thinking.
- Henry Mintzberg
29
Strategic Doing enables people to
form action-oriented collaborations
quickly, move them toward
measurable outcomes, and make
adjustments along the way.
Thinking, Behaving, & Doing
in New Ways
Thinking in New Ways
Strategic
Doing
Leverages the
Value of a
Network
10 nodes, 9 connections
10 nodes, 45 connections
Grandfather Grandchildren
There is no top or bottom in a network
Networks move us to new
opportunities
Networks move us to new
opportunities
http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin/mandel-linked-in-connections-reportnov-2014
The “most-
connected”
communities had
more than double
the job growth of
the “least-
connected”
communities.
We Create Networks by Connecting Assets
Kretzmann, J. & McKnight, J. (1999).
Building Communities from the Inside
Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing
A Community’s Assets.
We Create Networks by Connecting Assets
We Create Networks by Connecting Assets
We Create Networks by Connecting Assets
Strategic Doing Recognizes That We Can’t
Predict the Future
Dr. Lowell Catlett
Economist, Futurist, and Professor
New Mexico State University
Strategic Doing Recognizes That We Can’t
Predict the Future
One study looked at 7,000 different economic
predictions and found 47% of them was correct.
Strategic Doing Recognizes That We Can’t
Predict the Future
Flip a coin and you beat the economists by 3%.
Behaving in New Ways
Strategic Doing Accelerates Collaboration
Turf
Trust
TIME
Sharing
Resources
Sharing
Information
Mutual
Awareness
Co-Execution
Co-Creation
Acknowledgment Exploration Cooperation Collaboration Innovation
Adapted from Collaboration Continuum from ACT for Youth
Building trust takes doing
Trust powers innovation
Innovating networks produce
increasing returns
Mathematics says the sum value of a
network increases as the square of the
number of members. In other words, as
the number of nodes in a network
increases arithmetically, the value of the
network increases exponentially. Adding a
few more members can dramatically
increase the value for all members.
- Kelly, K. (1999). New Rules for the New
Economy
Prosperity is not “winner take all”
Source: Clipart by C Charley-Franzwa -
http://clipartof.com/50191
Doing in New Ways
Strategic Planning Strategic Doing
Strategic Doing is a strategy
protocol built for networks
Alignments emerge
Strategy
answers two
questions.
A 30/30 commitment drives
learning
Strategic Doing Focuses on Small Wins to
Achieve Big Goals
Doubt and dwindling
motivation comes on
quickly when a big
goal is missed. On
the other hand, small
wins lead to the
progress principle -
more confidence,
high performance,
and motivation to
keep moving
forward.
- Teresa Amabile
Strategic Doing is
Simple but not easy.
It’s the simplicity on
The other side of
The complexity.
Strategic Doing
began in Oklahoma
City in1993
Oklahoma City Toda
Photo by: Luke Barrett
Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo, Indiana
Workforce Innovations in
Regional Economic Development
- Designed & guided 60+ collaborations
- Over 100 partner organizations
- Tracked over 200 metrics
- Hired 2.5 people to manage it all
- 80% of initiatives sustained
Kokomo, Indiana
2008 = One of the Fastest Dying US Cities
2014 = One of the Fastest Growing US Cities
The key to these successes was th
Rather than focusing on investing in
right projects, we focused on
investing in the right collaboration
Is it…
scalable,
replicable,
sustainable?
Strategy becomes a collective habit of ongoing
conversation coupled with action, rather than an
event or a document
Practicing Strategic Doing
77
• Local & Regional Economic Development
• Workforce Development
• Community & Neighborhood Development
• Cluster Development
• Local/Regional Food Systems
• Community Health
• Innovation Ecosystem Development
• Strategic Alliances
• Inter-Unit Organizational Collaboration
• National Associations
Practicing
Strategic
Doing
Strategic Doing in the “Literature”
Hutcheson, S. (2014). Effective Strategy in
Local & Regional Development.
Hutcheson, S. (2914). Effective Strategy Making
In Economic & Community Development.
Morrison E, & Hutcheson, S. (2014). Acceleratin
Civic Innovation with “Strategic Doing.”
Purdue’s partners in Strategic Doing
To know what you’re
going to draw, you
have to begin drawing.
- Pablo Picasso
To learn more and to connect
Scott Hutcheson, Ph.D.
Purdue University
hutcheson@purdue.edu
www.pcrd.purdue.edu
www.strategicdoing.net
www.facebook.com/stratdoing
www.slideshare.net/jshutch
Find these slides

Creating an Agile Strategy for Diversifying the Valdez (Alaska) Economy