— By Buckley Brinkman, advisor to the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity
For WisBusiness.com
Thank you for investing a few of your minutes in this experiment. An experiment to engage people around the key opportunities facing Wisconsin and how we can address them Wisconsibly – practically, collectively, and in a way that leaves us all in a better place.
Let’s try to quiet the noise and slow the back and forth mayhem that wastes so much energy. Mayhem is an amusing guy in the insurance commercials, but not so much in real life. I think we start by using our personal gratitude for our own circumstances to unlock a wellspring of grace for those around us. We can disagree and believe that we want the best for each other. My Dad had a phrase that always made me stop and think when someone blew up in outrage; “I wonder what God has them up to today.” If we can all pause and ask that question, displays of grace become much easier and more comfortable.
I intend to focus on real-world ironies and paradoxes. We have the ability to hold onto two conflicting thoughts at once and see how they mesh. Remember Yogi Berra and how he would do that? He had many “Yogiisms” and one I remember was, “No one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” The statements conflict, but somehow they make sense.
These musings should lead to new ideas – more from you than from me – and conversations that advance those ideas. Let’s eliminate words from our vocabulary that stunt that process – but, always, never, and should start my list. Let’s treat our words with care and say what we really mean so that we can get to, “yes…and…” in our tough discussions.
We will go after paradoxes and ironies by engaging the ultimate irony: apolitical essays in a political forum. We will think about the key opportunities facing Wisconsin, not fortifying a political position. Change is coming fast and from different directions. We can take advantage of these changes by playing to Wisconsin’s strengths, not a particular agenda.
Instead, help me find our sweet spot in all these conversations – that place where we discuss the underlying complications that can untangle difficult issues. I will ask the dumb questions and make the simplistic statements so that we can all learn together. Where I do, please supply the data I need to understand. Together, let’s build a better picture of the opportunity in front of us. With a clearer picture – and an infusion of grace – we can take effective action together.
Wisconsin is a terrific place to be. Our economy has a solid foundation, based on making and growing the things people need. We’re practical people with enough dreamers among us to pull the future towards us in new areas. Our collective efforts build up the state and strive to leave no one behind.
I know these are lofty goals – and more than a little optimistic. Still, I want you to join me as we explore how we can make the future brighter by working together on the things that really matter.
On Wisconsin!
