By Edward M. Yager, Jr.
From Foresight, Vol. 4, No. 3
published 1997
The rise of a knowledge-based, technologically driven global economy (Drucker, 1993) has created new and significant challenges for Kentucky communities. In some cases, the pace of change and the complexity surrounding it has been confusing to community leaders, who search for ways to effectively lead in this changing environment.
One way of bringing some clarity to these developments is through the use of a metaphor. A metaphor allows us to understand one element of experience in terms of another by emphasizing the similarities of two objects or phenomena. Although some risk of distortion exists, powerful insights can be generated when the appropriate metaphor is used.
An increasingly interdependent, knowledge-based global economy that relies substantially on information processing suggests that communities with effective capacity for self-development may resemble the functioning of the human brain. A brain metaphor directs our attention toward brain-like functions existing within a community, such as rationality, creativity, memory, learning, and decisionmaking. Scholars increasingly argue that these brain-like qualities are important, and will continue to be important, in successful and prosperous commentates in the global economy (Blakely, 1994; Fosler, 1988; Luke et al., 1988; and others). Moreover, the brain metaphor has already been successfully employed in organizational studies by a host of researchers, including Herbert Simon who discovered important insights into organizational decisionmaking (Simon, 1947). In fact, Simon's discoveries won him the Nobel Prize! Consequently, by understanding certain processes in the brain, we may gain increased understanding of building "brain-like" capacity in Kentucky communities to effectively compete in the changed economic environment that rewards "smart" communities.
Communities, like brains, must have the capacity to learn if they are to be effective, particularly in today's fast-paced environment. One important discovery about the human brain that has implications for building learning communities is the brain's largely decentralized, holographic and specialized design. Recent scientific evidence suggests that brain function is largely decentralized and distributed-there seems to be no center or point of control, but rather a process out of which order emerges, rather than being imposed from a single focal point (Morgan, 1997). In other words, the brain's learning capacity is based upon networked intelligence that is self-organizing.
Neuroscientist Karl Pribram of Stanford University has suggested that the brain's design is holographic and creates processes where "the whole can be encoded in all the parts, so that each and every part represents the whole" (Morgan, 1997: 75). Each brain cell, for instance, has the encoding of DNA which contains information required to unfold the complete development of the human body. To supplement its holographic design, the brain also reveals characteristics of a specialized nature. Split brain research, for instance, has demonstrated that the brain's right hemisphere assumes a dominant role in creative, intuitive, emotional, acoustic, and pattern-recognition functions and controls the left side of the body. On the other hand, the left hemisphere is more involved with rational, analytic, reductive, linguistic, visual, and verbal functions while controlling the right side of the body (Morgan, 1997). In general, the brain appears to be largely a decentralized, networked intelligence with processes of both a holographic and specialized nature.
Do these findings have any relevance for Kentucky communities in the Information Age? If we accept the proposed metaphor, then the decentralized, networked intelligence that we find in the brain suggests that elite control of a community, also known as the "good old boy" network, may seriously impair the community's maximum potential for learning and adapting to changing conditions. Rather, a community that has broad-based civic participation, and encourages citizen dialogue and collaboration, more closely resembles the networked intelligence of the human brain, and is therefore better positioned to become a learning community.
In addition, and also corresponding to brain functions, the learning community is likely to be both specialized and holographic. Adam Smith, Frederick Taylor, and other scholars have analyzed the virtues of vocational specialization and its wealth generating potential. Specialization provides for the development of expertise and functional proficiency, which increases economic efficiency. Without vocational specialization, the community's reservoir of knowledge is diminished and its capacity to learn impeded. On the other hand, the community's specialized functions must be exercised in a highly interdependent fashion. Unless the specialized components of the community work together cooperatively, learning capacity again will be diminished. This suggests, then, the need for holographic features within the community to provide cohesion and integration. Citizens must see the "big" picture, extending beyond their specialized pursuits, to a knowledge and concern about the entire community. In other words, citizens should be, metaphorically speaking, encoded with the community's "DNA"-that is, they should be unified on fundamental purposes, values, and vision for the community at large. Some degree of unity is crucial before diverse elements of the community can effectively collaborate-sharing knowledge and information on a variety of community issues.
A learning community, which resembles an effectively functioning brain, will be well positioned to "learn how to learn" in the information age. This means, according to a recent study, going beyond the routine collection and processing of information to the actual creation of new insights and knowledge (Nonaka and Takuchi, 1995). Community collaboration is essential to gain fresh perspectives on community issues-and creative insights require a community dialogue which questions the status quo, old routines, old standards, and old ways of doing business. A spirit of innovation is imperative in order to build the learning community.
The brain-like features of community learning capacity just reviewed are currently being developed by the Community of the Future project in Bowling Green and Warren County. Under the auspices of the Bowling Green-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and Western Kentucky University's Institute for Economic Development, Bowling Green's Community of the Future project is part of a network of over 30 communities in 15 states involved in establishing learning communities for the 21st century. The project strongly encourages participating communities to cultivate and develop the features common to the metaphor of effective brain functioning: decentralized and networked learning processes linked to both holographic and specialized designs. Although the Bowling Green effort has not received much publicity, The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center noted in 1995 that "(in Bowling Green), the Communities of the Future project has established a national capacity building focus, emphasizing technology, citizen networks, leadership development, and consensus democracy" (Smith-Mello, 1995: 67).
Under this approach, the old paradigm of top-down (elitist) community leadership is considered a major impediment to community learning, growth, and development. Rather, the Communities of the Future concept encourages decentralized, broad-based citizen networks as the basis for shared vision and on-going collaboration on community issues. Communication technologies are expected to enhance these collaboration efforts. With a broader base of diverse citizens participating and learning from one another through collaborative efforts, the community's capacity to learn and adjust to changing circumstances is expected to be enhanced. Specifically, the Center for Communities of the Future has recommended the following elements in building community learning capacity:
Allow a broader base of citizens to set the collective agenda for any community.
Design processes of citizen involvement to tap the strengths of a community's diversity when developing a strategy for any important issue.
Gain citizen ownership and support for specific plans of community action.
With the consulting assistance of Rick Smyre, President of the Communities of the Future, the Bowling Green project has established a Steering Committee which is currently exploring ways of building a learning community with increased capacity for transformation in the Information Age. This has involved some discussion about other projects throughout the nation, including demonstration projects in Covington, Lexington, Louisville and Somerset.
In the Bowling Green project, the Steering Committee considers and evaluates any information about other Communities of the Future projects but recognizes that its own development path will be unique. Committee members, drawn from diverse backgrounds, follow no systematically prescribed plan or model. Rather, they are proceeding with the realization that community transformation will appear "chaotic" and disorderly at times. Notwithstanding the amorphous nature of the project, a general framework for action has been developed for building a learning community for the 21st century. This framework calls for the integration of consensus democracy, digital economy, and transformational learning into the thinking and operations of the community by:
Developing a network of neighborhood leaders who are trained with the skills and knowledge crucial to managing community change, such as: knowing how to access and use the Internet; facilitating small group discussions; and understanding the impact of future trends upon the community in general, and their own neighborhoods in particular.
Developing an electronic community infrastructure that allows diverse citizens to communicate with one another.
Developing ways to educate the youth of the community about the need to understand the impact of future trends.
Designing diverse ways of encouraging citizen participation in civic collaborative efforts.
Exploring ways of developing a shared vision for Bowling Green and Warren County.
Community transformation does not occur easily. Change threatens the power and position of some; creates uncertainty and anxiety in others; and presents new challenges and responsibilities to the untested. Nevertheless, a changing world requires that Kentucky communities develop new and effective capacities for learning and adapting in the Information Age. Drawing upon the metaphor of the human brain, learning and growing communities are likely to foster broad-based citizen collaboration. Bowling Green's Community of the Future project is one such effort, currently underway, to effectively position the Bowling Green Area for the demands of the next century. This largely uncharted path will likely bring a variety of changes to the Bowling Green community, including a new understanding of community leadership. Rather than a few leaders setting the direction for the community, many leaders will likely emerge to broker and encourage a collaborative process. The Communities of the Future project refers to this new type of community leader as a "process" leader since he or she will facilitate and maintain the process of collaboration which is crucial to community learning.
In a recent and acclaimed book entitled Grassroots Leaders for a New Economy, economic development consultants Henton, Melville and Walesh affirm the direction taken by Bowling Green's Communities of the Future project.
. . . a new kind of leader is emerging to help American regions become strong economic communities. The civic entrepreneur (or process leader) is the catalyst for building economic community. Civic entrepreneurs build relationships between the economy and the community. They provide the leadership that brings people and institutions together across sectors and jurisdictions to work on the long-term development of their region. In some cases, this work means solving complex problems. In others, it means being the first to see and seize opportunities. Civic entrepreneurs often come from business, but they can come from government, education, or other sectors. They contribute their time, experience, and personal networks to help their regions collaborate to compete in the global economy" (Henton, et al., 1997: 6).
If the metaphor of the brain is an accurate depiction of the learning process within a community, then just as brain cells and their communication networks are valuable resources in developing human intelligence and learning capacity, a community's citizens and their capacity to collaborate are valuable resources in improving the quality of community life. Bowling Green's Communities of the Future project recognizes this truth by affirming the value of its citizens and the promise of their collaborative efforts in building a learning and growing community.
Blakely, E.J. 1994. Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Drucker, P.F. 1993. Post-Capitalist Society. New York: HarperCollins.
Fosler, R.S. (Ed.) 1988. The New Economic Role of American States. New York: Oxford University Press.
Henton, D., Melville, J. and Walesh, K. 1997. Grassroots Leaders for a New Economy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Luke, J.S., Ventriss, C., Reed, B.J., and Reed, C.M. 1988. Managing Economic Development: A Guide to State and Local Leadership Strategies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Morgan, G. 1997. images of Organization. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Nonaka, I. and Takuchi, H. 1995. The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York: Oxford University Press.
Simon, H.A. 1947. Administrative Behavior. New York: Macmillan Press.
Smith-Mello, M. 1995. Reclaiming Community, Reckoning with Change. Frankfort: The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center.
Edward M. Yager, Jr., is an assistant professor of political science in the Department of Government at Western Kentucky University.