Making Room for Risk – and Reward – at City Hall
By David M. Sander
Without risk, there is no reward.
We all know this to be true, but how does it work for local governments? Is there room for risk at city hall?
We live in a society that is increasingly risk averse. Our politics have followed this trend, and many politicians have found success in selling the public on the idea that government can remove much risk from our daily lives with more laws, regulations and programs.
This public demand for risk reduction is intensified by the media, who often report on government mistakes and make them front page news. This in turn causes government employees to go to a great deal of effort to eliminate risks from their work so that they will not be blamed if something does not go as planned. That’s also the natural bureaucratic tendency – avoid any risk to stay out of “trouble.” And of course we as elected officials decry any mistake made by public agencies as something we need to fix and make sure never happens again.
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Taking these trends together – has risk taking become impossible in local government? If so, at what cost has that change occurred? Without some risk-taking there is no innovation, and as a result less opportunity for improved city services and growth. Clearly, this is no way to operate any organization, least of all one as important as local government. This is particularly true in our age of having to do more with less. This period of relative austerity in local government is not likely to change in the foreseeable future, and innovation is essential in achieving success in this environment.
We must be willing and able to take some risks if local governments are to be effective partners with their citizens in building better communities. So what can be done to mitigate the many pressures on city staff and city councils that contribute to their aversion to taking even reasonable risks? Here’s an approach I took on this issue in my community – and it just might bear some fruit in yours. I call it the “Innovation Vaccine.” Every year, our city’s mayor gives a number of talks, including a January address to community
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
