Elephants on Bicycles

I’ll get around to turning this into just an archive with a nice landing page soon enough but for those of you who I meet at the events I’ve been hosting and presenting at that find me at this site instead of my consulting site I wanted to direct you there so we can stay in touch. So. I can’t wait to hear from you and please find me at:

Andrew Miller Consulting – http://andrew-miller.com

Well it’s been several years now since bringing Elephants on Bicycles online and that seems like about the right time to give it a rest.

I’m not going away, just focusing in on some other projects.

The site will, for now, continue to stay up. Knowing me though if I don’t take it down eventually then I’m going to get distracted by it; and I’ll end up bringing it back to life.

So it has been a good run and hopefully if you have enjoyed what I do out here you’ll keep in touch with me via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/digitalocracy) or Twitter (http://twitter.com/Digitalocracy).

Here is my list of book recommendations from the past month’s reading -

My Year of Meats
http://www.amazon.com/My-Year-Meats-Ruth-Ozeki/dp/0140280464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270813791&sr=8-1

– This book is cast around a storyline about the horrors of the cattle industry and industrialization of food in general but is much more about sexual politics and emotional fortitude than about poisonous foods. I read this one pretty much cover-to-cover and bet you will too.

A Moveable Feast
http://www.amazon.com/Moveable-Feast-Restored-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/1416591311/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270813850&sr=1-2

– Hemmingway has always been a favorite of mine so with a long flight to Paris on the schedule it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take in this pseudo memoir of his time in and near the city of light. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone but, if you are a big fan of Hemmingway, you’ll probably draw the same conclusion that he does have better books than this one – (Men Without Women being one of those).

A Town Like Paris
http://www.amazon.com/Town-Like-Paris-Falling-Light/dp/0767928172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270814805&sr=1-1

– Again, with the Paris trip on the horizon Tina picked up this book per a friends recommendation and I’m passing the recommendation on. I read this on the flight home and really enjoyed it. The writer is hilarious and his choice of neighborhoods to live in (and streets to live on) is almost the same apartment we occupied while in Paris. Again, this was an easy cover-to-cover book that had me laughing out loud.

Dr. Zhivago
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Zhivago-Boris-Pasternak/dp/0679774386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270814894&sr=1-1

– Like many people I know Dr. Zhivago has always been a favorite movie of mine. If I remember correctly it was one of the first dates that my parents went on as well. Anyhow, so while I have always loved the movie and I feel a need to watch it a few times each year I hadn’t actually read the book until now (and actually I’m not quite finished with it). I don’t know what took me so long to dive into this but I’m glad that I did; the stories of the characters seem so well known to me (the movie still holds up even with reading the book) but with the book I find that I’m getting the bits and pieces of depth that the movie couldn’t quite complete.

Look at the Birdie
http://www.amazon.com/Look-Birdie-Unpublished-Short-Fiction/dp/038534371X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270814941&sr=1-1

– Kurt Vonnegut is another one of my very favorite authors. This book of his unpublished short stories is a welcome addition to his fantastic pre-death library. While I think it was very fitting that Man Without a Country was technically his last published work (that he chose to publish) I would absolutely recommend Look at the Birdie.

And if you’re looking for some group dynamic/change management type knowledge then give this one a try:

Theory U
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Leading-Emerges-Otto-Scharmer/dp/1576757633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270814863&sr=1-1

– This is not for the faint of heart, it is 500 pages of deep group dynamic and change management theory but it has tons of practical examples of how it works and as a practitioner of Art of Hosting techniques (which overlap U theory) I can tell you that this is the best set of tools we have to bring about a better future. If you’d like to understand more about driving innovation in your organization then give this book a try (or you could hire me – or both – http://andrew-miller.com ).

Finally, the book Social Knowledge: Using Social Media to Know What You Know will be out soon from IGI-Global and, since I helped to write it I will with all bias available tell you to go and pick up a copy!

Click thru to see all of the details, the attendee list and get signed up to attend. This will be an incredible day of sharing ideas and making contacts. Only 125 spots available so get on it pronto!

I spent a recent Sunday afternoon reading through Soviet Life magazines with a friend of mine. The magazines were all from the early 1980’s and were part of a magazine exchange program between the Soviet Union and the United States to attempt to provide cultural background and connections between citizens of both countries.

The thing I found most stunning about the magazines were the descriptions of Soviet values. Phrases that were used frequently talked about equality, social justice and a spirit of brotherhood. When describing various nations that ultimately became members of the United Soviet Socialist Republic the articles talked in length about their voluntary assimilation and how each culture is accepted as unique but equal.

If you study the idealism behind socialism and communism you see that these values are considered the bedrock of that society; those same ideals are also the bedrock of our society.

Unfortunately, we all know very well that the Soviet Union may have co-opted the name communism but actually ran the country under a cruel dictatorship; squashing non-conformity and oppressing anyone not towing the party line (including those nations that supposedly joined the republic voluntarily). But similarly unfortunate is the reality that capitalism is all about inequality and triumph over others and exploitation. All of which is at odds with those values as well. So why is it that two countries that were so at odds with each other struggled (and continue to struggle) so hard with actually living up to the values they proclaim?

Just something I’m curious about…

Here’s my WOSU commentary for the week of 3/22/2010, I’ll post up the link to the audio when it posts on WOSU.org.

On Movies -

I love movies. Now that the award shows are over and the blockbusters have been released to the dollar theatre I can go and catch the ones I missed on the first run. One thing I’ll miss out on at the dollar theatre is the 3D version of the movies.

Seeing Steve Martin host the Oscars after so much talk surrounding the new 3D glasses technology made my wife and I chuckle. In his movie The Jerk, Steve Martin’s character creates “the Opti-Grab eyeglass clamp” which was all the rage until Carl Reiner, playing himself, went cross-eyed wearing them. Ok, so I’m not actually afraid that the new 3D glasses will make me cross-eyed but the new technology doesn’t have me running out to the theatre either.

Last year I watched a hundred or two full length films and tons of short films. Sadly, I can count on one hand how many of those I went to see during their first run. Much to Hollywood’s disappointment – I’m sure – I didn’t choose to stay home because my movies weren’t in 3D. I stayed home because of the ridiculous expense.

For my wife and I to see a first run movie tickets are $9 or, if it is in the new 3D format the cost goes up to $14 for tickets, add another $14 for refreshments; wait, $14 for popcorn and two drinks? According to a 2008 report by ABC news that’s a 1300% mark-up; talk about making me cross-eyed! In all that’s $40+ without including the dinner half of the “dinner and a movie” date.

So for the film industry to attempt to draw people like me back to the theatres by increasing my costs just doesn’t make sense. To bad Hollywood is counting on the higher cost 3D movies to save the movie house.

It’s clear that movie theatre’s are struggling, not just from the economy but because media is changing. Most of the movies I watch I download from Netflix. All of those short films I watched, you can chalk those up to websites like Vimeo where artists are making their content available for free as a way of building their audience.

And for me that’s the thing; it doesn’t take a lot of expensive technology and gimmicks to tell a good story. In fact those things often cause the focus to shift away from good storytelling. Those artists who are making incredible films and essentially giving them away online are able to do so because they use technology as a way of making production and distribution cheaper.

Many of them wouldn’t even be making films if it wasn’t for cheap technology.

So I hope the next technological revolution in film isn’t the Opti-Grab for 3D eyeglasses but a real look into using the technology we already have to lower costs for film makers, theatre owners and ultimately me, the hopeful theatre goer.

My article for This Week Upper Arlington newspaper for 3/18/2010

Community Philanthropy

When I heard City Council Member David DeCapua suggest that we should search out private funding to meet the needs of the public amenities we currently support I was surprised. Speaking to Parks and Recreation Director Tim Moloney at a City Council work session Mr. DeCapua felt that private benefactors might be the route to take to rebuild the UA Senior Center and Tremont Pools – both of which are well beyond their useful life.

Looking back at our region’s history I can see how that might work.

Our local public television station, WOSU, recently aired a special documentary program about the Short North. The program is part of a larger Columbus Neighborhoods project which uses television documentaries to highlight the history of six areas and has a companion project online where individuals can add their own bits and pieces of history. [For full disclosure I’m involved in the ColumbusNeighborhoods.org project and invite you to contribute to it too.]

As I watched the program it inspired me to see Columbus residents with the vision and the where-with-all create something unique and community changing both in the early growth of Columbus as well as in neighborhood revitalization efforts.

In those early years of Columbus many of the wealthier families chose to use their resources not just to create beautiful homes for themselves but to also create beautiful communities. Lincoln Goodale created one of the nations first city parks open to the public without an admission price. Mr. Goodale realized that the beauty of the park would provide his family and neighbors with an opportunity for exercise and recreation close to home while increasing the attractiveness of the community he was building. In that way he recognized that a community with broader amenities drove community pride higher and in return drove the value of his properties higher as well.

After several years (decades) of “urban renewal” devastated the Short North, real estate developer Sandy Wood came along and began in earnest to try and revitalize it. His efforts went beyond just investing money in the buildings but also investing his vision of growing a community. By seeking out the creative class to occupy his buildings he let their natural ability to use creative problem solving and collaboration as a way to turn a destitute piece of real estate into a cultural landmark. Mr. Wood connected with this energy and commissioned public art and helped to foster the attractions that most of us enjoy the Short North for today.

Of course these are only two examples of philanthropy that caused a cultural shift within a community. There are however plenty of other examples. Just take a look around at our art museums, parks and sporting fields and you find that philanthropic individuals have provided central Ohio with some of its most beautiful public exhibits of nature, culture and athletics. These are all amenities that I know my family values because they make our lives more complete.

For several years now the community of Upper Arlington has struggled to define how it values its own public spaces; its places of recreation and culture. In that process arguments have occurred over whether or not our master plan is the correct vision for the future of Upper Arlington, how we as residents would like to see development implemented and over what sorts of public institutions we as residents are willing to support with tax revenue.

Sadly in recent times Upper Arlington has benefitted from very few Lincoln Goodales or Sandy Woods.

Instead redevelopment has often butted heads with the master plan because the developers have looked less at the long term investment in community and more at the short term bottom line. This might be a requirement of their incorporation or they might just be taking their lead from the voters of Upper Arlington. The voters have defeated recent capital improvement projects such as the Tremont Library update and the multiple attempts at a community center as well as many have fought fervently against other redevelopment projects and infrastructure investments.

So let’s ask ourselves these questions: what if I was a wealthy benefactor interested in investing in my community? What would make me want to put my name upon something? What would make me want to leave my mark?

The Upper Arlington Foundation is struggling with just that very question as it tries to fund the raising of the historical barn at Sunny 95 Park. As our UA Senior Center falls into obsolescence and the Tremont Pools require more and more patching are we as a whole community showing those possibly philanthropists we care enough to deserve their charity?

More to the point, are we so unwilling as taxpayers to invest in these resources that we require such charity?

The Columbus Neighborhoods website is live and ready for you, the citizens of Central Ohio to tell your stories about your favorite Columbus neighborhoods and suburbs. You can upload text, audio, video and pictures to help tell the history of our slice of the country.

For my part I’ve been uploading information about Upper Arlington. Check it out here.

The Columbus Neighborhoods online project is directly related to the upcoming premieres of Columbus Neighborhoods the television documentary series being broadcast on WOSU TV starting March 8th. As a part of the premiere a viewing party is being organized by WOSU, Betty’s Family of Resturaunts and the Columbus Underground at Surly Girl Saloon and you can get info about that here.

I hope you find your little tidbit to add to the website and become a part of Columbus’ ever evolving story!

Reposted from Visual Economics – Click thru for full size