This weekend marked my first ever visit to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. I could go on for days about the collection and content. It checked the boxes of nearly every interest I have. Diners to Airplanes, 1970s and 1980s television to trains and fascinating cultural references. From roadside architecture to a 1986 Ford Taurus similar to the one my family drove off a lot in December of 1985 thereby becoming, for a time, the coolest family in town. It was all there.
Most striking to me though, was a hall that attempted to define and describe innovation. Highlighting key innovators over the last hundred plus years in a variety of fields as well as core concepts, it did what all great museums do. It inspired but also challenged. It made you think about your own view of the world and the who behind things we take for granted.
It also got me thinking about organizations and communities and the role our environments play in our ability to innovate. In the possibilities we do or don't have to take our lives to the next level, or to any level at all.
The question then becomes: How we can create the environments in which the next one hundred years of innovation can happen? From where will the next George Washington Carver, Amelia Earhart, or Jonas Salk come from? And how can we ensure that the solutions to our problems of today and tomorrow are brought to light and not squandered because of a missed opportunity. How many brighter futures can we help make happen?
Where does it begin? That better future for yourself and your community. I believe it has to start with safety. If you do not feel safe and you are not safe, it is nearly impossible for you to become an innovator. Can it be done, perhaps. But the best possible future will have the best possibility of succeeding in the safest possible environment. Yes, a flower will grow sometimes in barren sand. But far better are its chances in fertile soil, a temperate climate, and with the tender and watchful care of a gardener or two.
If you do not know where your next meal will come from, if you have no permanent housing, if your community is ravaged by violence or drugs how safe can you be? If your drinking water is contaminated by lead or if climate change leads to your community being destroyed by an increasingly destructive weather pattern or you suffer from emotional and/or physical violence at home, how safe can you be? How well are you set up to innovate, much less thrive? In many ways it may be next to impossible just to survive. Imagine having a justice system that does not afford you the same protections as others, or which does not believe you are entitled to equal rights because of your skin color or sexual orientation.
Once you have a safer environment in which to grow, we can talk about the potential to thrive. That is where educational opportunities, training opportunities and lifelong schooling come in. The importance of access to quality versions of those systems and institutions can not possibly be overstated.
This is one reason, however, why our current "us versus them" climate is so incredibly destructive. We seem to have forgotten that the vast majority of people want and need the exact same things. That fears and concerns surrounding these issues have been manipulated to highten differences and exacerbate fears are just another tragedy of the current age and every inch we stray from the common ground that forms our universal basic needs, we fall farther away from who we can be as individuals, communities, and a nation
Take as an exmaple the interaction between any law enforcement agency and the community it serves. Too often, both the citizen and the police officer are seen as antagonists. There are certainly reasons why this occurs, but both need each other. The citizen needs a police force that truly practices the carriage of justice and concern for every member of the community they serve and protect. But the community needs the police as well. When the 9-1-1 call is made to report a crime, potentially a violent one, those in peril need to know they will receive assistance in a timely and professional manner.
If we are to have our next Henry Ford Museum celebrating advances in innovation that change our lives for the better, then we have to focus on the foundation of the house. There is a reason that our greatest period of American History (at least in some ways) can be said to be the Second World War. Although not perfect by any means for all people, it none-the-less gave an indication of what was possible when America focused in energy and creativity on a problem and got to work. Imagine what we could do with today’s technology and capabilities focused on our present day problems. From improving education to solving climate change, the possibilities are incredible.
But you have to walk before you fly. And we have to get the basics right for all Americans- starting with their safety, their access to health care, and their education. From that, anything is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment