We talk a lot about vision as human beings, don't we? We like politicians who seem to have a vision for the country (it helps even more when there is an actual plan behind the vision, but that's another blog post). The Book of Proverbs states "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The volunteer organization that spawned this Create WV initiative is even named A Vision Shared.
Our state song seems to capture with a twinge of pessimism our unique West Virginia experience with vision:
Many are our visions bright, Which the future ne'er fulfills;
But how sunny were my daydreams On those West Virginia hills!
The problem with developing a vision is how incredibly difficult it is for everyone to see the same picture of the future and then act together on it. Self-interest and personal experience all filter our hopes and expectations. Distrust can color what we're willing to accept in our view of the future.
Consequently, we humans try to narrow or broaden our vision in hopes that it will stick. It's a fine line to walk - cast too narrow a vision and it will seem like an attempt to drive a special interest agenda; cast too broadly and the vision becomes almost meaningless and impossible to act on.
This is not a post pro or con regarding the recent gambling initiatives in our state, but one argument by the pro table games contingent is often heard: "If someone has a better idea on how to generate 1,000 jobs, I'd like to see it."
We as a community are currently debating whether 1,000+ service industry jobs are worth the potential negative affects of increased legalization of gambling, but it always strikes me when I hear that argument whether anyone does in fact have a vision for how to generate 1,000 - or 10,000 or 100,000 - new jobs in our state outside of landing that rare Toyota auto plant or opening up new casinos.
Then I realize, isn't that the role of this Create WV initiative? Isn't that what we've taken on, to articulate the fact that the New Economy/Creative Sector is a rapidly-growing sector in the state and now represents over 20% of our jobs? That our own Workforce West Virginia estimates project Creative Sector jobs to grow 11% through 2014, while sectors such as manufacturing and mining decline in overall employment? Or that New Economy/Creative Sector jobs typically pay 2.25X more than Service Sector jobs, or 1.78X more than Manufacturing Sector jobs? (All this data is referenced in the Culture, Creativity and Innovation White Paper on the createwv.com site, in case you were curious about the background data). This is shared with no intention to minimize the importance of jobs in other sectors, only to point out the incredible growth opportunity represented by the New Economy.
This vision thing is tricky, but the Create WV initiative has developed one:
To empower West Virginians at a local level to place themselves among the most innovative, dynamic, prosperous, creative communities in the world.
Bold? We hope so. Too broad to act on? Perhaps. That's why we keep listening, keep encouraging you to submit your ideas on how to take this vision to the next actionable level. It's so critical that we hear from everyone out there on how to sharpen the ability to articulate it so when the question is asked "Does anyone have a better idea?" we can certainly provide some compelling answers.
Who knows, someday we may even amend our state song:
Many our visions were bright, Which history did fulfill;
And how sunny is my future On those West Virginia hills!
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