The Importance of Listening to Veteran Needs- Using Feedback Loops

The San Diego VA is listening to veteran frustrations about services and the ease by which they can navigate the medical system. The initiative is part of broader effort to understand how to better service veterans and improve the effectiveness of VA hospitals. Throughout the month of August and September the VA is conducting town hall meetings throughout the country. This is the VA's opportunity to consider both physical and virtual feedback loops in future policy development.

“As part of our Road to Veterans Day, VA is taking a hard look at everything we do in order to reorganize the Department around the needs of Veterans. Direct feedback from Veterans, employees and stakeholders is an important component of that Roadmap, and key to improving our services and operations,” states VA Secretary McDonald (Veterans Administration,2015).

Organizations use virtual feedback loops to understand how top level policies impact users on the bottom level. Sometimes feedback comment boxes are successful in collecting relevant information while at other times they pigeon hole the information into inaccurate data. Ensuring that online feedback loops are effective and offer alternative methods of presenting information is important. 

Having occasional face-to-face meetings offer opportunities for people to air their grievances to a real person they can hold accountable. It is important for those officials to provide their contact information. They will need to be empowered to make changes when consistent themes are discovered that could potentially improve the hospitals. 

The VA has been plagued by problems for a long time leaving a large swath of veterans unable to get the services they need. There is some indication that a number veterans have lost their lives trying to navigate the system. VA administrators allegedly hid the inefficient and ineffective methods from stakeholders and superiors thereby allowing dysfunction to grow. 

The face-to-face town hall meetings should only be a launch to more accountability.  Adaptive organizations develop adequate feedback loops that are able to make meaningful use of information while not inadvertently masking that information because of poor survey design. Leaving an open comment section in surveys and using a human evaluator in addition to automatic systems helps to ensure that open comments are collected and synthesized properly. 

All collected information can be reviewed on a regular basis and consistently applied to policy development and departmental approval. Incremental changes will help keep the organization responsive to its mission and to the people it serves. The process of growth and development relies on the ability to develop a semi-open system that incorporates, collects, and implements useful information and suggestions. There is nothing stopping the effective management and creation of adaptable government systems other than the people in it. 

The Benefits of San Diego County and City Partnering on Charger Stadium Project

San Diego County and San Diego are partnering through putting in $250,000 a piece to hire attorneys, consultants and industry experts to determine the best way to approach keeping the Chargers in San Diego. The plan to collaborate between the two governmental entities is a good one that tells the NFL and the Chargers that they are serious about keeping them here but also about protecting taxpayer interest.

San Diego County and the City of San Diego are stakeholders in the same project and would both benefit from keeping the Chargers in the area. Stadiums are expensive beasts that can easily cost over a billion dollars to develop. Most of the expense related to developing and building will be footed by taxpayers to it is important that the full scope of the project is understood.

There are times when cities get into projects and quickly find themselves overwhelmed with the project, cost, data, and legal ramifications. Effective legal challenges are mounted and soon what appeared to be a good idea is swamped in layers of red tape. Under those circumstances it won't take long for the NFL to figure out their needs aren't going to get fulfilled with this project.

All projects contain an element of risk that can be controlled. By evaluating projects in advance, alternatives, and methods of completion a more comprehensive solution can be formalized. Risk are reduced through the use of an effective plan that takes into consideration the challenges and difficulties that are often a result of expensive and high profile projects.

Successful stadium projects require the ability to plan and understand the scope of the project and then enactment of a strategy for completion (Sampson, 2006). Without defined objectives and knowing what the project is to accomplish there is a high probability that it will move outside of its objectives and include costs and add ons that have little to do with the project itself.

When spending taxpayer money that can have large implications for the area it is important to aim well and shoot once. Protecting taxpayer money and expanding the benefits from keeping the Chargers in town is important business that shouldn't be left up the whim of a few people. Having a team of experts might cost the city and county a little money up front but will save them millions in the long run.

Sampson, B. (2006). Build it and the fans will follow. Professional Engineering, 19 (10).

Amazon Prime and Prime Pantry Mark Improvements in Personalized Distribution

It wasn't long ago when the only way to buy household items was to trek on down to the store and wait in line wasting your precious hours. For many business professionals and overwhelmed parents it can be difficult and time consuming to take a few hours out of the day to shop. Services like Amazon Prime and Prime Pantry offer an affordable and time efficient alternatives. Their services would not be possible without improvements in the distribution systems that takes advantage of urban density.

This is how it works. For $99 a year you can get access to a huge selection of movies, products, 2-day shipping and other services through Amazon Prime. The 2-day free shipping has mammoth appeal to a new generation online shoppers who like to save cost and time. Within a matter of a few days they have their products at a competitive price not influenced by location differences.

Prime Pantry works a little different but offers a one low cost shipping value of $5.99. Customers purchase a large box of  household items and have it shipped to their house in 1-4 business days. In my case, the order showed upon in 2 days making the service convenient and affordable. I was impressed enough to try it again when I need enough items to fill up the box again.

The two services are only possible through improvements in supply chain distribution. Home delivery is now an affordable option for people who don't have a lot of time, or who simply find it convenient to shop on line. If you are a busy parent with a household of children or you are a busy professional engaged in renaissance activities you are likely to use the service more.

For a new class of people who live in urban areas and don't own a car Amazon Prime and Prime Pantry complement their chosen lifestyles. They enjoy freedom from auto expenses by taking public transportation and shopping online. Services like Amazon affords them the opportunity spend their free time with friends, family, or recreational activities.

What makes all of this possible is the developing of shipping warehouses in major metropolitan areas. Without the ability to distribute products quickly and within a short time frame the company wouldn't be able to offer this service or grow additional interest among consumers. The locality of Amazon warehouses, and their investment in efficiency, is paying off in the market in a big way.

The distribution process is matching customer preferences closer by better bridging the gap between customer wants, e-commerce, and physical delivery.  Allowing customers to avoid annoying lines, purchase online with their debit card accounts and having the products show up in a day or so appeals to a wide swath of families and young professionals. An entire generation of people are being socialized to the merits of shopping through a few key strokes while spending their time in more enjoyable pursuits.

The New Economy Requires More of an “Einsteinian” Approach

Einstein would feel at home in today’s world.  His creative genius in solving problems would be of great demand in today’s world. Gone are the industrial days where following simple instructions from start to finish guaranteed success in life. Today’s employment opportunities have a greater need for creative thinking, STEM, and unique approaches to solving problems.  The world is changing and society will need to catch up. 

A great many things in our society are still built off of the Industrial Era mentality. Our educational system, government offices, law enforcement, etc. continue to use a sequential pattern to process people and information in an inefficient and often ineffective manner. Contrary to institutional sluggishness, most businesses have already moved into the Information Era where they focus on competitive advantages to solve problems and reduce costs. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics between 1998-2004 30% of new jobs created were algorithmic while 70% involved complex heuristic work (Bradford, Manyika, & Yee, 2005). In other words, most jobs today don’t involve simple A to Z processing and require thinking at a higher level to effectively process information in a way the can generate new ideas. The use of creativity and intuition are not foreign in this environment. 

A paper in Educational Leadership highlights how creative thinking is more rewarded in today’s society than sequential thinking (Goodwin & Miller, 2013). The global economy requires new ways of educating people to use those skills and abilities that were second nature to geniuses. Education has the responsibility to meet the needs of preparing people for more complex work environments.

Einstein was considered “dim witted”, Thomas Edison had a “confused mind”, and Darwin was a “little slow”. They were characterized by “experts” in this manner because a healthy human mind was one that could easily follow instructions. Line up and take your number was the main criteria for success-not a whole lot of creative thinking needed. People were stuck where they were born regardless of their abilities.

Luckily things have changed for the better in most sectors of society. According to the paper divergent thinking, heuristic problem solving, and right brain thinking are needed in today’s world and should be taught, not thwarted, in education. There will be an increasing need for graduates to think beyond what is front of them and move into more complex thought patterns to overcome market challenges.  

When a person can think about problems from multiple vantage points they can be more creative. Likewise, it is necessary to try and understand problems as much as possible and make an intellectual leap when all of the information isn’t available. The right brain will need to be employed to tackle issues emotionally, intuitively, creatively, globally and analytically.

For those developing new products and solving complex problems they will need to come up with answers to very complex problems. They cannot solve problems simply by following pre-made steps but must move forward, upward, backwards, sideways and downwards to understand problems. The use of multidirectional perception is needed to tackle problems effectively. 

We can see this process occur in software creation, product development, consulting, science, and other fields that require heavy intellectual labor. As the economic output speeds up and relies less on physical attributes mental faculty will help in developing businesses to push the envelope of their industries. The educational process will need to adjust their processes to ensure that the brightest minds, not only the ones that can follow instructions, can move forward to meet the intellectual needs of employers. I’m sure that Einstein will find his employment options today much more to his liking than sitting on an assembly line.  

Bradford, C., Manyika, J., & Yee,L. (2005). The next revolution in interactions. McKinsey Quarterly, 4,25–26.

Goodwin, B. & Miller, K. (2013). Creativity requires a mix of skills. Educational Leadership, 70 (5).

Keeping San Diego's Biking Plan Moving Forward

Biking is a great way to get around that creates a better living environment, protects the environment and encourages healthier lifestyles. Seeing people out on the streets enjoying themselves and riding their bikes to grocery stores, restaurants, movies, and other places is one of those Kodak images for San Diego. People who live here, or who would be interested in living here in the future, will consider the "walkability/bikability" of neighborhoods before choosing a place to set down roots and invest in a home.

Traffic is also a major contributor to stress and lost time in the city. We only need to look at the highways during commuting time. When biking paths are available, and people live within a few miles of their workplace, they may consider biking in instead of jumping in the car. The more people who bike into work the more it saves on highway congestion and parking problems.

Let us not forget that San Diego is an ecological city that prides itself on advanced environmentally green development. Encouraging biking in the area also supports reduction of fossil fuels and pollution in the city. Bikes have almost no carbon footprint and are one of the best ways to support the reversal of global warming.

In metropolitan areas it becomes easier and cheaper to use public transportation. Urban and popular neighborhoods often rely on public transportation because it is difficult to find parking and maintain expensive cars. Bikes help people in these areas get around locally giving them some mobility within their neighborhoods while using public transportation for cross neighborhood movement.

Despite its benefits biking can be dangerous along certain streets where high levels of traffic move at a fast pace. Without bike lanes bikers are at the mercy of the good judgement of drivers; even if that judgement isn't that great. Drivers are sometimes are distracted, cut each other off, and feel perfectly comfortable zipping within a foot or so of a biker.  Bike lanes tell drivers "this is my area".

There will be hiccups in the implementation of any plan. City plans are generally developed from a city-wide macro perspective and at times neighborhoods will seek to adjust that plan for their own needs. Evaluating the concerns, seeking alternatives that create win-win situations when possible, and then moving forward is needed.  Keeping an adaptable version of the plan moving forward is helpful.

Supporting biking in San Diego is important for helping the local economy attract talent, reduce pollution, improve health, and create better neighborhoods. As more bike lanes are developed people will find more reason to leave their cars at home and take their bike to places they may enjoy. The discussion has motivated me to use my bike a little more often. Hopefully I can find a few lanes to use that keep me away from the onslaught of autos. 

City of San Diego Bicycle Master Plan