The Public Good

I never really appreciated the value of networking until recently.  Professionally speaking, when you work for someone else, it’s easy to limit your scope of resources to those immediately around you- those who you report to and those who affect your daily tasks like direct reports.  We tend to focus on the here and now and slogging through tasks at hand. And when additional tasks or responsibilities are handed down, we figure out a way to add them to our growing list unless we’re successful at foisting them off on a colleague.

But when you work for yourself and you’re juggling multiple clients with various missions and needs, you realize that you can’t be all things to all people.  Moreover your perspective on what works, how to accomplish tasks, and the multiple skills and talents that are required becomes broader.  And, as I’ve witnessed in the past seven years since I began working for myself as a consultant, there are more and more skilled individuals who are deciding to become independent agents –selling their expertise and knowledge in the constantly fluctuating process known as contracting/consulting.  This means that individuals are influencing the labor market not just in terms of the multiplicity of their contributions to clients and projects (instead of working for 1 employee who benefits from your work over say, 3 years,  an independent contractor/consultant may benefit 3 or 4 or 6 clients, each with different missions and needs, in a 3-year period.  And, additionally, if  that contractor/consultant looks for other contractor/consultants to collaborate with, they can further multiply their individual impact.  For example, an independent web-designer who meets a free-lance copy writer can share ideas, resources, referrals for clients and even more introductions to more independent contractor-consultants.  Not only does their opportunity for project work grow, so does the opportunity for meaningful impact.  And there is a spillover effect: their own knowledge base grows. It can continue to grow exponentially- depending on one’s openness to the idea of collaborative consulting.

This is a strategic viewpoint.  If we look at all the potential opportunities out there just  by meeting other contractor/consultants with similar values and passion for helping our clients with what they need, it is indeed truly an exciting time.  Because even if I can’t provide it directly myself, I want to refer my clients to someone else who can,  and right now my guess is that our economy has never before had such a surplus of highly skilled individuals out there who are available and willing to sell their talents and expertise.

Part of my vision for The Public Good is to capitalize on this abundant supply of skilled and experienced individuals.  Because I see knowledge and skills as a semi-public good.  The definition of a public good is something that is “…not rival in consumption; the fact that one person benefits from this good does not prevent another person from doing the same simultaneously.” (Harvey S. Rosen, Public Finance. Third edition. p. 605)  Obviously, if I am performing work which benefits one client, I will not charge another client for that same time spent – because my billable time is rivalrous.  However, if I have the option of bringing in other resources to collaborate with on a project, and that collaboration leads to increased knowledge by both consultants as well as new introductions to the client, that is a value that cannot be limited or even priced.  It is close to a public good.  More knowledge, better insights, growing opportunities benefit all, consultants and clients included.

When it comes to making choices about which public elementary school to send your child to when s/he is about to start Pre-Kindergarten, the options and possibilities can be overwhelming. And the application process daunting. Touring schools during the pre-application period is highly recommended.  But if you’re like me, and you’d also like to compare basic demographic and performance data from different schools, you may ask, where can I readily and easily access such information about my school choices?

Access to information can have an equalizing effect. It can provide consumers an accessible, level playing field. Although too much information, or information that is overwhelming, disorganized, hard to interpret or just plain difficult to wade though, can be a real turn-off to the consumer looking to make informed decisions.  Which is why, I am so excited about a simple, easy to navigate website that provides timely, relevant data that is well organized, presented and accessible at absolutely no cost to the consumer.

Big Apple Ed , the 3rd place winner of NYC’s Big Apps competition, attempts to fill the information gap in a most user-friendly space. According to their site, “Now New York City residents have an easy way to find important information about your city’s schools. By providing one place to view testing data, contact information, suspension rates, and student/teacher ratios, Big Apple Ed hopes to increase transparency and help all New York City schools improve.”

Let’s just hope that the developers have figured out how to keep Big Apple Ed up and running with the latest data.  After all, someone has to manage the site and, since it’s value is entirely based on the accuracy and timeliness of its data, maintenance is key to its success.

to The Public Good’s new on-line site.  We hope this will provide answers to frequent and general questions about who we are, what we do and how we might be able to assist your organization in planning for change, addressing business challenges and meeting your outcome goals.

Feel free to contact us with a phone call or email – or use our contact sheet to send us a brief inquiry.

We look forward to learning about you too.