Are You In Love With The Problem You’re Trying To Solve?
One of my late night, guilty pleasures is watching Shark Tank. Pretty tame, I guess, as far as guilty pleasures go. Anyway, coming back from a commercial break, I saw an interview clip with Kate Ryder, CEO of Maven. She said what sets her company apart from its competitors is that they:
“deeply, deeply love the problem that they’re trying to solve.”
I’ve been reflecting on that line for a few days now, and I think it’s what draws me to our industry.
We, as economic developers, are all deeply in love with our communities (I hope!). And all of our communities are imperfect, which is the problem we’re trying to solve.
Whether it’s luring the next big business relocation project to bring capital and jobs, expanding upon a local, burgeoning industry cluster, or, in our case, attracting the next wave of talent to move to your community, we’re all working to improve something we love.
I can say this without hesitation, we at RoleCall, deeply, deeply love the problem that we’re trying to solve.
Last week at IEDC’s Annual Convention, we had dozens of conversations with ED professionals – attendees and exhibitors – from around the world, and I noticed something. The people in our industry are asking deeper questions, setting loftier goals, and approaching their work with greater passion than ever before. I was blown away. All six of our company values – Joy, Heart, Humor, Curiosity, Enthusiasm, and Effusive Honesty – shone through in each chat I had. It would have been impossible not to leave Denver inspired.
I’ve always said that the best part of economic development conferences is the connections we make. Our colleagues are often in different zip codes, which can make our work isolating. But as we connect on common goals and challenges, especially on those that we deeply love, we move our communities and industry forward.
Here’s the salesly part. We want to work with you and your community. Places are our passion. And getting people introduced to places is our mission. You have a story to tell. We want to make it come to life. If you’re interested in that, let us know. If not, that’s OK too.
Here’s the gushy part. I love this industry, and I won’t stop pushing until we move it forward. We can be more human-focused. We can be more inclusive and welcoming. We can find new ways to measure success. And we can do it together.
Thanks for loving the problems that we’re all trying to solve.