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In the January 2008 issue of PRB, the force-field concept (see Figure 1) suggested that the best way to move toward achieving change is to convert what seems like a threat into an opportunity, rather than wasting resources by trying to destroy the threat outright. While current economic conditions certainly have threatened all sectors, the opportunity lies in giving managers legitimate cause to examine their agencies’ very foundation: what they actually do for the people they serve.
Given this freedom to scrutinize, two other PRB-published tools are also helpful. In the August 2007 issue, the idea of matching what people really want to what the agency prefers to offer--reciprocity--was introduced (see Figure 2), and in the May 2008 issue, the branding concept was discussed as the promise made by an agency to the people. In other words, in tough economic times, can we deliver what we prefer to offer, do we deliver what our people want, and do we deliver what we promise to deliver?
The California Park and Recreation Society recently completed planning for a branding initiative based on Figure 3, a variation on the Agency-Client Interest tool cited above. Essentially, the delivered (vertical) axis represents what your agency actually does. At the bottom of that continuum are programs never offered, and at the top are programs regularly implemented: what you prefer to offer. Horizontally, programs not desired by any of the people you serve are located at the left, and the most-often requested programs are arrayed toward the right-hand side.