It's funny how the actual headlines are a mix of the good and bad scenarios we discussed.

One of the headlines in yesterday's paper was Lori Sturdevant's column yesterdayon our Minnesota Anniversary Project (MAP 150).

If this MAP 150 project has taught me anything, it is the potential that Minnesota still has to bring the entrepreneurship and innovation we have demonstrated in the past to rebuilding our civic "infrastructure" in the future.

During the past eight months, when we've been hearing the word "infrastructure" everywhere in conjuction with transporation, it still seems like the best word I can think of to describe what we need to do with our civic and policy culture. It's not that Minnesotans don't care and aren't paying attention, it's that the means by which we've solved problems in the past are showing the same signs of aging as our roads and bridges. It's not the 1950s when we invented the Citizens League and built our Interstate system, but we need the same vision and passion and dedication to go from here-to-there on policy issues as we do from here to there on roads and transit.

For the past seven days (ending yesterday) I've had the flu, and it's been a good learning opportunity. And it might not be fair, or appropriate, but I can't help but run through some disaster-planning scenarios.

First of all, the symptoms began after hanging out with a friend who had just returned from two weeks in South Asia (Vietnam, Hong Kong, etc) -- which has it's own disaster-movie potential. But given the incubation period I'm sure I got this days before we talked. Anyway, hopefully, I didn't share it with anyone before it really hit me.

When it did, I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. I went to the clinic, assuming I had strep throat. The strep tests were negative, but the doctor just told me to drink lots of liquids, etc and go home. Never mentioned that it was almost certainly the flu. Never mentioned what I needed to do to NOT be a walking virus-machine. Never said kiss-the-next-five-days-goodbye. Never said I was contageous as long as I was coughing. What if this was the tip of a real outbreak?

Not ready personally. I was not ready to be incapacitated for this long. Didn't have the right symptom-meds. Most of the family was also sick or just getting better. Didn't think ahead just to cancel things for several days. Didn't know that it never really "breaks" -- it just slooooowly goes away. (Seven days of having a fever.)

Not ready publicly. Perhaps it's the paranoid in me, but it didn't leave me confident in our front-line staff's readiness to fight something like this on the micro-level. I know I'm not being fair, but I think this is one of those times when public health paranoia is ok -- whether its a relatively minor outbreak like we have now, or a bigger more deadly outbreak.

Glad to be back at work, even if I'm running pretty slowly.

Lunch was a perfect way to celebrate the occasion! Ann and I had lunch with Paul Gilje, Verne Johnson, Jim Hetland, Todd Lefko, Ben Cox, Zach Pettis and Kelly Weber.

Paul and Verne built the Citizens League -- literally. Verne has been a member since the beginning, and was the Executive Director from 1957 to 1967. Paul worked for the CL for 24 years, beginning in 1964. Jim was Chair of the Board, and was the first Chair of the Met Council. Todd has been a member since the 1960s, and is as active and inspiring as ever. Each of them is a model for how to do amazing policy work and civic engagement, and we owe our success to their work, their high standards, and their continued involvement.

Zach and Kelly are newer members, and represent the best of what is yet to come. Their interest in learning from the Civic Caucus, and in pushing us to find new ways to involve newer members, is timely and helpful (and inspiring). And fun.

We're about to send out our "Anniversary letter" that will talk about some of these themes, but I feel incredibly lucky to be at this point in our history. This year can be -- and must be -- another big leap for us in terms of policy work and success, membership growth and engagement, and internal sustainability.

Thanks to you -- and to them -- for making this possible!

It's useful for me to think about how this new model for policy making that we're trying to use would apply to a specific issue like transportation.

This is a topic that I don't know as much detail about in terms of current policy, but as I say in this Viewpoint I think the new approach we're trying to take to policy making should add a great deal of value to how we frame this issue and come up with new recommendations.

Note: This report has not been reviewed or endorsed by our Board.

The Blue Cross Foundation weighs in here -- so to speak -- with a report on the fiscal, economic and other costs of obesity.

This is timely given the upcoming reform efforts, including the "Transformation Task Force" in health care that I have been a part of for the past six months.

One of the efforts has led to this upcoming event:

Connect for a Cause
Monday, February 11th
6:00 -- 8:00 p.m.
Varsity Theater, 1308 4th Street SE, Minneapolis

Looking for an opportunity to volunteer in a substantive role with a local organization? Join us for an exciting event by young people for young people in the Twin Cities. Connect for a Cause will bring together area nonprofits looking for volunteers with young leaders searching for the right fit. We'll begin with "speed-matching" -- similar to speed-dating, individuals will move from table to table learning about participating organizations and their volunteer opportunities. The organizations will have just three minutes to impress potential volunteers before finding out if they will be asked on a second "date." The speed-matching will be followed by a more casual social hour. Participants are welcome to attend either or both sessions.

Click here to find out more or to sign up.

Imagine the difference between Ernestine (the Lily Tomlin character) and what I call "Generation Text". Ernestine was at the top of a big hierarchy and controlled everything. All calls went through Ernestine. Imagine the lack of control created by text messaging. (Texting has been a huge part of social movements like the "Orange Revolution (?) in the Ukraine.) This analogy occurred to me when I was speaking to another graduate class and noticed several people texting while I was talking. (So much for my speaking skills.)

I think the old and new models for policy making are as different as making a call with Ernestine and texting. (See Extended Entry for more...)

Our work with the MN Anniversary Project, and especially the Minnesota Active Citizenship Initiative, have led us to begin thinking and talking about a "civic policy agenda". Peg Michels does a better job than I could explaining the ideas behind this concept, but the two key elements for me are:

1) Seeing every citizen as a potential "policy-maker" -- meaning that they have the capacity to describe problems, come up with solutions, and set policy and allocate resources to solve the problems. (Or as Nate would say...to "manage these dilemmas".)

2) Seeing every institution as having a role in policy-making. Imagine trying to solve education or healthcare with only state/government solutions, for example.

This model isn't hierarchical, for pretty obvious reasons. This model isn't grass-roots either, because it acknowledges the role that traditional leaders and all institutions have.

But is it a new way of talking about public policy, and does it highlight how much the world of policy-making has changed, or needs to change. Too much of our policy making still exists in a hierarchical world with government and experts at the top and other institutions and most citizens either struggling for their role, or not being acknowledged for the role they play.

More on THAT next.

The speech is Monday February 4th at 10:00 at the Minneapolis Central Library.

Information and directions can be found here.

I'd like to use this space to post ideas and get feedback. I think we're on to something. I've been playing these thoughts out in my Viewpoints, and would like to be more rigorous and transparent about them.

Stay tuned.

And -- another glaring example of the problem with experts.

Democracy is fun.