Otis White

The skills and strategies of civic leadership

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The Coordinated Swarm

April 24, 2013 By Otis White Leave a Comment

When you’re taking on a major urban problem, the best way to begin isn’t with a single great action but with a series of small, reinforcing actions. By doing so, you recognize the complexity of cities and build early momentum. And that lays the groundwork for bold actions to follow.

Consensus, Power, and the Art of Getting Things Done

June 3, 2011 By Otis White 1 Comment

This is the heart of modern civic leadership: Being the one who creates consensus among independent interests for solutions that benefit all. It starts with thinking systemically.

A Case Study in Small-P Politics

June 10, 2010 By Otis White Leave a Comment

In 1961, more than 110,000 people spent time in New York City’s overcrowded jails, and the number was rising fast. Many weren’t convicted of a crime; they were awaiting trial and couldn’t afford bail. Bail is basically an insurance policy. You (or a professional bail bondsman) put up something of value to insure you’ll appear […]

The Skills of Small-P Politics

June 9, 2010 By Otis White 1 Comment

In the past, we’ve depended on the few to lead us. Now we must depend on the many. The key to making broad-based community leadership work is to teach more people the skills of small-p politics.

Never, Never, Never Give Up

May 31, 2010 By Otis White 1 Comment

We make change difficult in our communities by spreading power so widely. That’s one reason that progress belongs to the persistent, as was demonstrated recently by a new transportation law in Georgia.

Recent Posts

  • The Next Urban Comeback
  • A Reservoir for Civic Progress
  • How a Leader Assembles a Winning Team
  • What Smart Mayors Can Learn from the Turnaround of Central Park
  • How Communities Can Thrive in a Post-Newspaper World
  • Seven Habits of Highly Successful Civic Projects
  • When Bad Things Happen to Good Governments
  • How Citizen Engagement Could Save State Politics
  • How Odd Couples, Complementary Needs, and Chance Can Change Cities
  • A Better Way to Teach Civic Leadership
  • The Worst Management Idea of the 20th Century
  • How to Deal with a Demagogue
  • What Government Is Good At
  • Return to Sender
  • The Loneliness of the Courageous Leader
  • A Better Way of Judging Candidates
  • How to Build an Army of Supporters
  • A Beginner’s Guide to Facilitation
  • The Temperament of Great Leaders
  • Units of Civic Progress
  • Leadership as “a Kind of Genius”
  • How to Read a Flawed Book About Cities
  • A Mayor’s Test for Good Decisions
  • How to Manage a Crisis Before It Happens
  • Lesson Seven: Process and Results

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About Otis White

Otis White is president of Civic Strategies, Inc., a collaborative and strategic planning firm for local governments and civic organizations. He has written about cities and their leaders for more than 30 years. For more information about Otis and his work, please visit www.civic-strategies.com.

The Great Project

Otis White's multimedia book, "The Great Project," is available on Apple iTunes for reading on an iPad. The book is about how a single civic project changed a city and offers important lessons for civic leaders considering their own "great projects" . . . and for students in college planning and political science programs.

For more information about the book, please visit the iTunes Great Project page.

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