What we forget about groups, organizations and communities is that they are human inventions just like moveable type, the steam engine, the automobile, the airplane and the atomic bomb. There is of course a huge difference between inventing a social system like an organization and creating an inanimate object like an automobile. The parts of an automobile do not have cognition. They can’t think. They don’t wonder if they are doing the right thing or doing the thing they have been asked to do correctly. They are not looking to be recognized for doing a good job or looking for a promotion and salary increase.
Humans, however, can and fortunately do think. Their thinking leads to meaning making, values, ethics and emotions. It is the human thinking and feeling that make organizing and all the good things that come from working together possible. At the same time human thinking and feelings make organizing enormously complex. The complex social arrangements created by humans since the beginning of time have led to our current way of life. Those complex social arrangements created by diverse people in different parts of the world lead to very different ways of living and working together. Those different ways should not scare or threaten us. Not all bridges are built the same, but they all have the same purpose.
Obviously some of our social inventions for working together, resolving conflict, sharing resources and living together have not worked so well. We still settle some of our differences through violence, and there is still racism, prejudice and greed. There are far too many people who live in poverty, lack adequate food, water, education and medical care. However, looking at the facts we can see a decline in all these categories. In the area of hunger we now produce enough food to feed everyone in the world but not everyone has enough food, so we need to invent a new worldwide food distribution system. What we forget is that we invented the current worldwide food system and that the only thing that limits our ability to create something new is our imagination.
Everything that goes on in every group, organization and community is something that humans have invented and the only thing that limits our ability to create something better is our imagination. We forget that we are the inventors, and therefore we can reinvent anything that is not working. The interesting part is that research shows that the best way to reinvent a social process is to start studying what is currently working. That gives us a shared understanding of what is making organizing possible and allows us to imagine new and yet undiscovered organizational possibilities.
(Submitted by Chet Bowling, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Community Development)
Note: Chet will be retiring from OSU Extension on April 30. We thank him for his many years of dedicated service to Community Development work and look forward to continuing our working relationship with him in the future.
As a result of this devastation, local officials, agencies and residents began an initiative to establish a flood warning system for Duck Creek. After several years of research and evaluation, a system consisting of various stream and rain gauges, computer monitoring equipment, transmitters and associated enclosures was designed. In 2012, installation was complete and the system became operational. This system provides real-time data for the National Weather Service and can be accessed via 
It is something that we’ve all seen before. Some downtowns seem vibrant and full of life while others appear to be struggling to hold on. But why? In the United States, over 10 percent of all employed persons (more than 15 million people) are employed in the retail sector. In Ohio alone, over 650,000. While these employees provide a valuable service in retailing (who doesn’t like the hardware, bakery or jewelry stores?), the effects that a healthy retail sector can have on a community are immeasurable. So, what makes them work? We can learn more about this sector of a community’s economy via a Retail Market Analysis study.
According to Johnson, to be prepared “The local team needs to understand that every facet of your site is quantitatively ranked and each industry, each project will rank you differently.” In other words, the local team needs to convey the unique things they have to offer each individual prospect and be able to prove it. Corporations are obsessed with “risk avoidance” which means the local team must remove any mystery or perceptions of risk.
Extension researchers recently shared the highlights of an advanced cluster analysis focused on manufacturing with community development officials in four EDD’s (economic development districts) within the eastern Ohio shale play. The cluster analysis is one of four analytical steps being conducted as part of an EDA (Economic Development Administration) funded project to inform the overall 25-county region about economic, social and environmental changes, potential implications and strategic directions for sustainable development.