I have also been an entrepreneur and value the mindset of those who wake up every day basically risking everything. These are two different mindsets. While we could all use a little more mutual respect for each other’s role, it’s the municipality that is in the position of power in a development approval process. It’s the position of power that needs to work harder to fill the perspective gap.

There’s one word that will take the wind out of the sails of high-minded entrepreneurial aspiration and spirit: “CAN’T.” It’s spirit-sucking brethren is “yeh, but.” A proposal comes in and a natural reaction is to have the municipality present all the hoops to jump through…to think about all the potential negatives and control for risk to the municipality. We throw a land use or zoning bylaw at the entrepreneur and ask them to read it cover to cover. We talk to the entrepreneur about the processes and the extended time to acquire approvals. We hand a pricing page to the entrepreneur. We wish them well and shoe-horn them out the door, drowning in all the paperwork.

With all due respect, I side with the need to listen to the entrepreneur’s perspective as first priority. The world has not advanced based on regulatory authority; it has advanced on the high minded, gritty determination of those working to create new horizon lines. An entrepreneur wants to know that a municipality embraces an idea, is supportive of working to make it happen, and promises to work to remove any obstacles.
If we considered our municipal role to be enabler rather than pure protector, we would ask a fundamentally different first question: HOW?
How can we make this happen? What do we need to do to make it happen? How do we move a mountain to help make it happen? What issues do we need to solve to make it happen?

It’s simple language, but attitude is everything. Why deflate a proposal out of the gate? Empower it into reality or until it can’t be a reality because of any challenges inherent in the proposal itself.

I recently saw this simple language perspective in action in a community I am working with. A proposal that has good prospect of being transformative for the municipality has lots of regulation – or lack of adequate policy depending on your perspective – in its way. The objective of the municipality is: a) to determine whether the vision in its entirety has net positive benefit for the municipality; and b) if yes, how to create and navigate policy to make it happen. Too often, I see the other side of the coin – where the relationship is immediately made to feel more antagonistic that partnership-based.

This doesn’t mean that a developer or entrepreneur has to have a municipality over a barrel, or that the municipality has to roll-over and accept anything.

Standards are important. Quality of place is important. “Red tape” is often mis-understood in context. Why? Because the municipality fails to: a) develop a strong vision; and b) communicate its vision into the investment community. You can make demands, but an entrepreneur must be able to see those demands in context of vision or your requests are simply perceived as hurdles placed in the way. Too many perceived hurdles and the investment goes elsewhere. Too many hurdles and negative perception of investment environment follows the municipality everywhere. The investment community is small….and it talks.

So – communicate vision so those who introduce ideas to the community have a basic fit with the community because they understand what you are looking for, embrace the beauty of the idea with spirit of enablement, and help solve issues for the entrepreneur/developer until the idea has best potential to come to life. Perhaps it can’t come to life because there are simply too many issues to solve, but in the effort to “die trying” you sow the seeds for a future where you are perceived as a business advocate and problem solver. And in so doing you lay the groundwork for long-term success in nurturing next generation prosperity.

Let’s take fewer pot shots. Let’s aim for more moonshots.