Poplarville hears about Strategic Doing

POPLARVILLE – Connecting hubs or groups of people into networks for action is the foundation of a new approach to preparing for the future, Dr. Joe Fratesi told Poplarville residents.
Fratesi was the speaker on Tuesday, March 1, for a Lunch and Learn coordinated by Pearl River Community College in cooperation with the Poplarville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Strategic DoingTM focuses on opportunities rather than the problems that frequently were the focus of strategic planning, he said. A core group of Poplarville city and community leaders recently participated in a Strategic DoingTM workshop and will be expanding their efforts.
The process allows a city, for example, to move beyond the hierarchy of the economy built by the residents’ grandfathers to an economy based on networking built by their grandchildren, he said.
“Networks are more responsive to changing lives,” Fratesi said. “We have to start think differently, mostly in how we collaborate.”
A network centers on hubs or core groups connected by boundary spanners or links.
“Adding a few more members can dramatically increase the value of that network,” Fratesi said.
A network can build pathways from where a community is to where it’s going, whether the project is beautification or economic development, he said.
“Strategic DoingTM is all about how do we link and leverage our assets into opportunities,” he said.         
Fratesi is a project director in the research and outreach division of the Stennis Institute at Mississippi State University.