Friend, musician and occasional collaborator Jorge Castro published a short note on his blog last night asking recently elected Puerto Rican governor Luis Fortuño to take his cues from Antanas Mockus, a Colombian filosopher and mathematician who presided over Bogotá for two terms, from 1993 to 2003. I had never heard of Mr. Mockus, but the results of his work are quite impressive.
From Wikipedia’s page on Antanas Mockus
Under Mockus’s leadership, Bogotá saw improvements as: water usage dropped 40%, 7000 community security groups were formed and the homicide rate fell 70%, traffic fatalities dropped by over 50%, drinking water was provided to all homes (up from 79% in 1993), and sewerage was provided to 95% of homes (up from 71%). When he asked people to pay a voluntary extra 10% in taxes, over 60,000 people did so.
What’s interesting to me, and relevant to this blog, is that he did all this by basing his leadership around a culture of civility marketed through the creative use of cultural programs that engaged the citizenship. His Citizen Culture program included everything from impromptu concerts on the streets to the hiring of mimes to make fun of traffic violators. These cultural interventions had enough of an impact that when he asked the citizens of Bogotá to pay an additional 10% tax voluntarily, as many as 60,000 people stepped up and did precisely that.
I think this is an example from which leaders everywhere can learn. Status quo is rarely a vehicle for significant progress in any community. Stepping away from it and shaking things around in creative ways to call people’s attention to the issues at hand can only bring about the kind of change that lasts: change in the idiosyncrasy of a people. And while culture can be effectively tapped into by the use of traditional advertising (as many politicians do, on city walls and TV ads), these old media have little power nowadays to engage groups and individuals on a personal level. Physical activities, or even online communities, have a much more profound impact on people’s lives, because in both cases they get to participate not only as spectators, but as volunteers, content creators, counselors, idea makers, leaders and team members. When people are not only encouraged, but given explicit, immediate (and why not?, even fun) ways in which they can have an impact on their daily lives as citizens, chances are greater that they’ll become a part of the solution.
This isn’t anything new. It’s called empowerment. And culture, in my opinion, is the single most powerful delivery system of this ever-renewable resource of self-worth, community pride, and lasting progress. Ask Antanas Mockus.