Brim Report for January 2004

OUTLOOK FOR 2004

The following are glimpses of discernible trends from the Futurist Magazine, January 2004.

Business

• More developers will find financial rewards in saving the planet. Development will focus not just on sustaining the environment but restoring it.

• Corporations will become more creative – or they won’t survive. Three ways to generate ideas for business success: Involve a wider pool of people in the brainstorming process; find out what customers don’t say about what they want or need; and bring in specialists to help bring out employees’ best visions.

• Small businesses will make big impacts in future economic growth. Communications technologies will level the playing field between large and small businesses.

Education

• Not all students are cut out for higher education and directing them into college instead of vocational programs may limit their choices and chances for success. High schools could better prepare non-college bound students for the workplace by using vocational courses to teach high demand skills such as problem solving and communication.

• To meet future demand for skilled workers, corporations will train students not only in specific math, science, and computer skills, but also in traditional higher-education subjects such as history and literature.

Energy

• Touted as a substitute for oil, hydrogen could reduce dependency on rogue nations’ resources. Large scale, renewable hydrogen energy technologies could be decades away.

• Marine current turbines could generate four times as much electricity as wind turbines and do so more reliably.

Health

• Older people who spend time caring for neighbors or relatives, including helping with housework or running errands, were found to reduce their risk early death by nearly 60% compared with unhelpful peers.

• Virtual reality will make meditating easier. People who have trouble visualizing relaxing scenes may soon be able to use a virtual-reality simulator.

• Too much fat, too much salt, and too much tobacco – once primarily Western lifestyle problems – are to blame for rising cardiovascular disease rates in the Third World.

Technology and Science

• As super computers increase in speed and power, researchers will come closer to accurately modeling and predicting climate change and plate tectonics perhaps enabling earthquake predictions in time to save lives.

• Flat-screened computer displays hung on living room walls will provide a human-machine conversational interface with all the functionality of a desktop computer.

Values and Society

• Mega-projects have environmental and cultural impacts. The loss of indigenous languages parallels the loss of bio-diversity in areas where mining, road projects, and large-scale dam projects force local communities off their lands.

• Student surveys show that financial success has become more important to them than developing a meaningful philosophy of life. The consequences of unethical behavior in business have become more dangerous since greater numbers of people are affected than ever before.

• Better paying jobs require literacy, numeric , and computer skills but college and advanced degrees do not guarantee jobs since the skills that students learn may become quickly obsolete.

World Affairs

• By 2010, unmanned combat vehicles will distinguish friend from foe and independently attack targets in designated areas – without consulting humans.


REFLECTIONS – By James Brimeyer


In 1994 and 1995, I chaired an inclusive visioning process in St. Louis Park with broad community participation. This resulted in Vision St. Louis Park – Our Community of Choice for a Lifetime. Coincidentally, I was approached in 1995 to run for City Council. I decided to see if our community could actually implement a “vision” philosophy. Fortunately, I ran unopposed the first time and served a total of eight years. Combined with my background of 20 years as a City Manager and 15 years as a consultant to local government, it has been an interesting experience.

It was mostly fun and rewarding. However, there was some stress when we got involved in regulating the storage of recreational vehicles, changing garbage hauler contracts and dealing with smoking regulations. The municipal financial crunch over the past several years has also provided for some difficult decisions.

As I reflect on the last years, I am proud to have been part of the Park Commons development, innovative and sometimes risky housing programs, a successful aquatic center, the establishment of a community foundation, and the introduction of public art into public and private projects. Why public art? Because I believe government is about more than drink, drive, and flush services, but also about amenities to lift the spirit and inspire the soul.

I am also pleased that our Council adopted a Governance model that asked the relevant question, “What good, for which people, at what cost?” This philosophy helped us move forward on so many projects and programs that we hope our successors will say “I am glad they had the courage to do the right thing.” To me, that is a legacy that made it all a rewarding experience. I would encourage everyone to give it a try with the goal in mind of leaving a community better for all the kids who are currently in the eight grade civics class. I would even hope that someday they might say “What would JB do?”