At Economic Development World, we like to think “what if” and how we’d respond professionally to a challenge. Here’s our thoughts on this one – what would you do?
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ยฃ๐ค๐ข๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ตโ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต โ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ต’๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด.
Your job as the economic development professional is not to cheerlead. It’s to be the Chief Risk Officer for the regional economy.
Here is the professional’s playbook for this brutal conversation:
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ, ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
Your analysis must be beyond reproach. Shift the conversation from “I think” to “The model shows.”
Audit Opportunity Cost: The key is to show what the project prevents you from doing. Frame the construction cost against the return on investment of a truly strategic, alternative investment (like targeted workforce skills or site readiness).
Use the Data as a Shield: “Mr./Madam Mayor, the data reveals a significant sensitivity in the projected occupancy rate, which changes the Net Present Value (NPV) from positive to a major loss.” The data is the problem, not you.
๐ฎ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ; ๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ-๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ.
A politician won’t accept a cancellation. They need a credible pivot. Your goal is to re-route the investment toward something that achieves the Mayor’s public goal while delivering real economic impact.
Deconstruct the Goal: The Mayor cares about jobs, profile, and legacy. If the public goal is ‘attracting tech companies,’ argue that a smaller, nimble Innovation Hub delivers that goal faster and at a lower risk than a massive, single-tenant commercial tower.
Provide a ‘Win’ Headline: Your alternative must generate a better press release: “Mayorโs Vision Reimagined: New Strategy Delivers 2X the Jobs for Half the Cost.” Frame it as Adaptive Leadership.
๐ฏ. ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป A๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
The Mayor’s biggest fear is being blindsided. Secure the flank before the main meeting.
Brief the key City Council members, the Chair of the Economic Development Board, and the main business leaders.
The Message: “We are presenting a necessary adjustment to mitigate future risk. We need your support to frame this as a strategic pivot, not a failure.” This ensures the Mayor enters the discussion knowing the key influencers are aligned with the revised strategy.
Your value is your unvarnished truth. Integrity is the currency of influence.
More help? see https://www.economicdevelopment.world/toolkit
#EconomicDevelopment #Leadership #RiskManagement
