Chip and Dan Heath, in their book “Switch,” tell the story of a young MBA who ran a chunk of the Brazilian railroad after it was privatized and broken into pieces. The newly minted railroad CEO ended up with a share that included steam locomotives and infrastructure in dire need of repair and maintenance, with 20% of its bridges in danger of collapse.
Against all odds, Alexandre Behring took charge and began scripting the critical moves, not all the moves, just the critical moves. He implemented four rules with a focused commitment to the destination: financial solvency and operational efficiency.
The rules that he implemented were:
Money would be invested only in projects that would earn more revenue in the short term.
The best solution to any problem was the one that would cost the least money upfront—even if it ended up costing more in the long term, and even if it was a lower-quality solution.
Options that would fix a problem quickly were preferred to slower options that would provide superior long-term fixes.
Reusing or recycling existing materials was better than acquiring new materials.
The four rules were clear: Unblock revenue, minimize up-front cash, faster is better than best, use what you’ve got.
These rules, taken together, ensured that the focus would be on the critical moves that would result in rapid change and progress.
What would it look like if the State of Vermont scripted the critical moves in the current housing crisis and focused on a commitment to a destination, in this case, housing for all?
If the destination was every single Vermonter housed in a safe and healthy home, what would the rules look like?
Short-term focus:
Invest in solutions that house people today. Investing in hotels and shelters simply postpones the inevitable. Focus on housing people today—no more meetings to prepare for the intake meeting to evaluate sustainability at another meeting to look for housing at another meeting. Compile a registry of vacant units and fill them. Convert the abundant number of housing navigators to housing supporters and assign them to newly minted tenants to ensure a long-term successful tenancy. The State of Vermont has at least two departments with a complete rental housing unit registry. VT Taxes and VT Public Health both maintain registries of rental housing, but they live in siloes and don’t work with the departments that are focused on housing. If the crisis is housing, all departments are housing departments and should be housing people today.
Cost efficiency:
Invest in Tenants and Landlords: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Housing supporters that support tenants and landlords with training, education, and guidance are the best strategies for ensuring that the tenant/landlord relationship is successful and long-term. Spend the money upfront to ensure successful tenancies and spend less at the back end on Legal Aid and eviction stalling/prevention.
Speed of implementation:
Invest in Process Design: It is imperative that the many departments and agencies within the State of Vermont get in sync with each other and work together to standardize and simplify the process of administering the many elements that make up the housing infrastructure. Today is the day to deliver. Anything that takes longer needs to be reviewed and evaluated in order to focus on a collective sense of urgency. Defending the status quo is defending mediocrity.
Resourcefulness:
Invest in Housing Solutions: Engage the “Housers” in Vermont and ask the simple questions. What would it take to get more housing units online, and what would it take to fill them with people who need housing? Housers aren’t involved in the conversation as evidenced by the many commissions, advocacy groups, think tanks, and policy organizations that meet regularly to churn the data and gnash their teeth, travailing and asking “What are we gonna do?” How about engaging the Housers, collaborating, and getting creative about solutions?
Vermont is an amazing state filled with resourceful and resilient people, and we are positioned to either maintain the status quo or turn things around.
If we were to focus on the short-term, commit to cost-efficiency, act with a sense of urgency, and celebrate the bright spots of resourceful behavior, we could resolve the current housing crisis quickly, efficiently, and effectively.
For more information on strategies for resolving the current housing crisis, join Partners in Housing on the last Friday of every month at 1:30 p.m. This month’s meeting will be held at the Rutland VFW.
Partners in Housing is a local housing committee that connects housers, wrappers, supporters, and the government in the process of getting more safe and healthy housing online, quickly and efficiently, with a commitment to financial responsibility and good stewardship.
