Buttermilk & Molasses

The Crupi Report: Ready, Set, Collaborate

When strategic consultant Jim Crupi issued his second report on the Richmond region last November, he noted that the Richmond community was pretty good at talking and planning.

Crupi also pointed out that when it came to a strong, compelling regional vision the region was asleep at the wheel. And speaking of asleep, Crupi pointed out that not only was the collective regional leadership getting older, but that there was virtually no bench of young community leaders waiting in the wings.

None that Crupi saw, anyway.

Enter the Capital Region Collaborative, a new nine jurisdiction wide effort to create a vision for Central Virginia, reports the Times-Dispatch:

A group of area government and business leaders is announcing today the names of people it thinks can shape a bold idea: creating a vision for central Virginia that might actually be put in place.

After years of studies, plans and publicly floated initiatives, the two sources of many of those ideas joined forces in May to create the Capital Region Collaborative. The group includes members from the government-based Richmond Regional Planning District Commission and the business-led Greater Richmond Chamber.

The CRC today is naming the members of its first advisory team. The eight government and six business leaders will ultimately be joined by 40 or so others on a team charged with shaping a workable vision for the area's future.

And now for a moment of transparency -- when I am not gnashing my teeth as a member of Richmond's civic-minded weblog community, I am apparently a business leader.

In my role as Leadership Development Team Leader at Luck Stone, where I work with a group of folks focused on championing our business culture and core values among 1,000 employees, I have been named to the Capital Region Collaborative's advisory team.

A few years ago, one of my mentors told me that I needed to "choose between being a committed corporate player and an avant-garde freelance consultant." First, I ignored his advice. Then I tried to alternate between the two. Finally, I realized that what I really needed to be was myself -- which is a little of both simultaneously.

In the coming weeks and months, I'll be active in trying to bring a different perspective to the CRC -- and in trying to bring more diverse and unique voices to a conversation about Richmond's future.

Talking and planning are important components of good visioning work. So is action.

Having decision-makers at the table is important. Diversity and inclusion are important, too.

I hope to bring new ideas, and a challenging perspective on what it means to create a shared vision for a region as diverse as Central Virginia.

It's going to be an interesting ride. I'm pretty sure you guys will let me know if I screw it up.

Another Conversation Richmond Needs To Have

On the heels of a highly successful, collaborative process to develop a new Downtown Plan for Richmond and the highly critical report on the Richmond region's ability to work together for a shared vision, there are more opportunities for different conversations that engage our broader community around a new future.

Over at Smart Communities, Suzanne Morse points us to the work of one community -- Cedar Rapids, Iowa. What I particularly like about Cedar Rapids' Fifteen in Five initiative is that it addresses one of the most fundamental issues that a broad spectrum of any community ought to be discussing -- what kind of place do we want our community to be?

This type of discussion is similar to the conversations generated by Richmond's Downtown Plan process, but go beyond the planning aspect to chase aspirations. Cedar Rapids not only decided it wanted to pursue light rail, it wants to launch a best-in-the-nation early childhood eduction program.

As the Chamber of Commerce-initiated Capital Region Collaborative takes shape, I wonder if they will take the typical Richmond approach -- develop initiatives based on what those at the table already know -- or if the new organization will lead with a sense of genuine curiosity and help the Richmond region's residents craft a vision for tomorrow.

New Partnership, Same Conversation? Let's Hope Not.

It's nice to see Don Harrison pull his head out of whatever he does for a living long enough to post on some recent developments at Save Richmond. His posts usually set me to thinking about the incredibly dysfunctional power relationships in the Richmond region -- between the private and public sectors, between politicians and the communities they represent, between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

Most of the dysfunction is rooted in the past, rooted in habit and not easily changed. But the disconnect in these relationships is high on the list of those things that are not only holding us back as a region, but is also what continues to eat away at what passes for civic health -- not only in the greater Richmond region, but within our neighborhood communities.

At the heart of all of these relationships is the nature of citizenship -- what it means for individuals and organizations within a community to actively hold, believe or support something larger (even slightly larger) than their own interests. This is something that sat at the center of a workshop I attended last fall with community advocate Peter Block.

True accountability hinges on the choice to care for the whole thing, Block said. I've sat in plenty of private meetings with regional players -- politicians, business people and residents -- where there was an active desire to care for the whole thing, and to speak passionately about the city, the region, the school system, the James River, the issue of affordable housing, you name it.

But something happens when people move from private conversation into the public space. And Block spoke to that, as well -- What kills the future isn't opposition, it's lip service.

All of this leads me to an emerging organization in the region called the Capital Region Collaborative, which I spoke to the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce's Jim Dunn about back in April. In recent weeks, more information has been revealed about the collaborative, and Don Harrison at Save Richmond recently asked some relevant questions and concerns about the new regional group.

Save Richmond sees shades of Mayor Wilder's Performing Arts Committee in the creation of this new group, especially since attorney Robert Grey will be leading the new collaborative -- and chaired the mayor's incredibly secretive arts committee. But Harrison's key point is how he ends his post -- whether or not the Capital Region Collaborative will lead the region down a new path.

Lacking details, it's a tough call. Certainly, I believe the intentions of the key players behind the CRC and have discussed the new organization with a few of them. Unlike some on the sidelines, I don't see the politics and power struggles in the region as being a matter of good versus evil -- in most cases, people are driven by what they know and what they want.

What I do see is that even the good intentions behind the CRC run the risk of being co-opted by old habits. In its efforts to avoid "jumping off the cliff," as Dunn puts it, the organizers behind the CRC are setting an early tone for the organization of a top-down, consensus-driven body. Lots of preliminary planning meetings coupled with dog-and-pony shows to invite regional leaders to get on board with the new organization builds on one of the worst habits exhibited by Richmond's leaders over the years -- the sense that buy-in trumps vision, transparency and discussion.

If I were masterminding an organization like the CRC, one of the first things I would do would be to issue an invitation to area businesses, community and civic groups, non-profits and elected officials to a series of conversations about creating a shared future. Again, I turn to Block -- The only ethical use of power is the leader as a host, a convener, one who invites others ... knowing that your job as a leader is to help bring the gifts of those on the margins to the center.

For too long, regional conversations have limited the gifts of those on the margins. That the reason for this is primarily that those leading the conversations don't believe that those on the margins have an interest in being engaged goes a long way toward explaining why our progress as a community remains fragmented.

The Crupi Report: It's Back

In November, strategic consultant Jim Crupi returned to Richmond after a 15-year hiatus and informed the local business community that while Richmond still had many of the right pieces in place, it remained a half-baked city. So to speak.

Crupi's second report -- "Putting the Future Together" -- essentially tagged Richmond for its continued inability to maintain a consistent regional focus; for an emphasis on tactical projects rather than strategic visions; and a lack of continuity in its regional leadership.

Earlier in April, I reported that the Chamber of Commerce was working to stand up a new organization -- with new faces -- to help tackle some of the opportunities laid out by Crupi, and to help move the region forward more effectively in other areas.

Last week, the Times-Dispatch provided some more detail on that organization and the two men named to help move it from paper to reality:

The Greater Richmond Chamber named champions yesterday to oversee how the agency and community move forward in the wake of the Crupi report.

Issued in November, the report is a 55-page examination of issues in the Richmond area.

Robert J. Grey Jr. will lead the startup phase of the effort. He is a partner specializing in regulated industries and government relations for Hunton & Williams LLP. Grey could not be reached for comment.

William C. Bosher Jr., executive director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, will facilitate the process.

Bosher said the chamber hopes to talk with key players in the community to come up with ideas that could become part of a plan. Young people, who will inherit the vision, will be involved to ensure there is ownership, Bosher said.

"This is much bigger potentially than the Crupi report because the Crupi report will be used as one of our sources of data," Bosher said.

New Partnership Expected to Tackle Crupi Report

When strategic consultant Jim Crupi returned to Richmond last year to deliver his assessment of the region's challenges and opportunities, it came as no surprise that he not only laid out some specific ideas for the region but that Crupi took Richmond area leaders behind the woodshed for their proven inability to consistently lead with a vision or move ambitious strategic initiatives forward.

For a while, it felt like Crupi's November report would be another set of good ideas to fall through the cracks in the region's overly tactical leadership playbook. But behind-the-scenes, key members of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce -- including outgoing Chamber president Jim Dunn and current chairman Ted Chandler -- have been hard at work trying to turn Crupi's suggestions, and other key regional proposals, into reality.

I sat down with Dunn several weeks ago to discuss the Crupi Report, which was funded privately but delivered to the community in November as a Chamber of Commerce initiative.

"The biggest takeaway from the Crupi Report was the disconnect we still have as a region," Dunn said. "Our real challenge, if we're going to evolve as a world-class region, is to connect the elements that create a community and move them forward."

"What people really began to understand is that we have got to get out of the silos and see how each of the issues we face fit together hand-to-glove," Dunn continued. "Crupi said we're doing good work in a lot of areas, but we have got to emerge the next generation of leadership and to move forward some of the things on the table that matter to the region."

In order to do that, Dunn and others believe a new mechanism is needed to create collaboration on those key issues, which include transportation, education and tourism. With the working name "Capital Region Tomorrow," that proposed mechanism is a new entity that spans not only the nine jurisdictions of the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission (Ashland, Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Richmond) but potentially include representatives from the rapidly growing Crater Planning District Commission that surrounds Petersburg.

The goal of the proposed new group? To create "a future vision for the capital region and the oversight to achieve it."

Dunn believes that Capital Region Tomorrow is needed in part to help the region shake off past baggage.

"We're saying let's hand this off to a group that doesn't have the baggage that you'd have if, say, the Chamber owned this," Dunn said. "And to have a communication strategy that reaches out to everyone in the region and not just the typical cast of characters who tend to show up."

The idea for a new entity to provide regional leadership is just taking form, Dunn said. "I think we're doing to right thing by taking a step back and figuring this out -- not just jumping off the cliff. There's going to be a process as we develop this, but there won't be a lot of public movement on that process for a few months," he said.

The Crupi Report: The TD Talks with Trani

The Times-Dispatch recently had a sit-down with VCU President Eugene Trani and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College President Gary Rhodes for a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion opened with a question about the recent report by strategic consultant Jim Crupi on Richmond's future, and Trani responded:

Times-Dispatch: Could the two of you walk us through your thoughts on the findings of James Crupi's report card for Central Virginia?

VCU President Eugene Trani: The Crupi Report was a very good idea. The process was handled right, in contrast to Crupi's report processed in the 1990s. This was an open report -- many people were interviewed. The results were formally presented to the Richmond community, and the Greater Richmond Chamber is taking ownership for the next steps in the process . . . .

There is one thing I don't think is in the Crupi Report anywhere. This is my fourth state-capital, large university: Columbus, Ohio -- Ohio State University; Lincoln, Neb. -- the University of Nebraska; and Madison, Wis. -- the University of Wisconsin System, where I was before I came to Richmond. This is the commonwealth's only capital. That idea is not dealt with at all in the Crupi Report. I believe every member of the legislature ought to have two obligations: (1) to their own constituents, and (2) to Virginia's capital in its broadest sense.

So what role should the state properly play in regard to the recommendations of the Crupi Report? How are we going to make sure the state capital is one that everyone can be proud of?

Just as one example: the convention center. Everybody wants to go to Lincoln or Madison and Columbus from all across Ohio, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The same thing ought to be the case with state conventions . . . .[Virginia organizations] ought to be coming to Richmond to really enjoy their capital with its newly redone Capital grounds, and enjoying the attractions.

Times-Dispatch: You've been in four other capital regions. Is Central Virginia behind the other capital regions you mentioned?

Trani: Yes.

Times-Dispatch: How so?

Trani: They work together as capital areas . . . .Clearly regionalism is an important issue.

Secondly, full economic participation in the prosperity of the area is a very important thing . . . .Whatever happens in the capital region has to be done so that large groups of people are not left behind.

And the third area: . . . We all must come together to work with [Richmond's] superintendent, to work with the School Board, to work with the school leadership in individual buildings to make sure the product of the Richmond City Schools, which Crupi specifically talks about, can move easily to Virginia Commonwealth University and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College to study, first of all -- and then into jobs over at Phillip Morris or Dominion or wherever.

The Crupi Report: A Moment in the Sun

Tomorrow, I have been invited to speak on a panel discussion to the participants in this year's Leadership Metro Richmond program on the subject of "What Is Missing from the Crupi Report?" I'm really curious about what I'll say.

The Crupi Report: RVAMagazine

It's been about a month since I wrote a piece on "Putting the Pieces Together," the 55-page report on Richmond's future by strategic consultant Jim Crupi. A decade ago in the world of print journalism, a month lasted 30 days -- give or take. A month is a lifetime in today's electronic world. (Download the entire issue as a PDF here.) (Or download just the Crupi article as a Word document: Download the_crupi_report.doc) Or read it here:

The Crupi Report
Richmond’s Missing Piece Is Us

By John Sarvay

Here’s your first test: Jot down the names of 10 of the region’s top business, political or community leaders – preferably ones who are actively engaged in the business of championing, or changing, Richmond. If you stopped after three or four – grocery magnate James Ukrop, VCU’s Eugene Trani and Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder, come to mind – then a new report by strategic consultant Jim Crupi might make some sense.

Crupi’s 55-page report, “Putting the Pieces Together,” does not hesitate to describe the current problems and future challenges facing the Richmond region.

One of the problems is that residents of the Richmond region already know what the problems are – we see them every day. Problem like:

• The growing homeless population who receive food, clothing, shelter and support largely through the grace of community organizations and Richmond’s religious community.

• The deteriorating public infrastructure – pothole-laden streets, inadequate storm water run-off systems, bridges overdue for replacement.

• The willy-nilly exchange of the region’s rich environmental legacy and architectural history and social integrity for the short-term gains of economic development.

• A thriving arts community repeatedly overshadowed by the political oomph of a downtown arts center.

The region sees these problems, and more, and looks for leadership. And when there is little public leadership, many of the region’s residents turn from the problems.

Others look elsewhere for leadership.

The state of leadership in the Richmond region is one of two primary components of Crupi’s latest report. A laundry list of recommendations that – given a more visionary and engaged community of leaders – could help transform Richmond comprises the second part of the report.

But it’s what is missing from Crupi’s report that should be of interest to readers of RVA Magazine.

What the Report Tells Us

First, let’s take a look at a few of Crupi’s key points. (FYI, reading the whole report is not a bad way to spend an hour.)

Jim Crupi’s first report on Richmond’s future (1992’s “Richmond at the Crossroads”) told the region’s corporate and political leaders something they didn’t want to hear – that the region’s racial baggage is heavy stuff.

That report was direct. It was pointed. It angered some of Richmond’s African-American community. And it landed with a feathery yawn on the desks of most of Richmond’s non-black political and corporate leaders.

By and large, the people who didn’t get pissed off at Crupi simply forgot he that he ever stopped by.

Not everyone forgot Crupi, it seems. Fast-forward 15 years – someone wrote a big check to bring him back.

Crupi’s second report (2007’s “Putting the Future Together”) was unveiled in November, and it told those same leaders something they already knew – that no one is doing much big picture thinking about the region’s future.

If the new report had been as brief as the previous one, it would have made more sense. Instead, Crupi thickened it up with a laundry list of tactical recommendations. That added about 50 pages of noise to what should have been a five-page report. My guess is that the extra 50 pages made the $150,000 price tag more palatable.

Beneath Crupi’s list of prescriptions there is a diagnosis: Richmond suffers from a lack of diverse and inclusive civic leadership.

Unfortunately, the diagnosis runs the risk of being lost in Crupi’s sea of tactical suggestions. Part of what happens when there is no visionary leadership is that people start grasping at straws. A few of the straws (there are seven recommendations) that Crupi tosses out in his latest report:

• Leverage the past and stop being a prisoner to it: "… one point is clear – its inability to let go of the ghosts of its past will continue to jeopardize its future. It is already doing so. It is why the area struggles with an identity it can be proud of. It is why the area fails to capitalize on a historical base that would be the envy of virtually every other community in the nation. It is why the area has failed to put a tourism package together that could accrue to the economic and psychological benefit of all metro citizens. The area constantly underestimates its rich diversity and how that has contributed to its uniqueness." (Crupi, 2007)

• Prepare now for the demographic tsunami: "They say that demographics is destiny. The metro area is about to be hit by a demographic title wave that will define its future in ways it cannot even imagine. The three impacts will come from immigration, aging and the retirement of an incredibly large number of leaders in key positions throughout the metro area." (Crupi, 2007)

• The business community needs to step up and step out: "What is different in the Greater Richmond region is that individual leaders don’t step into the public fray, take a strong position on what the area should become and why, and then work to make it happen. Mobilizing activities without lines of authority is difficult and goes against the way most operate. As has been said, the business community is tactical and not strategic. It doesn’t look out on the horizon and determine what should be done. It doesn’t develop a group agenda." (Crupi, 2007)

But it’s not Crupi’s recommendations that stand out – in fact, many of them are already being tackled regionally.

No, the lack of leadership is what rings loudest to anyone who takes the time to read the report. Not just business leadership, but active, engaging, visionary leadership from the top tier leaders across the region – in business, government, education, non-profit organizations. It’s not that there aren’t smart people in all of these arenas, or that they aren’t working hard, or that they don’t have good intentions – there are, they are and they do.

It’s just that too often all but a handful of these people play it safe, and play in their lanes. Crupi again:

… Richmond is not a business. It has no market discipline to drive change. The area has no board of directors demanding improvement. There is no CEO to make the tough choices and to be held accountable. And absent a sustained, focused commitment to excellence, the type of effort required will be very difficult. Creating the type of change that the Greater Richmond area needs requires bold and coordinated business and political leadership. The path forward is clear. The need for action is equally clear. What remains unclear is who, if anyone, will provide the sustaining leadership to help the area reach its full potential. (Crupi, 2007)

Which not only gets to the heart of Crupi’s report, but also gets us to the missing piece.

The Missing Piece Is Already Here

Here’s your second test: Jot down the names of 10 businesses you frequent or organizations your support – preferably ones who are actively involved in changing Richmond’s culture. (I’m guessing you found this test a bit easier than the first one.)

Crupi says he spoke with 100 “business, political and community leaders” to gather the information and perspectives that shaped his report. He never tells us who they are, and it doesn’t really matter. The fact of the matter is that many of the region’s new leaders aren’t waiting for the Old School to invite them to the table.

For every leader who sat down with Crupi there are 100 more in the region busy creating the future. A few of Richmond’s young, creative leaders are:

• Connecting members of the community interested in volunteering with organizations looking for volunteers (Hands-On Greater Richmond)

• Creating a network for young professionals to build relationships, share ideas and get engaged in the community (HYPE Richmond)

• Creating a fresh new voice that combines good design, positive energy and a balance of art, music, fashion and community focus. (RVA Magazine)

• Using the Internet to develop an information hub combining the best neighborhood news from 12+ community weblogs with original content. (RVA News)

• Bringing together resources and services in an attempt to alleviate homelessness in the region. (Homeward)

• Building one of the more energetic craft networks in the country and having fun in the process. (The Richmond Craft Mafia)

• Tuning the region into progressive music, news and conversation over the radio waves and through the Internet. (WRIR FM)

• Turning an elementary school into a regional showcase of performance, art and culture. (The Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen)

Those are just eight of several hundred powerful examples of regional change that is real, meaningful and touches people’s lives. This large and invisible slice of leadership in Richmond actively represents the sort of change Crupi calls for – and they are the very people who Crupi suggests need to be at the table. First step – changing the way we define leadership.

For too long the business community has not placed social and intellectual capital on par with economic strength when working on community problems. The metro area is blessed with plenty of both and it will require a diversity of talent if the region is to move together as one in working on regional issues. Wisdom and experience when coupled with the creativity and drive of young people is a powerful combination that also needs to be leveraged. (Crupi, 2007)

So, here’s a twist – What would be different about a report on Richmond’s future if this second group of leaders had been interviewed? Or, looking forward, what will we do to ensure that the next report is different?

And yet, something is missing. The pieces are not tied together. It is as if the metro jigsaw puzzle is missing several key pieces that prevent the viewer from seeing the whole picture. Those working on the puzzle have no clear picture to guide them. There is no sense of what it will look like at the end. Some are holding onto pieces from another puzzle and keep searching for a place to put them. Those pieces don’t fit and the ones that do are difficult to place without inefficient, frustrated efforts. So people give up or come back later – hoping to make it work.  Some start working on another puzzle – one less complicated. The result is a puzzle with holes. Many of the pieces are there, but there is no understanding of what it will all look like at the end. The individual pieces don’t fit together to support one another because there are too many gaps. There is no synergy and no leverage. While the picture could be striking if it were put together, it never gets done. (Crupi, 2007)

The alternative to waiting for change to happen is choosing to create your own future. Creating your own future is ownership. Working with others to create a shared future is leadership.

It’s happening everywhere across this region. Until the leaders Crupi wrote his report for clear some room at their table, we’ll keep working at our own.

Best of 2007: The Crupi Report

To paraphrase Mark Antony (of Caesar fame, not the musical fellow), I come not to bury the Crupi Report, nor to praise it. I simply want to acknowledge the power of a 55-page report to change the conversations we're having in the community.

About 300 people clustered together on the floor of VCU's Seigel Center on November 19 to hear words of wisdom from Texas-based, strategic consultant Jim Crupi. In the five weeks since Crupi delivered his second report in 15 years on Richmond's future, several different perspectives have been making their way around the political circuit.

Some, like former Richmond Mayor Roy West, have worked hard to dig up skeletons of the past. While Jim Crupi believed that he was doing some private consulting work for a small group of businessmen in 1992, that first report was quickly leaked to the press, and created some major ripples in the city's African-American political and professional class. Style Weekly captured that churn pretty well in a story earlier this year.

Others see the latest Crupi Report as a key to getting the Richmond region engaged in creating a new future. Grocery magnate and civic cheerleader Jim Ukrop is one of those; he delivered an address to the Richmond First Club earlier in December that called for a new level of community engagement in the region. The outgoing president of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce is another. Word is that Jim Dunn is working to pull together a group to quickly dive into Crupi's report after the first of the year to develop a game plan.

From the sidelines, I've already seen changes. Crupi's report has generated discussion, conversation and debate. It was delivered in a very public manner to the community -- and then printed in its entirety by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. And while there are those who will knit-pick the report, or critique Crupi, or criticize the business community who brought him here, I'm just happy to see some new conversations take place.

In just five weeks, the Crupi report has done more to spark conversation in the Richmond region than most people could have anticipated. I suspect that it will go a long way toward reshaping community discussion in 2008, as well.

The real test, as I've argued, is whether we're going to use the report as a catalyst for new discussion, or simply as fodder for some very Richmond rehashing:

Jim Crupi's new report needs to be a catalyst for new conversations, not the subject of the conversations.

The worst mistake the region's leaders can make would be to take Crupi's report and go through the motions of implementing the laundry list of recommendations. That's tactical, not visionary.

A visionary approach to the Crupi report would be to broaden today's conversation -- to spend the next several months actively engaging the community in a discussion about a shared vision for a future Richmond. Next Tuesday's Public Square discussion hosted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch might be a good place to begin that work.

The work of change consultant turned community builder Peter Block in Cincinnati might be another. Or the community-driven approach to conversations taken by Get Smart Tacoma.

There are a lot of different ways to create a vision and engage the community -- what will be important is that Richmond get engaged around its own vision for the future, not Jim Crupi's. That's not a dig at Crupi -- who has served an important purpose, twice, in this community. It's a challenge for Richmond.

The Crupi Report: Chatting with Mr. C

This evening, strategic consultant Jim Crupi and I sat down in the lounge of the downtown Marriott, sipped ice water and chatted about his recent report on the region, "Putting the Pieces Together." Bad Christmas music played in the background.

I'd heard a few weeks back that Crupi was coming back to town in December. I promptly forgot about it.

Cleaning up emails last night, I was filing away various Crupi-related emails and remembered. On a whim, I dashed off an email to see if he had been and gone, or hadn't yet arrived. It turns out he arrived in Richmond this morning, and was flying out tomorrow night. He agreed to get together for a chat.

I took sporadic notes during our conversation. One of the first things we discussed was the difference between Crupi's 1992 report on the region and the one delivered through the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce at the end of November:

"In 1992, there were almost no post-report conversations," Crupi said. "The last report was done for a relatively small group of business guys who wanted to improve Richmond. Somehow the report was released to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and they wrote a series of articles that highlighted what was in the report, which generated some controversy."

A lot has changed in 15 years, Crupi said. The Internet was not being used to communicate news in 1992, for instance. There were no weblogs.

"The idea that the Times-Dispatch would print the entire report is just amazing," he said. "One of the interesting things to me about the fact that the Richmond Times-Dispatch decided to print this is that those who decided to read the insert in their paper had a big education, a big education. What a gift."

Crupi expressed surprise at suggestions that he only interviewed corporate leaders for his recent report.

"The people I met with were about 45% business, 27% political leaders," he said. "The rest worked for social services, non-profits, community associations. I've talked to citizens on the streets, people in grocery stores."

"What I got from most people I talked to is what they are concerned about now," he said. He said his best sense is that people have been pleased by the reaction to the report.

"I think the universal reaction has been that it's great that people are talking about Richmond, that people are talking about issues facing Richmond, that there is this buzz," Crupi noted. "There is a lot of pleasure that the public distribution, the decision to present this report out in the open, has been seen as a great move."

We also discussed the report itself. Crupi said one of his biggest surprises is the lack of attention -- in the newspapers and on the Internet -- that has been given to what he feels is one of his most important recommendations: improving Richmond's schools by improving the lives of Richmond students. He said he almost led his report with the section on schools, but chose to emphasize a more strategic issue -- the need for visionary and strategic leadership in Richmond.

"Part of what prevents things from being done -- which is why I use the puzzle metaphor -- is when you don't have a sense of what you're trying to build," he said. "The second thing is that you have to make that picture inclusive and rich. One way to do that is for leaders to bring people to the table who are not like them."

"So, part of my message -- and it's not just to the business community -- is that the guy with intellectual or social capital is just as important, or more important sometimes, to have at the table," he added. "When people begin to recognize the beauty of that leverage and synergy, this place will take off like a rocket."