In The Rise of the Creative Class, The Flight of the Creative Class, and www.creativeclass.org, Richard Florida investigates what makes world regions creative, productive and competitive, as a result. Looking beyond traditional economic productivity indices, he characterizes the “3 T’s of Economic Development”: Technology, Talent and Tolerance. Creative capital drives growth in an idea-driven economy.
How do we apply this global premise locally? This week the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation released a report on state competitiveness, looking at several factors. My state, Massachusetts, landed on top of the list. I recently investigated relocating a corporate HQ in Boston for a high-growth software company. It was challenging to choose a location with proximity to affordable housing, universities, suburban bedroom communities and a vibrant town center. Despite the #1 ranking, we're still far from creating a creative renaissance in Massachusetts–- high housing rates discourage newcomers, management training programs are rare and start-up executives
seldom find the time to mentor young talent.
We can all have an impact on our region’s economic growth, and could do worse than to apply macro principles to our daily practice of attracting, hiring and developing talent in our organizations.
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