Greetings! Thanks to all of you who completed our recent survey regarding the future of Jigsaw's Business Weekly. We had a 50% open rate and a 12% response rate from our 450 readers, both of which are high by industry standards. We also got lots of great comments.

The net of it all is that the Weekly, as such, will not be reinstated.

People value the e-letter's content, read it regularly, and read almost all of it, but not enough are able or willing to pay for a subscription to carry expenses and a bit of my time. I understand this; there are many free news sources out there. I think we can all feel blessed that so much great information is easily available 24/7.

In reflecting on my editorials, I can see that I respond to much in the world around me as a business consultant. That shouldn't surprise me after 30 consulting years but it has. Editorials in this e-letter, for the most part, have focused on the structure, operations, people management, and outcomes achieved by our local governments, business community, Sun Valley Company, and economic development organizations. I keep thinking we can do much better.

  

I certainly see that our problems are not so different from those in other organizations - whether towns or businesses. I'm reading Sheila Bair's book, Bull By The Horns, about her tenure as head of the FDIC. What a nightmare!!! She is, in my opinion, an insightful, smart and sensitive leader. But what she had to deal with in terms of ego, entrenched and special interests, right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, poor communication, bad personnel choices, machismo, ignorance, power posturing, bureaucracy and more, is familiar, although on a geometrically larger scale. What she describes is, in fact, the stuff of a consultant's dreams: So much delicious opportunity for improvement.

As we repeatedly experience shrieking-for-attention opportunities for improvement, however, both locally and nationally, we also experience an inertia, a resistance to change that is unfortunate.  Opportunities are rarely seized upon for effective action.

I suspect I might write in the future about a few of these local issues - perhaps an e-book awaits. Problems still exist. While I have often been critical of some of the local scene, however, I've also tried to be honest about what is faulty and/or ignored - and constructive about how to address it.

  

Thanks to so many of you who have found Jigsaw's Business Weekly a source for helpful insights and for your appreciation. Best wishes to you all.