1 hr 10 min
Five years of Failure: how Wisdom's Hidden Wealth can be Found Within the Ashes The Anti-Fragile Playbook
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- Non-Profit
Success is fleeting, and does not exist absent the context of failure. Those who embrace failure as a source of wisdom, from a place of humility and honesty, are more adept at successfully navigating extreme circumstances.
In this episode, CEO Kent Dahlgren shares his experience with a concrete skateboard park, originally built illegally in the heart of Portland, Oregon, but today still operating in a state of semi-autonomous self-governance for 30 years.
The Burnside Skatepark is considered a watershed event in the world of skateboarding, broadly considered the catalyst for birthing what’s been called the “Second Coming of the Skatepark;” the boom of public and private skateboard parks built in the decades after skateboarding's rumored demise, following the failure of for-profit skateboard parks in the 1970's.
Asked what he’d call a book about his experiences with Burnside, Kent says “I’d either call it ‘Five years of failure,’ because we could not have done it if not for the lessons learned in the five years prior to our eventual success,” or “one bag at a time,’ because that’s how you build a 9,000 square foot concrete skatepark: one bag at a time.”
The key to the project’s success was in the intense lobbying and negotiations made with the local business community, neighbor association, local law enforcement, local businesses, parents, parks and recreation, etc.
Construction of the park was not endorsed and was therefore illegal, but by the time the city rallied with resources sufficient to destroy the park, the skaters, including Kent, had constructed an air-tight coalition of public and private entities.
In 1991 resolution 1179 was agreed to deliver a community policing agreement, outlining key players, and roles and responsibilities.
Again: this agreement has ensure the park has remained viable and continued its evolution for 30 years.
Kent has been pursuing these pragmatic solutions since the mid-1980’s, and has learned a great deal about what it takes to succeed in the context of extraordinary challenges.
These same insights have come to inform Kent’s vision about self-governance, agency, and community sovereignty, and it’s from this place of wisdom that we are all pleased by the opportunity to work with Ruth Glendinning of FutureStory Labs on an Anti-Fragile Playbook, which provides a step-by-step guide on how community advocates can deliver an autonomous, self-funded economic revival, on their terms, and in alignment with their values.
Success is fleeting, and does not exist absent the context of failure. Those who embrace failure as a source of wisdom, from a place of humility and honesty, are more adept at successfully navigating extreme circumstances.
In this episode, CEO Kent Dahlgren shares his experience with a concrete skateboard park, originally built illegally in the heart of Portland, Oregon, but today still operating in a state of semi-autonomous self-governance for 30 years.
The Burnside Skatepark is considered a watershed event in the world of skateboarding, broadly considered the catalyst for birthing what’s been called the “Second Coming of the Skatepark;” the boom of public and private skateboard parks built in the decades after skateboarding's rumored demise, following the failure of for-profit skateboard parks in the 1970's.
Asked what he’d call a book about his experiences with Burnside, Kent says “I’d either call it ‘Five years of failure,’ because we could not have done it if not for the lessons learned in the five years prior to our eventual success,” or “one bag at a time,’ because that’s how you build a 9,000 square foot concrete skatepark: one bag at a time.”
The key to the project’s success was in the intense lobbying and negotiations made with the local business community, neighbor association, local law enforcement, local businesses, parents, parks and recreation, etc.
Construction of the park was not endorsed and was therefore illegal, but by the time the city rallied with resources sufficient to destroy the park, the skaters, including Kent, had constructed an air-tight coalition of public and private entities.
In 1991 resolution 1179 was agreed to deliver a community policing agreement, outlining key players, and roles and responsibilities.
Again: this agreement has ensure the park has remained viable and continued its evolution for 30 years.
Kent has been pursuing these pragmatic solutions since the mid-1980’s, and has learned a great deal about what it takes to succeed in the context of extraordinary challenges.
These same insights have come to inform Kent’s vision about self-governance, agency, and community sovereignty, and it’s from this place of wisdom that we are all pleased by the opportunity to work with Ruth Glendinning of FutureStory Labs on an Anti-Fragile Playbook, which provides a step-by-step guide on how community advocates can deliver an autonomous, self-funded economic revival, on their terms, and in alignment with their values.
1 hr 10 min