a unique idea (suggestion) for President Obama’s administration

Obama’s administration needs to have a “Google Labs - Political”.

I normally don’t delve into politics. I’m not even American, but for the first time since I can remember, I have gained an interest in politics within the United States. I think it’s because I believe that President Elect Obama will actually make a positive difference in the lives of Americans everywhere. I feel that this type of hope hasn’t been around for a long long time. In fact, it feels cliché and obvious to even say it given his platform.

I have listened in the last year to a lot of what Obama has had to say, obviously because he was running for the Presidency and received an abundance of air time. Anyway, I am genuinely apolitical, probably because to me politicians, regardless of party, have always just played the role of the dutiful cog in the wheel, keeping the machine going, one little bit at a time. Getting paid. Not making huge waves. Believing justifiably that they can’t REALLY make a change to the system, so why try at all? It’s just “The Way It Is”. Obama is the first politician that I have been interested in listening to, and someone who I feel would actually listen to an idea brought to him, no matter how unorthodox it would first seem. It is because of this that I was motivated to write this piece. Maybe some people out there will agree with me and spread the idea.

I think, that along with the actual change that is required within the political system, there also needs to be grassroots change in how the American people SEE the system operate. Creating a learning opportunity for the people at large would be beneficial in spreading the word of Change. That learning opportunity is the topic of this article.

I mentioned a “Google Labs - Political” earlier. This of course, is a metaphor for something that I think should exist. Somewhere where people can grow and cultivate innovative governance ideas that would be made public but not subject to stifling, before the idea even sees the light of day, by the political elite and powerful. Google made a paradigm shift with their Google Labs by giving their employees designated regular work time to work on their own projects in order to leverage their employees imagination and creativity into possibly useful projects in the future. That was unusual and not the norm. Why can’t this be done with politics? Obama’s administration is the CEO, and the American people are the employees. Let’s see what the people have to say. I’ll be the first to throw a crazy idea out there:

Let’s run a very public federal lottery. It takes place once a month. You, as an American citizen, can enter the lottery. It costs you nothing, and anyone can enter. The only requirement you have to meet is a security clearance. What does the lottery winner win each month? A one (or half) day as an embedded employee/observer at a senior level of government. You will have an opportunity to see what most people don’t get to see. The good, the bad, the down times, and the crazy times. It would be structured so that the day reveals to the lucky winner (and eventually their families and friends through stories told after) key aspects of government that the American people let’s say, may not understand or that may be timely or controversial. This would serve to slowly create or build confidence in the administration, and breed familiarity and understanding between the American people and government. On the flip side it could also serve to be the genesis for a new idea. Have you ever heard someone say “Why do they do it this way? Here is another way, and it would be more efficient.” Obviously the key there would be for the administration to keep an open mind as well.

While implementing something like this would be laughable with previous governments, I believe Obama’s administration would actually take a minute to think about it.

just sayin’