The City of Comfortable Brown Shoes
I heard a comic, from Toronto IIRC, on LiVE 88.5 one morning refer to Ottawa as “The city of comfortable brown shoes”. Is this how people on the outside see our fair city? Is this a fair statement and accurate reflection of our town?
.
First of all what would prompt such a remark, other than people from Toronto enjoy poking fun at the nation’s capital, but hey after all TO is only a provincial capital … envy perhaps. The more likely reason is that it is indeed a decent metaphor for the Ottawa Lifestyle.
.
.
When you consider that 20% of the 660,000 direct workforce in Ottawa (roughly 145,000 of the working population) are employed by one level of government (Feds or City of Ottawa). Add in the service organizations that make a living doing business with the government and you likely have roughly 50% of the working population in Ottawa tied directly to the government as their source of income. The numbers get even more interesting when you consider other public institutions like Universities, Colleges and the public education system and you probably have an additional 10% – 20% making their living in the public sector for a total of 70% of the local workforce. Public sector employment is comfortable (decent wages, work hours, great benefits, pension …) and in comparison to say the technology sector relatively secure.
.
This to a large extent explains Ottawa’s ability to withstand the current global recession so well, certainly in comparison to other Canadian cities and those anywhere in the world. This is a really good thing about living in our fair town and provides a level of comfort with stability.
.
The downside, however, is that stability in fact discourages some potential entrepreneurs because after being burned the safety and security of those comfortable brown shoes can be quite alluring. Comfort in fact is the enemy of innovation. Most of the rest of the world is being forced to change rapidly in order to survive; disruption and pain are innovation catalysts.
.
If Ottawa is indeed the city of comfortable brown shoes we may benefit in the short term with the public sector providing a breakwater and safe haven. However, other global villages in stress and turmoil are literally being forced to innovative for survival. Those villagers in other global cities are wearing bare feet, old shoes or running shoes and marching to the beat of the new order drum.
.
In Ottawa we need to investigate new and innovative ways to deal with the changing global economic upheaval and economic development. The more we cling to that pair of comfortable brown shoes the more we stay the same. Times are changing rapidly and we should consider appropriate footwear for the challenge. If everyone around you is in a running and you continue to stroll in comfortable brown shoes, you will fall behind the pack.
.
Ian Graham
Yes indeed… Ottawa is the city of comfortable brown shoes. Your article sums up the current playing field in Ottawa quite well. Those in the government, or dealing directly with the government, are bound to live comfortably in their “brown shoes”. Meanwhile, fresh and unique creative companies like myself face quite the uphill battle just to gain a small fraction of the work from the few “funky” companies in the area (as evidenced by the fact that I still have not signed a deal big enough to get me a desk at The Code Factory!).
BUT, Ottawa IS changing. Having lived in Toronto for 5 years, I am recognizing the signs… condos and lofts are gaining popularity, the music scene is starting to gain momentum, arts and culture are growing; Design, branding and other creative visuals will change with it in time. I’m hopefully in on the ground floor while the change is happening. I know Ottawa can shed it’s comfortable brown shoes… hopefully sooner rather than later.
Andy
You’re right about ottawa’s tie to government, but I’m not so sure it’s a negative thing, or something that needs changing.
Think of ottawa as an entrepreneur.
You start with a secure day job to bring in the bacon, while innovating in the evenings. When the startup is ready to stand, you consider the leap.
Our advantage is, as a city we don’t have to “leap”. When one of our ventures fails, we can not only survive, but turn it into opportunity. One failed Nortel results in a few hundred new ventures. Meanwhile chances are good our “day job” helped us survive the hit.
Hi Andy, thank you for the comment. I tend to agree with the later part of your comment … change is afoot. I see it primarily in the YGEN and Gov2.0 crowd very progressive and wanting to change the world.
Hey Kareem; good to hear from you. The post was intended to instigate a bit and spark some debate. The main idea that I was trying to communicate is that comfort and innovation are something of an oxymoron. The more comfortable you are the less likely you will be receptive to change. Large organizations public or private are very difficult to change, hence there is a whole consultancy industry built up around change management.
The Federal Government in Ottawa is a great resource for start-ups and also a very tough nut to crack for the little guys. The simplified procurement policy is a great example of positive change.