Amid the drama and emotion of local elections, it's easy to forget that local governments are, first and foremost, municipal corporations. Residents and businesses are both investors in and customers of those corporations. And they deserve five-star customer service.
As local government leaders, we sometimes become so consumed by budget pressures, operational efficiencies, or the social media controversy of the moment that we lose sight of what our customers actually want.
At Apple's 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference, a recently returned Steve Jobs was publicly challenged about his understanding of technology. After a now-famous 11-second pause, he acknowledged some fair criticism before offering a timeless insight:
"You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology."
That advice is just as relevant to municipal government today.
New technologies, management trends, and other "bright shiny objects" should be evaluated against what our community surveys, neighborhood conversations, strategic plans, and residents tell us they actually need. Start with the customer, then find the solution.
When I arrived in Newport in 2024, one frustration became immediately apparent: residents and businesses struggled to communicate with City departments. Calls went unanswered, language barriers persisted, and finding the right point of contact wasn't always easy.
More importantly, our customers overwhelmingly preferred communicating by telephone.
Rather than starting with a technology and searching for a problem, we started with that customer preference. It led me to @Polimorphic, whose voice-based AI assistance offered a promising solution amid a crowded field of municipal 311 technologies.
The lesson? Innovation in local government isn't about adopting the newest technology. It's about using the right technology to deliver the service our communities actually want.
Start with the customer. Work backwards.