All the talk about
potholes and creaky
bridges is getting
us nowhere, says
Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
To kickstart the
infrastructure debate,
we should be talking
about mobility and the
economic opportunity
it makes possible.
BY PETER BRADLEY, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
thoughtleaders
THE STATE OF THE NATION’S TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, THE
need for greater investment, and how to pay for it are frequent topics of discussion
among logistics and supply chain professionals. But it’s not a topic likely to gain a
lot of public attention until a bridge collapses or, as happened in Boston last winter,
public transit comes to a halt.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, one of the nation’s leading thinkers on leadership and
innovation, hopes to change that. In her new book, Move: Putting America’s
Infrastructure Back in the Lead, Kanter seeks to draw attention to the urgency of
fixing our infrastructure and kickstart the national discussion. She also offers a fresh
approach to drumming up public support for infrastructure investment: frame the
debate not around fixing roads and bridges or dredging ports, but around mobility
and economic opportunity. We can get there, she argues, by using the technology
we already have to create “smart” transportation and infrastructure. Among other
benefits, she writes, “reinventing transportation and infrastructure has the potential
to save lives, cut costs, add convenience by easing congestion, reduce pollution and
mitigate climate change, and create future growth opportunities that generate new
jobs.”
Kanter, a professor at Harvard Business School as well as chair and director of
Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, has been named one of the 50 most
powerful women in the world by The Times of London, among many accolades. She
A focus on mobility
INTERVIEW WITH
ROSABETH MOSS KANTER
