Wise Economy Workshop

Wise Economy Workshop Consulting, training and tools to support communities in building long-term economic health and resilience. wiseeconomy.com.

You can learn more about the Wise Economy Workshop at www. You can also subscribe to our blog and listen to our podcast there, and you can download white papers as well. We also produce a monthly newsletter called The Wise Fool, which you can subscribe to via the web site.

02/05/2026

This content explores how innovation thrives when diverse people are supported by clear structures, strong processes, and inclusive systems that unlock everyone’s potential.

What We Learned About Unexpected InnovatorsInnovation doesn’t come from a select few.It comes from diverse people, suppo...
02/04/2026

What We Learned About Unexpected Innovators

Innovation doesn’t come from a select few.
It comes from diverse people, supported by strong structure, working together.

In our work at Econogy, we discovered that when people—young adults, community members, entrepreneurs, students, and seniors—are placed in diverse teams, guided by clear processes, and challenged with real problems, they consistently outperform expectations.

💡 The big insight?
Innovators across tech, Main Street, nonprofits, universities, and neighborhoods are more similar than different.

They all need:
✔ Structure
✔ Support
✔ New perspectives
✔ Freedom to escape old paradigms

This idea is explored further in our upcoming book:
📘 Everybody Innovates Here

👉 Learn more & get updates
👉 Subscribe to Future Here Now on Substack https://www.substack.com/
👉 Contact us about speaking engagements, workshops, and innovation system design http://wiseeconomy.com/

Let’s build innovation systems that work for everyone.
🔗 Buy the book | 📩 Subscribe | 🤝 Partner with us

Future Here Now: Why I Do ThisI grew up in a small Rust Belt town outside Cleveland, watching a family manufacturing bus...
01/30/2026

Future Here Now: Why I Do This

I grew up in a small Rust Belt town outside Cleveland, watching a family manufacturing business collapse as the old economy began to unravel. I saw—up close—what economic disruption does to families, dignity, and community life.

That experience shaped everything that followed.

Since then, I’ve worked across journalism, teaching, community planning, economic development, and public engagement. My career path looks more like cooked spaghetti than a ladder 🍝—but the throughline has always been the same:

👉 Helping communities adapt, rebuild, and thrive in a future that will look nothing like the past.

Over the last decade, I’ve learned a few big things:

- National solutions are uncertain. Local action matters more than ever.
- Real change is harder—and slower—than most of us expect.
- Inclusion isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a strategic advantage.
- Crowdsourcing wisdom from diverse voices isn’t charity—it’s survival.

That’s why I write.
That’s why I research.
That’s why I publish Future Here Now.

Because the future is arriving whether we’re ready or not—and communities that learn, adapt, and innovate together will be the ones that win.

📘 Buy the book: The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived
http://localeconomyrevolutionbook.com/
📩 Subscribe: Future Here Now (2–4 weekly downloads of insights, tools, and analysis)
🎤 Work with us: Speaking, workshops, and community strategy
🤝 Let’s talk: If you’re serious about building a stronger local economy

➡️ Get your copy
➡️ Message me to explore collaborations

Let’s get on with it. 💥

Whose Streets Are Really Open? A recent article in Future Here Now highlights something many of us suspected: pandemic-e...
01/28/2026

Whose Streets Are Really Open?

A recent article in Future Here Now highlights something many of us suspected: pandemic-era “Open Streets” programs—closing streets to cars so people could walk, bike, and gather—mostly benefited high-income neighborhoods. Meanwhile, pedestrian and cyclist safety in other communities continued to decline. ⚠️

The piece also reminds us of a deeper inequity: public spaces in non-white neighborhoods were often heavily policed, even as streets in wealthier areas got new amenities.

Simply making streets “pretty” isn’t enough. True equity and inclusion are essential for Future-Ready communities—because creativity, innovation, and diverse perspectives are what help communities thrive. 🌱

📚 Dive deeper: The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived & First Principles of the LER show how equity, access, and innovation intersect.

💡 Take action today:

- Subscribe to Future Here Now for weekly insights: [link]
- Explore our books and guides to spark local innovation: [link]
- Contact us to host workshops or speaking sessions in your community: https://www.substack.com/

Your streets, your community—let’s make them open for everyone. ✨

Reflections on Tony Hsieh and What It Means to Have a Vision for Your CommunityI never met Tony Hsieh. That was on purpo...
01/26/2026

Reflections on Tony Hsieh and What It Means to Have a Vision for Your Community

I never met Tony Hsieh. That was on purpose.

But the Downtown Project changed how I understand community—forever.

This new essay revisits an earlier piece I wrote and adds a necessary coda, asking harder questions about:

❤️ What real connectedness looks like
🧠 Mental health in entrepreneurship
🏙️ Why places don’t create community—people do
🔥 And why no great place is built by one “Great Man”

The most important insight?

Tony wasn’t the vision.
The people were.

Hundreds of individuals shaped the Downtown Project through their actions, relationships, and care for each other. That’s how real community is born.

👉 Read the full essay here: {Read the rest of that essay here}
https://dellarucker.medium.com/reflections-and-gratitude-for-tony-hsieh-vision-and-persistence-c7fcc2836625

If this resonates:
📚 Check out my books
📩 Subscribe to Future Here Now on Substack
🎤 Reach out to explore speaking, workshops, and collaborations

Let’s stop chasing icons.
Let’s start building connected communities.

💬 What does “connectedness” mean to you?





Don’t settle if you can help it. And don’t do it alone. I was just interviewed by One Source Direct (a B2B platform + Tr...
01/24/2026

Don’t settle if you can help it. And don’t do it alone.

I was just interviewed by One Source Direct (a B2B platform + Trep House supplier), and some of my own answers surprised me—especially around entrepreneurship, failure, and why women deserve to think bigger.

✨ A few highlights:

I didn’t plan to be an entrepreneur—I fell into it (more than once).
The right tools matter: Motion, Canva, and Business Model Generation still shape how I work today.
My biggest failure? A partnership that taught me hard lessons about trust.
My biggest advice for women in business: don’t shrink the vision—and don’t try to carry it alone.

💡 If you’ve ever thought about building something bigger than just replacing your old job, this one’s for you.

📖 Want more?
👉 Buy the books
👉 Subscribe to Future Here Now on Substack
👉 Reach out to explore speaking engagements, workshops, or strategic conversations

Let’s build businesses that work better—for women, for communities, and for the future.

📩 DM me or drop a comment to connect
🔗 Link in comments

🎯📚✨

Future Here Now: Urban Space Co-creation What if our cities are failing not because of bad intentions — but because we d...
01/20/2026

Future Here Now: Urban Space Co-creation

What if our cities are failing not because of bad intentions — but because we design for people instead of with them?

Too many public spaces promise inclusion yet end up excluding the very communities they’re meant to serve. Gentrification, privatization, and top-down “design thinking” often silence local expertise.

💡 The real solution? Co-creation.

Not token consultations. Not charrettes.

But treating residents as experts on their own communities — and designing with them from the start.

If we want equitable, resilient, and thriving cities, we must hand over the pen. ✍️
🚀 Take Action
📘 Buy our books on future-ready cities & systems
📰 Subscribe to the Future Here Now Substack for weekly insights
https://wiseeconomy.substack.com
🎤 Contact us to explore keynotes, talks, and hands-on workshops on co-creation, futures thinking, and urban innovation

👉 Let’s design the future together — not from the top down, but from the ground up.

Welcome to the Fusion Age We’re not just upgrading technology —we’re leaving the Industrial Era behind and stepping into...
01/17/2026

Welcome to the Fusion Age

We’re not just upgrading technology —
we’re leaving the Industrial Era behind and stepping into the Fusion Economy.

🏭 For decades, industrial-era thinking has shaped how we:
• Structure organizations
• Manage people
• Design government, nonprofits, and businesses

⚠️ The result?
Hierarchies, command-and-control systems, silos, and efficiency-over-everything — all breaking down under real-world complexity.

✨ The Fusion Economy calls for new assumptions:
• Resilience over rigidity
• Purpose over process
• Systems that adapt, not control

This is the first principle behind Welcome to the Fusion Age — and the foundation for everything that comes next.

👉 Two simple things you can do right now
1. Sign up for my new Substack newsletter — Future Here Now
https://wiseeconomy.substack.com/
Get essays, insights, and behind-the-scenes thinking as the book launches and the ideas evolve.
2. Like & share the video trailer for the new book
https://wiseeconomy.substack.com/p/book-trailer-for-the-local-economy
Pass it along to friends, colleagues, and your favorite partners in crime who know the old ways aren’t working anymore.

📘 Want more?
• Buy the book and access insider content
• Watch the livestream on the Fusion Economy
• Contact us to explore speaking, workshops, and strategy sessions for your organization or community

🔥 The future isn’t coming. It’s already here.
Let’s stop managing yesterday — and start building what’s next.

01/17/2026

It’s about why Industrial-Era thinking no longer works and why leaders, organizations, and communities must shift to the Fusion Economy to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

01/14/2026

Real change happens when we stop designing for systems and start building with people at the center.

It’s About People. Real People.Too often, we fall in love with our things — buildings, programs , products — more than t...
01/14/2026

It’s About People. Real People.

Too often, we fall in love with our things — buildings, programs , products — more than the people they’re meant to serve.

The truth? It’s not about what we build. It’s about who we build it for.

Industrial Era habits—professional-driven, siloed, obsessed with timelines and budgets —don’t match the reality of the networked, collaborative world people actually live in.

✅ Lesson for leaders & changemakers:
1️⃣ Make it about people first
2️⃣ Collaborate deeply
3️⃣ Build for real needs, not just your “masterpiece”

📖 Read more: The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived
📰 Subscribe: Future Here Now Substack for insights & updates
🎤 Connect: Speaking, workshops, and collaboration opportunities available
📺 Watch: My live stream on this topic

💡 Action: Share this post, tag someone who needs to see it, and start building for real people, not just the thing.





Is the Fusion Future actually bright? That depends on us. The headlines tell us to brace for the worst—pandemics, climat...
01/12/2026

Is the Fusion Future actually bright? That depends on us.

The headlines tell us to brace for the worst—pandemics, climate crisis, AI anxiety, deepening inequality. It can feel like a violin in a void. 🎻
But after nearly 10 years of writing about change, I’m more convinced than ever: the forces shaping our future are not neutral. They can point toward progress, human potential, and better communities—if we choose to use them well.

This clip from Future Here Now explores why the Fusion Era isn’t about blind techno-optimism or wishful thinking. It’s about understanding two powerful drivers of every era:
🔹 Technology – the tools we use
🔹 Culture – how our minds, values, and systems evolve alongside them

Together, they open doors to new ways of governing, building economies, running organizations, and solving problems. None of this is guaranteed. But the opportunity is real—and the cost of doing nothing is high.

👉 Want the full analysis, tools, and conversation?
This is just a taste.

✨ Subscribe to the full Future Here Now newsletter for deeper insight, practical activities, and a private space to connect with other Future-Ready Change Makers.
📚 Explore my books on the Wise Economy, local futures, and systems change.
🎤 Invite us in—contact us to explore speaking engagements, workshops, and strategy sessions for your organization or community.

The future won’t save itself.

If you’re ready to help shape it, start here. 🚀

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