Charlie Grantham and Jim Ware, writing at The Future of Work
, ask:

What can you do to help your community become a net attractor of knowledge worker talent?

We have synthesized our ideas and Gardner’s into a few simple questions you can use in community development workshops. Please bear in mind that this list is research in progress and doesn’t yet exist as a formal diagnostic instrument; but we believe it gives us a good basis for working with serious community leaders to start the conversation.

1. Do the people in our community share a similar purpose for living here?
2. Is our community highly diverse in its cultural and ethnic makeup? Do we practice an openness that allows all of us to question all of our assumptions?
3. Is teamwork among our community members very important and valued?
4. Are people in our community recognized publicly for their contributions?
5. Does everyone in our community communicate well with each other?
6. Does our community have a distinct and unique identity? Is there local pride in what we do and represent?
7. Is our community connected economically and politically with others in our region? Do we play an active leadership role in developing the region politically, economically, and environmentally?
8. Do we welcome new members to our community, even when they come from different backgrounds and have different lifestyles?
9. Do we believe in the “equal rights” of all our residents to transportation, education, clean air, and public spaces?
10. How easily does our community resolve conflicts among our members?
11. Do our residents invest time and energy to develop the community? To improve our schools? To ensure a sustainable environment?
12. Do we have adequate resources in our community to help it thrive?
13. Are we constantly seeking to “push the envelope” and striving to become a better, more interesting place?
14. Do we support and encourage innovation in both our public and our commercial enterprises?

That’s it. Short and sweet. The world changes, and your community changes or dies. Give this quick-check diagnostic a try. Go out into your community and ask people these simple questions (and ask yourself, too). You may be surprised at the answers—or you may decide to rent a moving van the next day.

Read the whole thing, and participate in the discussion here.