The Urbanist: 13 Ways to Transform a Community

In an era where small towns face unprecedented challenges around declining population, inadequate infrastructure and underemployment, these communities need more than a stock standard strategic plan or a marketing slogan to thrive.

Doug Griffiths, author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community and a seasoned community development consultant, brings a fresh, no- nonsense perspective on how communities can succeed. His approach, rooted in decades of experience as a teacher, politician, and consultant, focuses on uncovering what makes each community unique, and using

that insight to spark lasting transformation.

A Rural Heart

Raised on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, Mr Griffiths understands the realities rural communities face including struggling small businesses, deserted main streets, and young people moving away in search of opportunity.

These challenges might sound familiar to many regional towns in Western Australia.

After leaving his home town and earning an Honours Degree in Philosophy, Mr Griffiths added a teaching degree and returned to his rural roots to teach junior high. Living, working, and ranching across three small towns, he saw first-hand how many communities were slowly fading and resolved to make a difference.

He entered politics, serving four terms in Alberta’s Legislative Assembly, holding two ministerial portfolios and championing rural issues.

“I shot my mouth off about the need for a strategy for community building, and wound up in provincial politics,” Mr Griffiths laughs. “I was there for thirteen years, and I got frustrated.”

During that time, he authoreda comprehensive Community Development Strategy with 72 recommendations across health, education, infrastructure, economic development, and housing.

Eventually, he left politics to pursue grassroots community development full-time, publishing his best-selling book 13 Ways to Kill Your Community and working directly with local governments and organisations across North America.

The Seeds of 13 Ways

The concept behind 13 Ways was born from two major epiphanies.

The first came while teaching, when Mr Griffiths asked high school students to imagine how they could ruin their lives, then trace their current choices back to that future.

This simple exercise revealed a pattern where people often make decisions that contradict their own goals.

His second realisation emerged during community consultations.

“I’d spend several days with a community, doing interviews and talking to the Council and public organizations, and I’d hear them say the same thing over and over again,” Mr Griffiths explains. “They would say, ‘Doug, how do we keep young people in our community?’

This contradiction of wantingone outcome while actively undermining it, forms the basis of Griffiths’ approach to community development.

“We trade what we want most for what we want now, and fail to realize the consequences of our choices,” the introduction to 13 Ways states.

“Communities are no different. They want success, they make plans for it, and they work hard, but daily they make choices or adopt attitudes that ensure they fail.

“If we simply stop doing what encourages failure, and ensure our attitude is aligned with our goals, our communities can and will prosper for another generation.”

Beyond the Four-Year Plan

Mr Griffiths is critical of traditional strategic plans, especially those shaped by short-term political cycles.

Too often, he says, plans are reactive and indistinct.

“You are satisfying the squeaky wheel instead of making a plan for a generation,” Mr Griffiths said.

“I’ve held classes on strategic planning at the University of Alberta, and I would ask everyone to bring in their strategic plan and rip off the front cover, block out the name of the community, get rid of the pictures of Council and any pretty pictures of town, and just get me the text.

“I would tack them onto the bulletin board in front of the classroom and there would be 28 or 30 of them.

“I would offer $100 to whoever could tell me which community a strategic plan is from, just by reading the words, and I never once in seven years paid out because they are all the same.”

What Does Success Look Like?

In his upcoming book, Mr Griffiths will outline seven essentials for successful strategic engagement. He has written the book off the back of unprecedented demands on his time from so many regional communities across the country that are seeking help.

1. Authentic Engagement

First, start with genuine community involvement to uncover what makes the town unique.

“I don’t do a lot of surveys because they are a waste of time, every response in a municipality will tell you the same three things, fix the potholes, my taxes are too high, and the damn politicians!” Mr Griffiths said.

Instead, his team uses focus groups and interviews to identify key influencers and obstacles.

“I particularly want to find the mavens, the people that are excited about something, and other people listen.

“But I also want to find the NIMBYs, the NOPES, the BANANAS, the CAVE people and the FEARS.

“Because they’re the ones that will stop things from moving forward, and most of the time, they become your biggest fans when you help them.

“When we do engagement, we’re trying to find the lies people tell themselves, the sense of defeat, the sense of missed opportunity, and move forward from there.”

2. Independent Assessment

Next is a candid, external evaluation to define a community’s true assets and point of difference.

“Communities need to understand what they offer and know who wants it. If you know who wants it, you can find them and target them,” Mr Griffiths advises.

He talks about the importance of identifying the ‘first person’ a community wants to attract to the town. If you know who the first person is, you can target them and more will follow.

3. Crafting the Strategy

With the assessment complete, Mr Griffiths helps communities write a concise, two-page strategy beginning with a story in three paragraphs: who you were, who you are, and who you’re becoming.

“You need to be able to tell your story in an elevator ride, it’s your elevator pitch,” Mr Griffiths said.

This is followed by a vision statement, clear purpose, and genuine core values.

Mr Griffiths emphasizes the importance of creating a vision that all community organisations and government can share within the town, that is for the long term.

“The only part that ever changes on the strategic plan is the last part, which is the milestones.”

These milestones, or key objectives for the next four years, shouldbe updated every four years and replaced with updated ones.

4. Budget Alignment

For Mr Griffiths, the associated budget must reflect the community’s priorities.

“I’ve had too many Councils say they focus on economic development, and I look at their budget, and they don’t spend any money on economic development.

“You have to ask, is it really a priority?”

5. A Meaningful Brand

Developing a simple, meaningful, and identifiable brand thatreflects the community’s culture is essential. The brand should communicate what the community stands for and not change frequently.

“How is it that we have 31 communities in this area, and all of them have almost the same logo?” he asks. “They have an oil derrick, a cow, a wheat field and a train on it... it’s like they want to include everything from their history and what they do on there, without anything about what they are becoming.”

According to Mr Griffiths, a brand should reflect a community’s evolving identity, not just its past.

6. Targeted Marketing

With a clear brand and story in place, communities can implement a tailored marketing strategy. Knowing who they are and who would value that identity allows for precise outreach to attract new people and investment into the community.

7. Long term commitment

Finally, it is all about consistency, continuity and avoiding constant reinvention with each new political cycle.

“Every time we get a new Council, they want to reinvent everything,” Mr Griffiths said.

“What you need for real transformation, is a generational focus where you don’t have to redo things because of politicians’ egos.

“If you get it right the first time you just have to tweak it as you learn, but you keep that consistent messaging, consistent culture, consistent brand, the consistent focus on your strategy, and you keep people engaged.

“Twenty years from now, you’ll be exactly where you want to be.”

Doug Griffiths’ 13 Ways framework and his advice on strategic planning and community development offer a powerful, practical lens for communities aiming to build a better future.

His core message is simple, understand who you are, stop sabotaging your own efforts, and commit to long-term thinking.

In regional Western Australia, where many towns face similar crossroads, these lessons could go some way to making a difference.

From The Urbanist #2 2025