Why solving the trust problem is at the heart of our GX mission

We will now commence with the public's Airing of Grievances

This month Gallup released the results of a national survey asking people “What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?” The resulting airing-of-grievances from the public is sobering for those of us working in government.

The biggest problem? It’s not war in Israel, war in Ukraine, or inflation. It isn’t global climate change or homelessness or the high cost of bad healthcare.

Bottom Line: Americans deeply distrust government and elected leaders. They are so frustrated we beat out every other concern.

Here are the top 7 concerns shared by survey respondents:

And here’s the source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/323380/public-opinion-on-the-most-important-problem-facing-the-us/

GX can repair some of the damage

Our mission at the GX Foundry is, in large part, to fix the trust problem identified by Gallup’s survey respondents. Here’s the way we put it:

We forge digital experiences to build trust in Franklin County

Of course, we can’t make people trust leaders or government directly. But by building better digital experiences—something our residents have come to expect in all aspects of their lives—we can earn back at least some trust. Surveys on this topic have trended downward for years. And as the private sector has surged ahead into the digital present, we’ve stuck with our tried-and-true (or maybe TIRED-and true) paper forms, physical mail, poorly-digitized e-paper forms, standing in line, phone calls, and worse.

This leads the public to think government doesn’t get it, doesn’t care, or both. And trust erodes.

But without that stable core of trust, government can’t provide vital services. Without trust, government is starved of resources, further worsening the GX situation. As Jennifer Pahlka puts it in Recoding America:

Even the process of getting a construction permit, registering a vehicle, or just filing taxes can erode faith in our system of government. We can’t afford this downward spiral of poor service leading to alienation and decreased political participation, which in turn leads to poorer service. The implementation crisis threatens our democracy.

So we’re setting the Festivus pole aside, and the only feat of strength we’ll demonstrate in 2024 is killing off bad experiences, both for our colleagues working inside local government, and for the publics they serve.