By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
What Makes Ronnie Roll: Crucial Accountability — “Never Grow A Wishbone Where Your Backbone Ought To Be”
As we met during our usual time, two City of Athens employees and graduates of the Crucial Conversations/Crucial Accountability workshop joined us: Erin Tidwell and Paige Parker. Erin is our City Planner for Athens and holds a degree from Alabama in geography with a concentration in urban, regional and environmental planning. Her master’s is from Alabama A & M, and is in urban and regional planning, housing and community development. Erin is originally from Rogersville. Paige graduated from Athens High School, and was one of the first to be a part of the Mayor’s Youth Commission. Paige graduated magna cum laude from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, and holds a Master’s of Engineering in Sustainable Smart Cities from UAB. She is the Senior Planner for the City of Athens.
Recently, Erin and Paige conducted a survey in Athens with regard to the 2040 Vision Zero campaign, which is a nationwide initiative to eliminate traffic deaths. The survey was the Safe Streets for All, and Erin told me, “We had close to 1400 responses to the survey, which is more than Memphis.” Paige added, “Our people care, and this document is the first step.” The point of the survey is to first “identify concerns and countermeasures,” and then “prioritize data and feedback.” The project will focus from Cambridge Lane to Lindsay Lane and Brownsferry. “Our people show up,” said Mayor Ronnie, and the planners noted that the average response to this survey is between 400 and 600.
Much is in the works as far as planning and preparation for the increase in traffic as we grow explosively. I chuckled inside as I thought about what a good idea it was that these two capable women had been through the trainings they have just received regarding difficult conversations and crucial accountability. They both mentioned that they had enjoyed the workshop.
With regard to the book, Mayor Ronnie keyed off an insert from chapter seven in Crucial Accountability which is entitled, “Agree On A Plan And Follow Up.” The insert is a quote by Clementine Paddleford, and it says, “Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” The focus of the chapter is “How to Gain Commitment and Move to Action.” I had to admit, I was getting a chance to discover that I had several “wishbones” and “backbones” in the wrong location, and this book is excellent at showing how just a few communication “tweaks” can make a huge difference.
For example, most of us use the term ASAP regularly and never think that “as soon as possible” means different things to different people, and can end up functioning as a “do-it-yourself-ulcer kit.” So does “I need it yesterday.” Playful term, but not specific. The plan that gets it done is described first as:
· Who
· does what
· by when
· Follow up
The follow-up is where the communication skills and commitment are brought to bear, and we talked about how we need that in every part of our lives as Americans and Athenians. So, we prayed about that and more, and then, once again it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
June 20, 2025
