What you’ll get in this episode of Energy Thinks

This week, I sit down with Jonathan Smith, founder and principal of Mobilis Works, an advisory practice to the Problem Solvers on policy innovation, economic competitiveness, and civic capacity, for one of the most thoughtful conversations I’ve had about what it actually takes to move from policy ideas to real-world implementation.

Jonathan has spent his career at the intersection of Congress, state government, economic development, workforce strategy, and coalition building. And this conversation gets into one of the questions I’ve been obsessing over lately: How do we help the Problem Solvers actually solve problems?

In this episode, we discuss:

* Why on-the-ground implementation is the most important part of the policy process

* How communities became stuck chasing grants instead of building long-term investment readiness

* What project developers, policymakers, and industry leaders misunderstand about community buy-in

* Why people support projects when they believe they are helping design their community’s future

* Why opposition is not a “facts” problem but an agency problem

Why Jonathan Smith?

Jonathan Smith has spent his career betwixt and between ambitious policy ideas and on-the-ground reality. He most recently led Michigan’s effort to help communities, workers and businesses adapt to changes in the auto and energy sectors.

What struck me most about Jonathan is that he doesn’t talk about this abstract space in abstract terms. He focuses on the mechanics of getting things done: building trust, developing local capacity, understanding trade-offs, and creating conditions where communities can shape their own future instead of simply reacting to someone else’s plans.

Some of Jonathan’s insights

On the key ingredient to successful policy implementation: “You have to be grounded in reality. This has to work for the people it’s supposed to work for. You can’t get bogged down in the ideology or the idealistic version of it. What matters is whether there’s real impact and real outcomes.”

On getting communities to yes: “All communities really have right now is the ability to say no. But if you give them the ability to design their own future, you will see a huge difference in the way these projects land. If we can build more proactivity at the community level, now the community is choosing what projects to bring in rather than the other way around.”

On the secret sauce to coalition building: “You can solve lots of different problems with a single solution. The key is asking: Am I actually solving your problem with this?”

On what the Problem Solver and project developer must understand: “Most people don’t have super-strong feelings about a lot of this policy stuff. What they care about is: Do they live in a community they feel safe in? Are they happy with their neighbors and their day-to-day lives? Do they have a job that doesn’t just provide a paycheck, but provides dignity and a sense of accomplishment? We have to think about policy from their point of view—because if people see it as prioritizing somebody else’s agenda over theirs, they don’t see themselves in it. You’re talking past people.”

Bonus content!

Watch the episode on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Substack.

My most recent Both True, “Arc of Outrage,” on why communities do not experience infrastructure fights as technical disputes alone.

My recent podcast episodes “Jim Kerr on Your Generational Opportunity,” “Energy Abundance Is Non-Negotiable. Responsibility Is, Too.,” and “Climate Plans Get Punched in the Face,” with California PUC Commissioner Matt Baker.

Order your copy of The Myth and The Moment: From Polarization to Progress in the New Energy Landscape.

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To relationships forged in the fire,Tisha

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