Fellow King County employees:

As Deputy Chief Operating Officer – and an employee of King County for almost 25 years, much of it in risk management – I am proud of the changes that have taken place in our workplace. We have become more of a learning culture, treating problems as opportunities to learn, grow, and improve. We have also become more comfortable with taking measured risks to better meet the needs of all our residents.

These changes are important to consider as we take a closer look at one of our Executive Branch values, “We solve problems” and continue our journey toward our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. Our region is facing a combination of formidable challenges, including homelessness, gun violence, climate change, and the continuing impact of racial and social injustice. To effectively address these and other issues, we have to think differently about problems and solutions, challenge the status quo, and take the right risks to reach better outcomes.

This effort will take courage, ingenuity, accountability – and a willingness to try new and innovative approaches supported by data, science, and thoughtful analysis. It also requires listening to residents directly and creating solutions alongside them, which we’ve been doing more frequently.

As public servants, solving problems is part of our job no matter where or at what level we work in the organization. We need everyone’s insight, analysis, and creative thinking. We know that employees who are closest to a problem often have the best ideas about how to solve it – whether that problem impacts our community or our workplace.

In this short video, King County employees share what the value “We solve problems” means to them. Please take a moment to watch it and think about how you can apply this value and the behaviors to your work.

Solving problems isn’t just an organizational core value. For many of us, it’s why we choose to work at King County – to make things better for our community and for future generations. Thank you for the part you play in that effort.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hills
Deputy Chief Operating Officer
King County Executive Office