In a recent opinion piece, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman details American cities and communities that are thriving despite the current challenges of national politics. He focuses on Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where a bipartisan coalition of civic-minded community members has revitalized the once struggling downtown.

Lancaster’s leaders realized the only way to address the city’s decline was to bring together parties from the business, education, non-profit, and public sectors to collaborate, even if it meant compromise. Friedman argues Lancaster is just one example of these coalitions that are cropping up across America and the globe. What unites them, he writes, is a “what-works attitude” and relationships that prioritize the setting aside of silos.

In diabetes, we need more of that “what-works attitude.” We should focus on what makes health-promoting programs and communities successful as much as –  if not more than – we focus on the what ails us.

We’ve done the work to identify these programs in The Anthology of Bright Spots. They include prevention, workplace wellness,  and healthcare teams of the future. These are all programs that can teach us what’s working, and all are sufficiently developed that they can benefit from new investment and continue to grow.

Diabetes, prediabetes, and obesity are not unsolvable problems. It’s possible for us to address them and make a real difference. We believe that leveraging our successes will make our nation healthier, and that everyone – not just national leaders or city officials – has a role to play. As we recently heard from Dr. Faith Foreman, the assistant director of the Houston Health Department, a core component of advancing systems-level change is “leading when you are not in charge.” What can you do at your organization and in your life to help people become healthier? What examples can you learn from and support? Let us know!