As you look to increase your effectiveness, the questions below may help in guaging your readiness. The questions present eight categories for improving the performance of cross-boundary preparation and response. The questions that follow each idea ask you to estimate how your community views them along the dimensions of:

• Involvement – how active is your community now in the pursuit of this activity?
• Value – how much value does your community find in this activity?
• Confusion – how well does your community understand this activity in order to use it? 
• Conflict – how much disagreement is there that prevents your community from moving forward in this activity?

You can use these questions to spur dialogue among your key executives, staff and partners.  

1. Technology Assessment – How well does your region understand what is ripe for application in the preparation and response of disasters, and does your region have a plan for incubating and adopting emerging models and technologies?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
2. Community Readiness and Assessment – How able is your community to assess your organization’s and community’s readiness for innovation and change across enterprises and within your political environment?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
3. Strategic Risk Assessment – Is your community knowledgeable about and prepared to balance the full and real risks and rewards for moving forward a cross-boundary initiative such as shared public/private preparation and response?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
4. Communications and Negotiations – Is your community leadership ready and able to gain support for public/private preparation and response and is the community leadership ready and able to influence the environment to agree upon goals and priorities?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
5. Financing – Is your community developing plans to address the short and long-term budgeting and financial needs that will enable cross-boundary preparation and response models?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
6. Standards – Is your community ready to develop new standards and metrics for the operations and the technologies that underpin preparation and response and are you ready to enforce these new capabilities to obtain a new level of performance?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)

7. New Institutions – Does your community have a mechanism for creating and sustaining public/private initiatives and behavior for preparation and response through the development of new structures and/or organizational models? 
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5)
8. Adaptive Leadership – Is your community leadership ready and able to mobilize groups and organizations for the innovation and change that must take place in order to partner in cross-boundary and public/private preparation and response efforts?
   1. Involvement (1 – 5)
   2. Value (1 – 5)
   3. Confusion (1 – 5)
   4. Conflict (1 – 5