Chess Not Checkers
Chess Not Checkers
Podcast Description
Welcome to Chess Not Checkers, the podcast that teaches you how to play the long game in both business and life. Hosted by Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien, we dive deep into strategic thinking, exploring how the best minds think several steps ahead. Each episode features guests from a variety of fields — real estate, business, health, wealth, and more — who share their stories and the unique mindset that’s propelled their success. Whether you’re building, growing, or establishing your business, this show offers valuable insights to help you think smarter and act with purpose.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on strategic thinking, entrepreneurship, and personal growth, with episodes exploring topics such as business adaptation, work-life balance, and long-term planning. Examples include discussions on the entrepreneurial mindset with guests from various industries, including real estate and digital marketing, offering lessons from their unique journeys.
Welcome to Chess Not Checkers, the podcast that teaches you how to play the long game in both business and life. Hosted by Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien, we dive deep into strategic thinking, exploring how the best minds think several steps ahead. Each episode features guests from a variety of fields — real estate, business, health, wealth, and more — who share their stories and the unique mindset that’s propelled their success. Whether you’re building, growing, or establishing your business, this show offers valuable insights to help you think smarter and act with purpose.
In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Gavin Cooley, president of the Spokane Business Association and the city's former longtime CFO, for an honest conversation about homelessness, addiction, and the future of Spokane.
Gavin shares what cities like Houston and Boise have figured out: that this is not mainly a funding problem but a collaboration problem, and that saving lives and keeping streets clear are not opposing goals. The three of them get into the ”one-third rule,” why silos and turf wars stall progress, the difference strong leadership makes, and the harder human questions of indifference, compassion, and accountability. Through it all runs a stubborn hope that Spokane could become the comeback story other cities study.
00:00 Welcome, Gavin Cooley
00:47 Eight Kids, Fifteen Grandkids, and Growing Up in Spokane
03:33 The Bridge Over the Falls That Never Happened
07:21 From City CFO to Studying Homelessness
08:20 What Houston Got Right
11:40 Getting Everyone Under One Umbrella
15:45 Trying to Bring the Houston Model to Spokane
19:55 Why It's Not a Funding Problem
21:21 Condon's Collaborative Approach
22:20 When Fentanyl Changed Everything
28:30 Why the Problem Persists
31:20 The False Dichotomy of Compassion vs. Accountability
36:50 San Francisco's One-Year Turnaround
40:20 On-Street Patrol and the One-Third Rule
43:45 What a Real Response Would Look Like
50:00 Leadership, Admitting You're Wrong, and the Hard Pivot
55:15 Spokane Could Be the Comeback Story
58:30 Why Spokane Is More Resilient Than You'd Think
01:03:00 The Danger of Normalizing It
01:09:25 This Is Who Spokane Really Is
01:14:00 When There's a Clear Way to Help, Spokane Shows Up
01:18:55 Final Thoughts
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