King County Executive Kurt Triplett launched an initiative in May called "Walking the Talk" to give his employees the chance to meet with him and get "questions answered, decisions made or ... introduce a subject for later follow-up" while helping Triplett "work off the weight" he gained during his six months as temporary county executive. Basically, employees are invited to line up to walk with Triplett to discuss any issues they might have related to county business; once an employee's issue is resolved, they have to drop to the back of the line.

I can't really do the concept justice, so here's the (edited, but still TMI) email Triplett sent county employees:

Folks – The extreme fun that I had in getting the Executive job for the next six months added about 5 pounds, mostly due to chocolate and stress eating.  I have decided to work off the weight in a way that I hope will be healthy and also keep decisions flowing as we tackle our ambitious agenda through November.  Therefore, I am introducing a new concept to the Executive calendar.

I am calling it “Walking the Talk.” There are two key elements to this, the walking and the talking

The walking part is straightforward. I am going to attempt a 30 minute walk every day, hopefully close to lunch time.  I will stroll away from the building for 15 minutes and then return.

The talking part is where it begins to get complicated.  My goal is to make the walk open to the residents of the 8^th floor of Chinook.  It will be a walking “drop-in” time.  Any one who wants to accompany me on the walk can do so. But this will be designed to be a bit of a working session.  It is a not intended to be a social stroll for the office, though it will be sociable.  So come only if you need questions answered, decisions made or want to introduce a subject for later follow-up.

... As we walk you can bring up your issue.  Once your issue is settled, you can drop back and keep walking or peel off and get lunch or a latte.  I will then take up the next issue from the next person. ...

I will be relying on your own discretion to make sure the items are worthy of the “walk and talk.”  I will also be relying on each of you to be courteous to your fellow walkers and limit your time.

This will be a grand, iterative experiment.  If it needs tweaking or adjusting, we will do so.

Yours in good health and good communication,

Kurt

Triplett's spokeswoman Natasha Jones says the "Walking the Talk" concept is "pretty straightforward— he’s busy, and we have a lot of work to do, and he wanted to fit in some time for exercise and still get work done. It gives us a chance to buttonhole a little bit of time with him without having to get a slot on his calendar." Jones says that although the number of walkers has dropped off slightly, during the summer, "we'd sometimes have five or six people lined up to talk to him."