The really important things usually begin silently, almost invisibly. No thunderclap, just a faint stirring in the wind.

I'm coming to the conclusion that something truly important is happening in Michigan now. As we face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, there are a few little groups here and there that are beginning to craft a serious, far-reaching policy agenda to help us face what will surely be a tough transition.

The toughness can't be avoided. But if these pioneers of Michigan's future succeed, they may lay the groundwork for the birth of a more prosperous state and society in the years ahead.

These groups have arisen separately, almost spontaneously, in reaction to our troubles. They don't all have identical agendas.

But all of them are concerned that up to now, intelligent, mature response from the state's political leadership has been sadly lacking.

Encouragingly, these groups are talking to one another to make sure they don't get their feet tangled up or wind up in draining turf battles. I attended a meeting last week, for example, in which three emerging groups working in southeastern Michigan agreed to share thinking and to collaborate:

*  Detroit Renaissance, headed by Doug Rothwell, the highly respected former CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Rothwell has assembled a steering committee of the region's highest-powered leaders. They will be working to determine the area's economic strengths and weaknesses and identify some of the best practices in other regions, both domestic and global.

When they've done that, they will select a few primary target areas that differentiate the Detroit region from other communities -- and see what they can do.

*  The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, long a sane force within the business community, is launching a similar program. This one, "Design Regional Detroit," is the brainchild of longtime chamber head Dick Blouse, and is being developed under the leadership of Edsel Ford. Design Regional Detroit is focusing on the 10 counties surrounding the city to "create and execute a regional plan that will lead to improved economic prosperity and quality of life in southeastern Michigan."

*  The United Way had been a scattering of local chapters with a combined board membership of 150. Now, those have been consolidated into the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, with a manageable board of 30 community leaders.

Headed by CEO Michael Brennan, the United Way completed this spring a massive Community Call To Action Survey. Organizers found it received a stunning response rate of more than 6,250 people, the highest response of any such survey in Michigan history.

After studying the responses, the United Way's goal: To focus on social services in a way similar to the approach to economic development taken by Detroit Renaissance and the Detroit Chamber.

Other groups are taking up the issue as well:

*  One is Michigan Future Inc., headed by Lou Glazer, one of the smartest, most persuasive policy gurus in the state. Michigan Future has been assembling data demonstrating that states which support what Glazer calls a "knowledge economy" -- Massachusetts and California are primary examples -- are those that prosper, regardless of tax rates. "Talent trumps everything," says Glazer, who argues that regions that attract and retain innovators, entrepreneurs and researchers are those which will prosper.

*  Also based in Ann Arbor is an effort led by John Austin and former University of Michigan President Jim Duderstadt that is working on an economic strategy for the entire Great Lakes region.

Austin was the chief staffer for the Cherry Commission, possibly Gov. Jennifer Granholm's most ambitious policy initiative. It produced a report in 2004 that concluded that Michigan needed to double the number of college graduates within a decade if the state hoped to compete successfully in a rapidly globalizing economy.

Supported by the Brookings Institution, the Austin-Duderstadt effort is aimed at providing a regional context into which more local strategic efforts can work.

*  Also involved is The Center for Michigan, a think-and-do tank that I founded this year.

The Center's mission is to help create the kind of state in which our children and grandchildren can prosper and want to live. We aim to do that by setting forth far-reaching, broadly acceptable policy proposals for the economy and attacking what some have called the "structural sclerosis" of the political system, legislative term limits for example. The Center has just hired longtime journalist John Bebow as executive director.

All these groups have things in common. They are all vitally interested in assisting fundamental change in Michigan.

Approvingly, they cite former General Motors Corp. CEO Roger Smith's comment that, "If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll keep getting what we've always got."

And they all know that "what we've always got" doesn't work anymore. All these groups know better than to let the politicians try and manage the restructuring effort by themselves.

As one participant at last week's meeting said to general approval, "The last thing we want to do is let the Lansing crowd grab this."

And all these groups recognize that unless we take serious action now, Michigan will be destined for a long, sad and painful decline. Will anything substantial come out of all this so-far quiet stirring? You never know for sure, but my gut tells me that there's something blowin' in the wind. Although the journey may be many miles, these folks are taking those significant first steps.

Those interested in learning more about The Center for Michigan should visit the Web site at www.thecenterformichigan.net. Phil Power is a longtime observer of politics, economics and education issues in Michigan. He would be pleased to hear from readers at ppower@hcnnet.com.