We Have Always Done It That Way

Associations have long built their value to members on creating information products. Conferences, magazines, journals, newsletters and web sites all have been traditional vehicles for creating and providing information and knowledge to members that couldn’t be had elsewhere.

Then the Web came along. Suddenly, we all have access to vast collections of information. However, this has brought a new challenge: finding the valuable stuff in that massive pile of information. Your association can continue to provide value in an information rich economy by developing the capacity to assist your members in sifting through it. Invest in understanding how search technology works and how it could be tailored for your members. Think like an information concierge rather than a publisher.

Make helping your members to find critical information and knowledge a key part of your value, wether or not you published that information in the first place.

Tags: Strategy, Technology, Innovation, We've Always Done It That Way by David
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Selling digital downloads is becoming increasingly easy to do, yet many associations have yet to explore how it could supplement their publishing activities. Selling digital products not only saves production and shipping costs, it can also allow your association to respond more rapidly to hot issues in your field by streamlining the production process.

Creating a traditional paper book can literally take years, especially for an association that uses a heavily committee driven process. These books are often horribly out of date once they are finally published, which lessens their value and hurts sales.

Publishing short digital works, such as a PDF, can enable your association to get content out faster so that it is still topically fresh. For example, O’Reilly Publishing has just launched a series of PDF “Ëœbooks’ that are focused on specific topics and are very short in length. They have pared down the editing processes to be as fast as possible and use fewer resources.

Covering hot topics immediately with digital products will enable your association to be more relevant to your members most pressing issues, concerns and opportunities.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by David
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Here’s a thought..

Software companies create releases for a wide range of reasons. But one of those is to stay ahead of the competition. What if we started to think about membership benefits much like software upgrades? For example, the strategy would be to come up with membership benefit upgrade releases each quarter.

This would require three things. (1) A listing of each of the current member benefits, (2) An ongoing assessment of how each of these benefits are utilized (quantitative) and viewed (qualitative) by members, (3) Gathering of new benefits that members would like.

Now keep in mind that each quarter some of these upgrades may be “minor” and others may be “major”.

Here’s just one brainstorm on the possibilities.

Release 1.0 - the list of benefits your organization currently offers now and a clear communication campaign to gather data on these benefits and new ones that members want.

Release 1.1 - after a quarterly analysis - you drop a few of the non-performing benefits and add a couple of moderate benefits.

Release 1.2 - You drop a few more of the least performing benefits and add a couple of great new ones.

Release 1.3 - You continue to drop the least performing benefits and add a significant new benefit. (Now it’s time for a member to think about renewing.)

Release 1.4 - it’s been a year - you restate the benefits added to date, add another new benefit or two.

Release 2.0 - Create your new list of benefits for the year, communicate what’s coming in the next “release”, drop a few, add a few…

Very quickly your organization will really be in-tune with your membership. Old and unused programs and services will be dropped and new ones will take their place. Good programs that simply need a tune up are updated and scheduled for “release”.

The best part is that the decisions are business related, not personal or worst of all, “Because We’ve Always Done It That Way”.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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Here are some thoughts to ponder.

Why would anyone over 50 choose to join an organization if all of the people on the Board were under 40 and white women?

What would you think if there was one man on the Board?
What if one of the women was a minority?
What if one of the Board members was over 65?

Why would anyone under 40 choose to join an organization if all of the people on the Board were over 50 and primarily white males?

What would you think if there was one woman on the Board?
What if one of the men was a minority?
What if one of the Board members was under 25?

A few editorial comments…

I’d argue that any Board consisting of women under 40 would never be that homogeneous to begin with - and I can say that because I’m on one. I’d also say that folks from GenX have a much broader sense of community and value the diverse experiences across age, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. We look at that as a strength.

I can also tell you that I have consciously looked at the makeup of corporate Boards whose companies sell products and services to my business. I make buying choices based on this. In this day and age, if your organization is not walking the talk and diversifying the Board to the fullest extent possible, why should I join? Clearly your organization doesn’t get it.

So the next time you want to complain about not being able to attract “younger” folks to your organization, take a look at your Board. Do they truly reflect your membership?

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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If you are responsible for learning/education/professional development/training/communications/PR and have not explored the world of RSS, you really need to.

Check out www.feeddemon.com or any of the other common RSS services (Google “RSS Feeds”to find a listing). You’ll quickly see how powerful this tool is. The beauty of it is that it is a user defined tool, meaning the user determines what sites (and specific sections/pages) are “fed” into the reader.

It is a great way to stay on top of blogs and websites of interest to you. You categorize them in a way that makes sense to you. For example, one of my categories is “Association Blogs”. There I have a listing of about 16 or so blogs from a wide range of authors. I have another category called “eLearning Blogs” where I have about 25 blogs and websites that I track (that have RSS feeds). What’s great is that there is a “newspaper” feature that pulls the headlines from the entire category of blogs (all 25 for example) onto one page so I can quickly scan through titles and see what’s being talked about.

Why couldn’t you help facilitate something similar for your members?
How about creating a web page that simply lists the RSS feeds from your industry/profession? Your organization now becomes the knowledge center for your industry or profession and you don’t have to offer all of the content.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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For the past eight years I have had an “intesting” time observing my husband’s workplace - a news organization. The organization has been a part of the Gallup organization’s Q12 study (see www.marcusbuckingham.com) and has undergone 3 signficant reorganizations in eight years. Let’s just say that the organization’s leadership is wrought with individuals who are weak managers, but the reorgs continue.

So what can we learn from this brief profile? A few key lessons.

(1) Just because you are part of, volunteer for, or pay for a management analysis of your organization does not mean that you have good managers.

(2) If you are going to subject your employees to an organizational analysis, you’d better be ready to make changes because these studies often uncover the good, bad, and ugly.

(3) If you are leading an organization through an analysis and the reporting mechanisms uncover issues to your staff, and you choose not to make significant changes in weak areas, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage to your employees.

(4) Not all people make good managers. Just because someone has been around a while in a functional area and done well there does not mean that they will make a good manager.

(5) Reorganizations do not fix disfunction. If you have bad managers, they are not going to get better by being moved to other divisions. They are just going to make more employees unhappy.

(6) Find valuable work for those with tenure but do not assume they want to be/have the ability to be a good manager.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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It seems that you can’t go a day without reading about an organization that has had sensitive data about their customers comprised via an insecure network or stolen computer equipment. In almost all cases, these companies, government agencies and non-profit organizations had policies in place to prevent this data theft. However, the weak link, as always, was poorly trained or reckless staff who exposed the data to theft.

One thing associations can do is to stop asking for Social Security Numbers from their members. Many groups have used this ID number as a way to track applicants for certification and other programs. In the pre-Internet days, this created little risk. However in today’s world the risk of this data being stolen is much higher and the potential backlash from members if you lose their data is huge.

Associations should come up with some other way of uniquely identifying their members and abandon SSNs. Purge them from your database if you already have them. The risk is too great and earning back the trust of your members after a data incident will take too long. Protect yourselves and your members by getting rid of SSNs in your databases.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by David
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“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” (Leonardo da Vinci)

We need to make our organizations easier, clearer and simpler for everyone involved. We need to consistently, carefully and firmly identify everything we do that isn’t fundamental to advancing the larger purposes of our existence and get rid of those things as quickly as possible. This is what I mean by “radical simplicity.” In today’s world, less is not only more, much less is much more.

In recent months, I have come to view radical simplicity as a major strategic opportunity for associations that touches all aspects of what we do from governance to products and services to volunteer engagement. In far too many organizations in our community, the complexity we create ourselves interferes with our ability to achieve what we say we care about most, including supporting learning, building vibrant communities and delivering value to those we serve. We live in a complicated world to be sure, and there isn’t much we’re going to do to change that, except to the extent we are able to change both our organizations and ourselves.

“As simple as possible, but no simpler.” (Albert Einstein)

By suggesting we make radical simplicity a priority, I do not mean to imply we should “dumb down” our organizations. On the contrary, our organizations should be the hottest of hothouses, in which we plant the seeds of many new innovations, nurture them and allow them to grow in all kinds of surprising and unexpected directions. There is an important difference between the organic evolution of complexity in our thinking and the creation of synthetic complexity that so often occurs in our organizations. The former is a natural cycle of growth and change that systematically builds our capacity, while the latter involves the unnatural and unnecessary introduction of hierarchical and bureaucratic constraints into places and spaces where, if we took the initiative to cultivate them, trust, reciprocity and the capacity for self-organization could do the job quite well.

Radical simplicity isn’t about avoiding complexity altogether. It is about creating a markedly more intuitive and straightforward interface between our organizations and our members that enables us to make sense of the complexity we need and drastically reduces (if not eliminates altogether) the complexity we don’t.

“What is the simplest thing that could possibly work?” (Ward Cunningham, inventor of the wiki.)

On a very practical level, embracing radical simplicity in our work might make the difference between robust growth and anemic performance in key metrics. At the very minimum, a radically simpler organization should make for happier and more satisfied staff and members. For me, a focus on radical simplicity is itself a form of genuine innovation, and one that definitely can make a meaningful impact along multiple dimensions quickly.

To set your organization down the path of radical simplicity, consider raising the following five questions for discussion:

* What factors create complexity in your association’s work?
* How much of the complexity in your association is self-inflicted?
* How do “tried-and-true” solutions actually increase complexity in your organization?
* Why does your association have difficulty letting go of just about anything?
* What are the elements of a new business model that will allow your association to fully embrace radical simplicity?

To put your strategic thinking into action, consider one final inquiry: what three things about your association can you radically simplify in the next three months? If you can initiate these critical conversations, you will go a long way toward creating the right conditions for enduring success in your association.

Tags: Membership, Technology, Strategy, Professional Development, Innovation, Staff Issues, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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When your organization has no discernible strategy, what can you do? Make up your own!

Don’t let a lack of strategic direction or guidance from your leadership stop you. If you have been on staff for much time you have a good idea of where the organization is going in the short term, even if your leadership is not capable of expressing it. Identify a few goals for your organization, unit or self based on what you know about the association. This shouldn’t be hard to do. Next, identify 3 things you can do this week to move along towards achieving those goals. Then do them. Pretty simple, huh?

If you continue to do three things each week for those goals, you will be surprised how much progress you will make without relying on leadership from above (by the way, you are leading when you do this, whether you realize it or not!). Taking some focused action in the short term is almost always better than freezing like a deer in the headlights. Get out there and do three things!

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by David
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I’m pretty sure I don’t need to write too much here, but in case you’re wondering why, here are my three simple, one-sentence answers:

1. It can’t be done–can you think of an organization of any kind that does “all things” equally well?
2. It shouldn’t be done–can you think of a good reason to pursue a strategy that sets up everyone in the organization for frustration and failure?
3. It doesn’t work anyway–can you think of a good reason why anyone would want to be member of an association that doesn’t get the first two?

Instead of being everything to everyone, consider being a single thing for most people, and let the others figure out where and how they want to play. I can’t tell you what that “thing” is, because it is going to be different for every organization. There are no ready-made answers. Figuring out what your association’s one thing should be is the whole point of strategy, but we tend to overlook this basic fact while we’re busy administering the thousand-and-one details contained in our multi-year, multi-page, multi-goal, multi-objective, multi-tactic and largely non-strategic strategic plans.

Why are we making it so hard, when we could be making it easier on ourselves and our members? Give up the illusion that being all things to all people is either desirable or achievable, and, instead, focus on the genuine strategic opportunities that will emerge as soon as you begin looking at the world in a new way.

Tags: Membership, Technology, Strategy, Professional Development, Innovation, Staff Issues, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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One thing that any organization should curtail are memos to all staff that are in response to one person violating a policy or procedure.

I am sure you have recently encountered, if not authored, one of these beastly things. Bashing all staff about the dress code, length of lunch break, or other policy violation when the issue is in response to the acts of a single person is cowardice, plain and simple. Have frank conversations with staff members who are out of line. If you can’t bring yourself to speak with them individually and provide appropriate feedback, at least avoid the temptation to memo the whole staff.

These type of memos to all hurt employee morale and are usually quite transparent to staff as to who they are really about. Either have the courage to actually manage your individual staff or the wisdom to not slam your entire office over an individual’s problems.

Tags: Leadership, Staff Issues, We've Always Done It That Way by David
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All units in your association should be focused on achieving your overall outcomes. I don’t care what they do, everyone should be talking about how to achieve them.

Let’s illustrate this with an example: growing annual meeting attendance by 20 percent. What could HR do to contribute to this outcome? Re-writing the employee handbook certainly doesn’t. But what if HR began talking with the meetings department and helped them to tailor their position descriptions to better focus on marketing the conference? What if they helped the VP of Meetings to design and implement effective incentives programs for growing meeting attendance? What if they proactively searched out position candidates who had great experiene in growing meeting attendance? You get the idea.

Of course, this requires identifying your outcomes in the first place. That is where your senior executives need to put their attention: identifying the organization’s outcomes and then getting everyone talking about how they can contribute to achieving them.

Tags: Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by David
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Hey - all of your members are subject matter experts. So why are we still offering conference sessions where there is a sage on the stage? And how is it that reprinting PowerPoint slides 2, 3, or 6 to a page is considered ok as a handout? How much great information is lost during a session because there is no way to collect useful tips, tricks, and resources that are in the heads of participants, let alone the “speaker”?

Enter, the wiki!

Learning guru, Elliott Masie’s Learning2006 conference has done a great job pushing the subject matter responsibilities out to the conference participants. He also has big names participating (and helping to draw in attendees).

The site is www.learning2006.com. Why are we so big on this conference?

(1) Because it is a for-profit entity successfully competing (and we would argue winning) the audience in the education technology conference space.
(2) Because it is highly experimental, and thus, successful
(3) Because it provides huge value to attendees.

What’s more, they already have 714 people registered and there are onlyl a handful of thought leaders announced on the conference’s home page. They haven’t even announced the session topics!

Last year we had about 10 association executives at the conference. Besides learning a lot about education technology from colleagues outside of the association space, the conference is a great case study in, well, conferencing - especially from a marketing perspective.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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What would happen if there was a dedicated person within your membership department whose entire focus was to create custom membership packages for your members and prospects?

Custom memberships? No way? Read on.

Let’s take a look at package membership categories and what these offer your prospective members. ASAE/The Center have been offering Circle Club memberships for several years now. They offer membership packages at various price points depending on how many staff members need to participate. The package includes annual dues for a number of people PLUS registation for Annual or Great Ideas, all of the virtual seminars, other education programs offered through CenterU. It is really easy to look at the programming calendar and realize that the minimum (bronze) level membership of $2,000 is a great deal if you participate in a fair number of CenterU programs.

The eLearning Guild just instituted similar types of membership categories in that based on what you want access to depends on what you pay. They have four membership categories ranging from free to $1,695 per year. Each gives you progressively more access to online resources and educational program.

Both of these programs are a great step in the right direction. But what if, at the time of the renewal, your membership director analyzes the member’s activity for the year and crafts the foundation for a customized membership. Then calls the member to consult with them on their needs for the coming year, finalizes a custom package based on member feedback and renews that member for the coming year? And what if that “customization” provides at 20% or greater increase in dues revenue?

I would argue that more often than not three things will happen in this process. (1) your membership director will begin to see membership benefit trends, (2) members appreciate and highly value the personal attention, and (3) members begin to take advantage of a wider range of programs and services by the association.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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You cannot assume that staff members know, understand, or care about the financial information and metrics used by your organization. All too often individuals are promoted to positions with little knowledge of basic financial terminology or, more importantly, what it means for their work.

Why is financial acumen important to everyone in the organization? You may find that by providing some basic training with regards to financials, your staff, and subsequently the organization, may perform better. People can feel a better sense of ownership when they understand and can be held accountable to the bottom line for a program, campaign, etc.

Investing in the financial education of your staff at all levels can help ensure better financial success. It also provides a great accountability tool for all staff members and gives them a greater sense of value to the organization.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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There has been so much discussion in popular business publications about the importance of creating a “dashboard”. A dashboard is a tool that senior executives use to measure performance or results of just about any business-related information you need to know. As the Chief Executive of an association or non-profit, organizational dashboards can provide you with critical information that can be used to make good business decisions for the association.

I am in the process of creating a dashboard for my organization right now. The process is eye opening and amazingly useful. On a bi-weekly basis I know exactly where I stand on a range of issues and feel like I have a much better way of tracking new initiatives within the organization.

Here are some questions to get you started.

What items should be put on the dashboard? Great question. This is personal to each individual/organization. Initially I looked for articles and/or books on the subject but I quickly abandoned this because, as a small business owner, I don’t have the same “metrics” that big companies may have.

What performance measures do you have and what are the metrics? (financial goals, program measurements, prospective members, reserve amounts, etc.) Where ever you need to see change is where you may want to start. Add these items to a “change” section of the dashboard. Create a “reality check” and a “target” for each of these items and list where you are today (reality check) and where you want to be.

What items do you need to know about on a regular basis to make sound business decisions for your organization? Add these items to a “maintenance” section of the dashboard. Some ideas: membership numbers in key categories, the status of major GR issues, status of an IT implementation.

Who should be involved in creating and upating the dashboard? Maybe it is you, maybe it is the senior management team, maybe it is the entire staff. It’s your call, but regardless make sure that the dashboard is useful to you as a management tool. Keep in mind the final use of the tool.

Why is this important? Too many association executives do not think entrepreneurally about their organization. The creation of the dashboard allows you to get a great snapshot of exactly what you need to know, on a regular basis, in one place. It provides a great reality check on where you are and where you are headed.

Tags: Strategy, Innovation, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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Shocker that a blogger writes about the benefits of blogging. But let’s take another look at this tool and some of the great personal benefits that blogging may have for you as an association executive.

How familiar does any of this sound? We travel; we work from an office; we work from home; we are busy managing work and all that life has outside of work; we work insane hours….
We spend a huge amount of time working in our “business” but much less time on our business.

We know that working ON the business is where growth happens. What are you doing to help capture your pearls of wisdom/late night thoughts/personal great ideas?

Here is one idea…

Thought #1: Create a personal blog as a simple, no-cost way to capture your ideas.
Thought #2: Not all blogs have to be public. Create a blog using a free tool like www.blogger.com and keep it private (for now).
Thought #3: Use the blog like an online diary. Play, experiment, dream, think — just get it all out of your head and into a blog posting.
Thought #4: The beauty of a blog posting is that you have the ability to edit, add to it, refine it, as links to resources, etc. You can create your own categories for topics as they make sense for you.
Thought #5: When you have had a chance to think through a concept fully, and you want to share it with peers, with staff, Board members, etc. you have a great tool to control the distribution.
Thought #6: You can invite people to see just one posting or your entire blog. It’s a great way to get feedback on your ideas in an electronic/flexible format.

Some of my best “personal learning” experiences occur by reviewing and reflecting on my personal blog. I can get access to it anytime I have an Internet connection, or I can draft a posting in Word on a flight and post it later. The great thing is that I have one place to keep all of my thoughts and ideas.

Tags: Technology, Professional Development, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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Dan Sullivan, founder and president of The Strategic Coach, Inc., writes an eNewsletter that is fantastic. His organization provides a structured coaching program for entrepreneurs and his newsletter focuses on specific aspects of the program.

The July 2006 newsletter (Strategic eNews) has an article entitled, “Thinking Like an Intellectual Capitalist“. Sullivan suggests, “Instead of identifying yourself by the products you sell or the title your industry gives you, you define yourself as an entrepreneur with a specialty in a particular area.”

What kinds of mental shifts do you think would happen if association executives changed their mindset to think (first) like an entrepreur then (second) as an “association executive”?

Sullivan continues, “This shift allows you to come up with creative responses to others’ needs “” opening you up to the possibility of doing anything that will create value, not simply acting as a channel for industry goods and services. It also allows you to shift your focus to your biggest asset: your existing relationships.”

What a brilliant concept!

Tags: Strategy, Innovation, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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The rule of thumb in our community is that an association should have an amount in reserves equal to 50% of its budget, just in case the organization’s financial position begins to deteriorate. So, for example, if I am the CEO of a $10 million association, I’m looking to accumulate $5 million in my reserve fund as expeditiously as possible. It makes complete sense, right?

Of course it does, and that’s why I can’t resist mucking things up by proposing a minor edit: let’s make 45% instead. And with the other 5%, let’s invest in the work of innovation for the future. After all, it’s a rule of thumb, not a rule, regulation or law, so we can make it whatever we want it to be. And just imagine the extraordinary impact that 5% of your reserves would have on the pursuit of innovation in the community your association serves!

There are great reasons to pursue this alternative. First and foremost, by investing 5% in innovation, you will be making a powerful statement that you value the creativity, energy and passion of the people who make up your association more than markets or financial instruments. Second, building a deep capacity for innovation creates tangible and intangible benefits for your association that will never come about from even the most successful portfolio of investments, including new ideas, new capabilities, brand equity, member engagement and new revenue streams. And finally, if your innovation efforts produces a winner, the financial upside to your future reserve fund investments could be quite considerable. Surely these attractive opportunities are worth an investment of 5%?

Well, I know what you’re going to say…we don’t like to take risks. You don’t think you’re taking risks in the market? Yes, I know you’re carefully managing your portfolio and doing the other stuff all smart investors do. That really isn’t the point, however. Risk is an element of today’s operating environment and present in every choice that leaders make. No amount of careful planning, smart implementation or wishful thinking will eliminate it altogether, nor do we want to eliminate it. (It would be incredibly boring and routine to run an organization in an environment of zero risk, wouldn’t it?) So, the issue isn’t whether your organization “likes” to take risks, but how much risk you’re willing to accept. And if you’re investing any of your reserves in the market, you’ve already decided that you will tolerate some risk in exchange for a certain level of reward.

Unfortunately, you exercise absolutely no control over the rewards the market will bring you. But you do have levers you can pull when it comes to innovation. By taking a strategic approach to innovation, your organization can invest its 5% in ways that minimize and manage risk by limiting uncertainty and controlling financial exposure, while maximizing whatever upside a given idea may produce. You can’t get away from risk, but you can take steps to make it work for you.

So, I’m thinking that just about every organization around could make do with 45% in reserves instead of 50%. I’m also thinking that the 5% your association invests in innovation will be, in the long run, the best investment it ever made.

Tags: Membership, Technology, Strategy, Professional Development, Innovation, Staff Issues, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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By circumstance, tradition or choice, associations often operate as masters of orthodoxy, the de jure or de facto enforcers of accepted ways of thinking and acting within the industries, professions and fields they serve. Through certification programs, licensing, standards and other mechanisms, associations can create near impenetrable boundaries around what “professionals” in those fields must, should or can know. In some respects, this is an appropriate and vital function, especially in fields in which lives are at stake.

Yet when associations place a higher priority on preserving and protecting what is known above exploring and understanding what is unknown, they may try to thwart the emergence of significant breakthroughs in learning and the creation of new knowledge. Associations operating as masters of orthodoxy may exclude, with or without sinister intent, divergent viewpoints that directly question accepted beliefs and conventional wisdom. But in a time of genuine paradigm shift, when the tools for creating and sharing new ideas and knowledge are in the hands of many–including quite capable creators who are purely amateurs in their fields–associations have no choice but to break down the boundaries they’ve created over many decades and open themselves to ideas that they might otherwise categorically reject, as well as the “dissidents” who propose them.

Heterodoxy is defined as “any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position.” In the 21st Century, associations will need to create new intellectual frameworks and environments that actively and consistently engage the broad spectrum of agreed-upon and profoundly controversial views in their fields. Embracing heterodoxy must become the new association tradition.

Tags: Technology, Strategy, Membership, Professional Development, Leadership, Innovation, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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Just a random bunch of intriguing, pointed and challenging questions for reflection and discussion by leaders in our community.

+When will we learn that human beings have always lived in “times of change?”
+When will we learn that today’s genuine “paradigm shift” is deeper, faster and more intense than anything our society has experienced for more than 100 years?

+When will we learn that strategic planning is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER going to help us take our organizations to the next level of success?
+When will we learn that strategic planning is now a profound waste of time and resources, and must be jettisoned in favor of approaches that fit with a new reality?

+When will we learn that the future cannot and should not be predicted?
+When will we learn that our long-term success depends on cultivating a deep capacity for creating the future?

+When will we learn that pursuing innovation costs less than trying to build a strong and sustainable brand?
+When will we learn that being an innovator is a strong and sustainable brand?

+When will we learn that the only way to gain greater influence is to give up virtually all control?
+When will we learn that we never really had control in the first place?

+When will we learn that demographic shift and generational shift are connected but not the same thing?
+When will we learn that appreciating the meaning of generational shift requires us to admit that the life experiences of others are valuable and worth our understanding?

+When will we learn that our old assumptions about associations are already getting our organizations into trouble?
+When will we learn that we must work hard at getting ourselves into trouble by probing and testing these old assumptions?

+When will we learn that what appear to be mere technology tools today are actually the fundamental forces shaping the future of our society?
+When will we learn that we cannot put off embracing the transformative power of Web 2.0/social media technologies no matter how much they challenge what we do?

+When will we learn that risk cannot and should not be avoided?
+When will we learn that it is not possible to really lead without taking risks?

+When will we learn that training and learning are not the same thing?
+When will we learn how to learn, and help our members do the same?

+When will we learn that “we’ve always done it that way” is no longer a sufficient response?
+When will we learn that “we’ve always done it that way” was never a sufficient response in the first place?

Want to make a difference in the association community? Think about these questions. Talk about them with your colleagues. Better yet, come up with your own questions. Drive the conversation everywhere you go. Make people pay attention. Don’t give up and don’t make excuses. Lead by choice. Lead by example.

Tags: Strategy, Professional Development, Innovation, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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It has been said that ethics is the choice to do the right thing even when no one is watching. In other words, ethical people and organizations act that way because they are deeply committed to doing what is proper at all times, not simply when such behavior is expedient. The current turbulent operating environment, in which strategic decisions increasingly are made under conditions of incomplete information, limited time and considerable stress, demands that association leaders take a long, hard look at both their personal and organizational ethics and ask some fundamental questions:

+Do I consider the implications of my actions/my organization’s actions for others?
+Do both my organization and I pursue the ethical path at all times?
+Is my integrity/the integrity of my organization intact?

Although framed as clear choices, these questions defy simple yes or no answers. Their intention is to help association leaders surface the underlying decision-making principles that enable consistent ethical conduct in the short term, as well as the creation of an organizational legacy of honesty, integrity and social responsibility that will endure in the long run. Sadly, there are far too many recent examples from both corporate and social enterprises of the kind of irresponsible, unethical and outright corrupt behavior that undermines the public’s trust and confidence in all institutions, including associations. Associations and their leaders will not get a pass from intense scrutiny of their conduct, and if the failure to act in an ethical and responsible manner erodes support among our constituents for the important work that our organizations perform, the historic role of associations in American society may be irreparably compromised.

Meaningful conversations about ethics and social responsibility are not likely to be at the top of the agenda for many association leaders. We are fortunate, however, that these questions are increasingly a part of our community’s dialogue, not as a matter of choice, but of necessity. But simply talking about these issues won’t be sufficient; decisive action is required. The best association leaders of the 21st Century already understand that a vibrant and sustainable future for associations depends, in part, on our community’s unswerving commitment to and full-throated public advocacy for ethics and social responsibility throughout our society. Anything less would be a retreat from the core beliefs that make our organizations great.

Tags: Strategy, Membership, Leadership, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff
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