We Have Always Done It That Way

In taking a thorough look at today’s corporate and government sectors, it has become very clear to me that associations must make the significant leap from simply educating our members to managing our trade or profession’s human capital. Why make the leap, do you ask? My first response is simply, if you don’t do it, someone else will. While true, there is more to it than that. The world of human capital management is broad and all-encompassing and deals with all things related to the recruitment, retention, professional development, training, and certification of individuals and how those systems impact the individual as well as the organization. It is even bigger than that as well. It looks at entire systems (a division or department, a company, an industry or profession) and assesses the impact that people have on those systems.

In the association space most of us in the education arena are very focused on one thing, education. And that tends to be defined in terms of conferences, seminars, and perhaps online education. A smaller population of educators focuses on certification or accreditation of professionals. This education focus is simply one very small piece of the overall human capital arena.

Human Capital cuts across every single traditional division or department within an association. It impacts IT, marketing, communications/PR, government relations, education/certification, meeting planning, finance, and research…every department or specialty. I have been touting for years the need for associations to start thinking about the shift from Education Director to Chief Learning Officer, and some organizations have made that leap. But the next evolution is a focus not just on learning, but on Human Capital.

The WHADITW might go something like this… It is time for associations to think in much grander strategic terms about how Human Capital is organized across the association’s entire trade or profession. Not simply themed conferences or seminars, but in the broadest, most global sense. Here are some questions to ponder.

How is your organization…

• Managing human capital across your entire trade or profession? Is it a cross-functional area (as it should be) or is it in a silo within the organization?
• Identifying and managing knowledge creation within your organization but outside of conferences and seminars? How about managing knowledge creation outside of your organization?
• Addressing the need to really know each specific job function within your trade or profession? Can you even identify them clearly? Can you map knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to each job function? Do you even have the KSA’s identified?

Tags: Leadership, Professional Development, Staff Issues by Amy
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Marketing new education programs is always a fun challenge. In particular we are getting a lot of inquiries about how to market and price new educational programs – especially eLearning products. Before I explain some key philosophies on this, let me refer you to my friend and co-author Mickie Rops’ fantastic entry entitled, “Knowledgizing Associations” that speaks to four value-based services that all associations should focus on. They are simply the ideas of Connect, Context, Filter, and Feedback (see her entry for the details).

Focus educational programs and services around the four values Mickie describes. Work very hard to provide as many of these values to your members as possible. But in the short-term, focus highly on the context and filtering aspects of content. Perceived value is what drives participants to education programs. Identifying what that perceived value might be is absolutely critical to the marketing and pricing challenge. Many times it is saving a member time and money by filtering out irrelevant content and explaining how and why that content can be applied to someone’s professional or personal life. Time and money are the two most common “value” items. With this in mind, here is a philosophy on pricing…

Free is not good. Unless you have some sort of legitimate reason for not charging for a program (a grant funded program, for example) you need to charge something to participants. The more you charge the higher the perceived value of the program. When you offer something for free, the buyer’s mentality is that it is not as valuable, even if it truly is. We also see significant numbers of no-shows for “free” programs versus paid ones.

Bundling products and services creates higher value. If you offer an education product, be sure to think about other products you can bundle with it. For example, you offer a seminar on how to build a great tree house. Your organization also happens to have a research report on new trends in tree house building. Bundle the products together to add value. You could even simply send an email out to everyone who attended the ‘how to build a great tree house’ course that lists all of your other tree house resources, with links to each. This links back to the filtering aspect of value creation.

Tags: Professional Development by Amy
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Before coming to the “dark side” as an independent consultant in 2000, I actually worked at an association in the education department. Somewhere in my training I must have missed the “How to Deal Professionally with Vendors” course. I’m guessing it was never taught or I simply skipped that day, I can’t remember which. But never-the-less I had no clue how to find vendors, select vendors, or manage the RFP process to select them. I winged it. The funny thing is I’m not sure my experience is much different than most association staff.

Here is the ultimate issue… New staff members need to be educated on how your organization purchases products and services from third parties. How this is done is a direct reflection of your organization. It comes back to the bigger issue I have which is simply this. We spend huge budget dollars educating our membership but very few dollars educating our own staff. Professional development of our own staff members is absolutely critical in this knowledge economy, yet I can’t tell you how many times I hear staffers say, we don’t have the budget to attend that seminar/conference, etc. If I were the HR director of an association, here are the critical topics I’d have new employees go through.

• A 101 course on your industry or profession (if your organization doesn’t have one, you should)
• A course on the association and its role in the industry/profession
• A department-level and individual-level overview of how that individual’s job fits into the bigger picture of the organization
• A general association management 101 course
• A vendor/supplier management course
• A general association finance course (see my previous rants on this topic)
• A management course that reflects the organization’s philosophy of staff management, if the individual is going to manage staff

I’d also have a thorough conversation with a new hire about the areas of professional development that they want to focus on and create a learning plan for that individual. And yes, your organization should pick up the tab for this. Employees who feel their employer invests in them stay longer, are more loyal to the organization, and do not tend to turn over nearly as much as those who feel less supported.

Tags: Professional Development by Amy
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The next big wave of employees is entering the workforce. They are technology savvy and are the first full generation to be exposed to education technology in both high school and college. Yet they have similar needs that previous generations have had. They want to network, learn about their profession, and become highly valuable workers. Many associations are not sure how to attract the youngest members of our organizations. How do we get them to come to conferences? Engage the association?

My best advice…simply ask them. Get them involved. Empower them to participate and plan. A few years ago I was at an ASAE Annual conference and talked with a young Executive Director of a smaller association. During the cocktail reception he was telling me about his organization’s issues around attracting and retaining younger members and specifically, around new graduates. His solution was to use his current volunteer leadership to identify two dozen or so young professionals across the country. On the association’s dime, he had them all come to the headquarters for a weekend retreat. In essence he locked them in and gave them a simple directive. Design a program that would bring together young professionals in the industry. Something that was fun and engaging for their peers.

At the end of the weekend the group designed a parallel conference to the national conference, just for young professionals. They chose that design to be able to pull from industry experts that would already be at the national conference, but gave themselves their own learning space to deal with their unique issues. The Executive Director got vendors to sponsor the young professionals program as well as offsetting the registration fees. The group of 25 or so managed a word-of-mouth campaign and brought in over 300 of their peers to the first event. The association was thrilled with the turn out and the sponsors were thrilled at the exposure they got with these young professionals.

Tags: Professional Development by Amy
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The premise of this posting is simply this…take the time to plan your eLearning strategy FIRST, before you start developing eLearning. Second, it doesn’t take much to get your strategy started or designed. The key, however, it to do something different than what your organization has done before. Do NOT take the We Have Always Done It That Way approach to designing eLearning. What I simply mean is this, the approach we use to design new conferences and seminars doesn’t necessarily apply to eLearning – and frankly, it shouldn’t. It is very important to come up with a totally different approach to designing education and professional development in the virtual world.

The key concept is that eLearning might be best “consumed” like Americans eat fast food. It needs to be convenient, quick, and taste decent enough. What I simply mean is this. Participants need to be able to find your eLearning products easily and it needs to be formatted in a way that is convenient to your participants. Strongly consider the participant’s work environment and plan the design accordingly. Second, people need to get in, consume the content, and get out quickly. eLearning programs that go on for hours do not typically get the results the organization is looking for. Finally, the program needs to be decent tasting enough that members will come back. There isn’t an expectation that it is a Kobe steak, just a decent burger will do.

Make the learning engaging but convenient, quick and decent.

Tags: Professional Development by Amy
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I kid you not that within seconds of posting Roundtable Ruse, I got an e-mail from an association for which I agreed to lead a roundtable. Here are my instructions:

Thank all participants
Start the conversation on your assigned topic
Moderate questions from participants
Serve as a resource where appropriate
Communicate any necessary information to the ____ staff

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. The association wants and is content with me letting the session “go where it may.” Am I?

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Execute, The Way We Lead by Mickie
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I’ve noticed lately that many associations are discouraging speakers from lecturing (you know – be the “guide on the side” versus the “sage on the stage”). Roundtable discussions seem to be the “in” solution.

But there is a problem. Being an effective guide on the side isn’t easy. I once attended a workshop in which the speakers utilized great in-depth case studies to generate roundtable discussions. They had the groups discuss the cases, report out…and then they moved to the next case. Here were two individuals with combined 30+ years experience and they offered no opinion on how the cases could or should have been handled. They didn’t even identify if they agreed or disagreed with the solutions identified in the report-outs. We all had interesting discussions, but left feeling we still didn’t know how to handle the situations if presented to us. Anyone off the street could have “facilitated” that session. It was easy, but not effective.

If you have experts available, use them – I mean really use them. Don’t let them just organize table discussions; have them use their experience and expertise to facilitate meaningful discussions and learning. As one model, consider how the workshop I attended could be reworked:

• Experts shares enough information and context about the cases to enable a rich discussion
• In small groups, learners discuss case studies and generate ideas for how they would handle the situations
• Each group reports back ideas generated
• Experts debate, clarify and/or build upon the ideas/actions suggested (providing the rationale and/or evidence for their advice)
• Experts close the session by highlighting the key lessons to be taken from the each of the case studies
• Learners depart with knowledge they can use

Now, building a session like this is harder than assigning table topics and letting the session go where it may. Roundtables need a purpose and structure. So, choose your experts carefully and provide them guidance. Your learners will thank you.

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Execute, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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There seems to be a growing trend of associations providing Powerpoint templates for conference speakers. Really, what is the purpose here? Isn’t it kind of boring for each session to have the exact same slide graphics and color scheme? And why do they always seem to be orange? Plus, those header, footer, and sidebar images really compete with the content. Is your association logo more important than my content? (Don’t answer that.)

I understand the benefit of having the same look/message displayed at the beginning and end of each presentation – and I even understand the value of having the last slide serve as a promotion for association services/events. However, I do not see the benefit of mandated template slides for the core presentation.

Another problem is that requiring the use of template slides also implies speakers should use slides! And that’s a dangerous implication given the widespread abysmal use of Powerpoint slides. Of course slides have the potential to enhance a presentation, but when is the last time you were moved by a slide deck?

If you really want to make an impact to your conference sessions, nix the slide template and instead provide guidance and tools to your speakers to help them deliver more effective presentations, with or without visuals. A few ideas:

• Be flexible in room set-up and AV requests; requiring classroom set-up and a podium mike is begging for a traditional lecture.
• Provide speakers with as much information about the audience and their needs as possible; don’t assume they’ll do the research on their own.
• Ask speakers to identify and provide to you their key points (you’d be surprised how many speakers can and will present without ever identifying key points!).
• Provide a guidance document that outlines principles of effective presentations (you can find several model documents online).
• Provide speaker training sessions virtually and at your events – these could be by invitation only or for all potential speakers.
• Hire a presentation coach to work with your speakers one-on-one.
• Establish an arrangement with a presentation coach to offer discounted coaching sessions to your speakers in exchange for your promoting his or her services to that target.

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Execute, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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Earlier this week I wrapped up a client meeting and enjoyed lunch at Cordoroy’s while passing time for my flight later that day. (Side note: Goat cheese and black olive pizza was awesome.) So often we are rushed from one meeting to the next, to the airport, and on. Too often we don’t even think about the meeting we just left before we move on to our next thing. Lately I’ve attempted to be purposeful in scheduling reflection time. I actually could have booked an earlier flight. With two small children at home, I usually book the latest flight in and the earliest out. But, this time I didn’t. Why? The value of the immediate reflection after a meeting. Too often we have a great idea or thought on process or content, but don’t make a note of it. Then, the next meeting comes up and we default back to our last meeting plan/agenda as the starting point (yes, the way we’ve always done it). We trust our memory – and that’s a mistake. Often too much time passes and the improvement idea is lost. Or, is this just me? Am I just getting old? (My 4 year old did just ask me this morning, “Mom, when you are as old as you, can you still do gymnastics?” Note to self: get to the gym.)

So, I’m vowing to schedule reflection time when at all possible. I’m thinking about starting a private blog of my reflections, ideas, and learning. Quite a while back Amy brought up the idea of a personal learning blog here on WHADITW. Anyone doing it? To be able to capture and categorize my ideas as a blog easily does has real appeal – the blogging platform seems a good fit. My notepad notes sure aren’t working. A bunch of ideas written down that I never refer to again. One downside of the blog formats is that it is web-based. Are there platforms that allow drafting off-line? David, help.

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Think, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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I’ve been thinking about this difficult question for quite some time now, but I’ve been reluctant to write about it out of a genuine concern that the question itself might sound like an unprovoked attack on hard-working association staff and volunteers. This is definitely not my intention. Rather, I’m hoping we can make our colleagues’ lives a bit easier by creating a more favorable climate in which they can always bring their imagination to bear on the work of their organizations.

Albert Einstein suggested that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” and who am I to disagree with him. In a time of paradigm shift, what we think we know is increasingly less useful than what we can learn, imagine and create. In a recent post, Micropersuasion blogger Steve Rubel suggested that “the most important ‘tool’ you can have today in business is insatiable curiosity. The minute you lose it, you’re dead.” I think Steve is right on target and, from my perspective, curiosity and imagination go hand in hand: our curiosity feeds our imagination, and our imagination drives our curiosity.

Which brings me back to my inquiry about the possible imagination deficit in our community. I suppose what I’m really wondering is whether the work environment in associations today cultivates and nurtures the curiosity and imagination of staff and volunteers. One specific source of concern in this regard is the recent emphasis placed on so-called “data-driven strategies,” as advocated by ASAE & The Center’s 7 Measures of Success report. Without a doubt, there is a need to infuse the strategic decision-making process with useful data. But we must also recognize there are limits to what data can tell us, and there is good reason to challenge the notion that backward-looking information will always illuminate the wisest course of action for the future of our organizations. Associations definitely need clear, simple and focused strategy, but it should be “driven” by the value it will create for members, customers and stakeholders. Identifying and implementing that potential value necessarily will involve some combination of what we know, what we can learn, what we can imagine and what we can create together.

The powerful forces of paradigm shift are reshaping our society, and associations are going along for that very bumpy ride. But in the midst of this uncertainty, association professionals and volunteers have an extraordinary opportunity to envision a very different and more vibrant future for the organizations to which they have committed themselves. I challenge you to do just that by remaining curious and using your imagination everyday. If you’re able to do that, then in time the more important question won’t be whether there once was an imagination deficit, but what we did to eliminate it for the benefit of our community.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, The Way We Execute, The Way We Involve Others, The Way We Lead, The Way We Manage, The Way We Think, The Way We Work Together, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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We are very pleased to let you know that the cover story in the current issue of Association Meetings Magazine focuses on WHADITW, and includes quotes from four of us. We want to thank fellow blogger Sue Pelletier, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, for approaching us with this idea and for interviewing us for the article. It was great fun!

I especially like the prompt the magazine uses to encourage its readers to provide their feedback on the article and on the ideas we share:

Tell us what you think: Are these folks on the money? Prophetic? Deranged? Naive?

Personally, I’m pulling for deranged. In all seriousness, though, we’d very much like to know your reaction to the article. We hope you will post your comments below.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Professional Development, Technology, The Way We Execute, The Way We Involve Others, The Way We Lead, The Way We Manage, The Way We Think, The Way We Work Together, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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How many times have you read or heard that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, 50% of what they see and hear, etc. The theory is rampant in the training field. I’ve read it in the literature and seen it on many Powerpoint presentations, including several of ASAE & the Center’s. Well, get this: the information is bogus. This is according to Dr. Will Thalheimer, President of Work-Learning Research Inc., whose goal is to provide research-based information to the training and learning community. On his blog, he outlines his search for the source of the data (which appears to be non-existent, by the way).

Dr. Thalheimer is not suggesting that learners don’t benefit from multi-faceted or collaborative learning. He is simply pointing out that the percentages of retention by learning type that we have all assumed to be truth are, in fact, fiction. Just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you’ve seen, or heard, or seen and heard”¦

Makes me wonder what other false “truths” are being perpetuated in our community. How often do we just trust the information we hear? Should we?

This makes me think of the conversations I’ve heard lately about the 7 Measures project. There has been criticism that the research did not include small associations, and the question posed about whether, then, the results can be applied to them. One of the research leads publicly commented that
“our findings are very consistent with the literature on systems and learning organizations. Most of the organizations with which I work in my consulting practice have budgets of $3,000,000 or less. My experience with such associations and my understanding of systems research tells me that the principles that make large organizations remarkable holds true for smaller organizations. ” In the presentations I’ve heard on the 7 Measures, they are being advocated for associations of all sizes. Is there harm in that? Not likely, since the measures are sound business principles. But, it is important for us to distinguish between what the data actually supported and what it didn’t.

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Execute, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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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: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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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: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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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: Leadership, Professional Development, Technology, 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: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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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: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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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: Innovation, Leadership, Professional Development, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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Why haven’t more associations figured out that the impact of pushing content out to members is limited? Rather, associations should think of themselves as facilitators of knowledge creation and sharing.

How do we do that? Here are four strategies for “knowledgizing” associations: filtering, feedback, contextualizing and connections.

Filtering is extracting from the information masses only the relevant information for a particular audience. A few examples,

• content compilations of the “best” of the association’s content on one particular subject (pull from recent industry magazines, listserve archives, conference presentations, white papers, books, etc.)
• providing opt-in headliner e-mails that contain current news headlines about the industry that are linked to the actual articles (for broad fields, these can be issue-specific)
• website personalization (providing additional relevant content to members based on identified preferences or actions ““ think amazon.com)
• selling customized versions of your industry research (by industry segment, for example, rather than the full data set)

Bottom line value, save your members time by filtering out the excess or irrelevant.

Providing feedback means offering a constructive and informative response to the results of an activity. Examples include:

• coaching or mentoring programs
• self-assessments with guided learning (that is, that provide the correct answer and a detailed rationale)
• learning quizzes with guided learning within publications and courses
• template checklists and evaluation forms for members to use with their supervisors or peers to gather feedback on their performance

Bottom line value: members don’t always know what they don’t know; help them to discover it.

Contextualizing is adding meaning to content by relating it to specific circumstances. Examples include:

• an online interactive practice journal where specific cases are described and questions are presented within a chat or discussion forum.
• plan coordinated curriculum learning events (as stand-alones and as conference tracks)
• provide pre-conference recommended readings to attendees to set the stage for the material they are about to learn
• encourage speakers/e-learning faculty to build meaningful case studies and problem-solving activities into their sessions/courses
• build opportunities for both structured and unstructured peer-to-peer sharing into events

Bottom line value: Help members turn content into knowledge.

Facilitating connections is bringing together individuals with common interests, issues or expertise. Examples include:

• coaching or mentoring programs
• communities of practice
• online group collaboration (wikis, chats, discussion lists)
• social networking systems
• incorporating connection time and activities in association events

Bottom line value: Connections enable shared context and build community, both key to establishing a knowledge sharing environment.

Tags: Professional Development, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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The value of continuous learning is unquestionable. It is how our members become aware about new developments and technologies and acquire different or more advanced skills. Almost all associations offer learning opportunities to members. But very few do much beyond programming courses or packaging content in books. Very few actually help members become effective learners. Yet, research has shown that many of our members aren’t skilled learners and that learning becomes more effective when individuals engage in several coordinated activities:

(1) reflecting on current practice to establish professional direction and goals
(2) identifying the gap between current and desired/needed knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
(3) developing a learning plan based on identified gaps
(4) selecting and participating in learning activities that address goals and targeted KSAs
(5) evaluating how/if learning has been integrated into practice and what progress has been made in meeting professional goals

Associations can and should play an important role in providing support and tools in these areas to help members become more effective learners. Programming education just isn’t enough.

Tags: Membership, Professional Development, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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Many associations have identified the body of knowledge of the fields they represent and used them for specific purposes, such as developing training or certification programs. However, often the body of knowledge is used only for that specific and independent purpose. And, associations may have even identified several different bodies of knowledge for unrelated projects. As a typical example, the professional development division creates a knowledge matrix for tracking its curriculum, the certification division formally identifies a body of knowledge for its certification examination, the publications division compiles a topical index for its books and magazines, and the communications division identifies an index for its Web portal. All are created at different times, using different methods, by different units, for different purposes. These often informal and unplanned knowledge efforts can be valuable to the association and its members, but they could have much more impact if they were coordinated as part of an association’s overall knowledge strategy.

If you haven’t identified the current body of knowledge of the field in which your members work (or a portion of that field), consider:

• How do you determine what knowledge and skills are currently and will be needed by your members in the next 5 years?
• Then, how do you determine what to teach members in your educational programs?
• What do you use as your basis for selecting content for your publications?
• How do you prioritize research efforts to advance the field? (How do you advance a field if you don’t know its current status?)
• What is the foundation of your certification program examination?

It’s time for associations to get strategic and purposeful about how they will advance the knowledge of their members and/or advance the fields in which their members work. Identifying the body of knowledge can be an important first step. It may, but does not have to be an elaborate research project. How sophisticated the approach depends upon the identified uses for that body of knowledge. Certification, for example, does warrant a sophisticated approach ““ usually a formal job analysis. However, if you are trying to identify the gap between what members currently know and what they’ll need to know in 5 years (so that you can be purposeful in getting your members there!), qualitative research of key employers may do the job fine. So, that takes us back to strategy. Associations need to identify what their knowledge goals are first and then identify the strategies and action plans to get there.

Still questioning the value of a knowledge strategy? The Project Management Institute has been purposeful in its knowledge efforts and it has paid off: its Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge book is currently on the BusinessWeek Best Seller List!

Tags: Membership, Professional Development, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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I had an encounter with an individual over a decade ago that made a lasting impression. I was describing to her a tool that would assist her in objectively determining her learning needs, developing a learning plan and guiding her to appropriate learning resources in her area of practice. After agreeing that the tool seemed valuable, she indicated that perhaps she would buy it next year when she starts a new recertification cycle because she doesn’t need any more hours this recertification cycle. What? Rather than spend $65 on a learning tool that could help prioritize her learning pursuits and locate relevant learning activities, she declined because she had already fulfilled her required learning quota.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. For many fields with certification, the accompanying mandated continuing education (MCE) has devalued learning. The effects are widespread and the negative ramifications of MCE can be found throughout adult learning literature. Here are just a few:

• One concern is relevancy. Professionals become overly concerned with “getting their hours” and because usually only the traditional education delivery modes are acceptable (conferences as the most common example), they are essentially forced to participate in activities that are convenient or affordable but sometimes irrelevant to their needs.
• Another concern is that MCE devalues many types of learning, especially those types that are more informal and self-directed. Since these activities, such as reading, receiving mentoring, or conferring with colleagues are not usually accepted as acceptable learning activities under an MCE system, individuals may question the value of these approaches and assume the traditional approaches are better.
• Another criticism of MCE is that it creates a punitive attitude towards learning. For those professionals who would regularly engage in learning with or without the mandate, MCE becomes punitive in that it places sanctions on activities that are already occurring. And, for many, it forces them to participate in activities they otherwise wouldn’t simply to meet the requirement.

Am I suggesting we scrap all mandated CE? No. But the systems need to change. For one, we should eliminate or at least lessen the excessive judgmental and limiting rules of MCE. Before creating any rule (deeming some learning methods acceptable and others not, limiting amount of time spent in one type of activity, requiring participation in certain types of activities, etc), ask yourself: Does this rule help professionals learn or does it actually hinder learning?

The bottom line: we want certificants to be competent. To be competent, they must engage in continuous learning. But, the truth is that we cannot mandate that someone learns. And, it’s time we realized that requiring “butts in seats” at our conferences is a limited and ineffective approach. Far more effective an approach is to make a concerted effort to foster the value of continuous learning and to provide tools and guidance to professionals to help them be more effective learners.

Tags: Professional Development, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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So we have collectively ranted about organizations that offer the same conference programming year after year. It amazes me that some organizations think that the topics/issues and delivery formats popular in the late nineties still resonate in 2006. Organizations that haven’t changed fast enough are feeling the pressure from for-profit organizations that tend to be more nible in their program planning and delivery. This scenario begins to raise many questions, but here are some critical questions to consider.

(1) Is the head of professional development in your organization actively participating in professional development programming themself? The world of professional development and adult education is undergoing profound changes. Major shifts in PD are occuring every 12-18 months. How much time is the head of your organization’s PD programming learning about these changes?

(2) Is your education committee (or it’s equivalent) too involved in the adult learning side of things (delivery methods for content) versus providing content direction? Practitioners in a field need to stay focused on providing content guidance while PD professionals need to focus on the best way to organize, manage and deliver that content.

(3) Does your organization have an integrated professional development strategy? Is there a working PD plan that includes all functional areas of the organization, including special project groups, working groups, etc.?

(4) Does your budget include enough money to adequately keep your staff up to speed? Too many association educators I know often say, “we don’t have enough budget money to attend that conference.” I am appalled by this notion especially if for-profit competition is an issue for your organization. For-profit educators are attending the major education and adult learning conferences. If your staff isn’t there, where are they going to get a competitive advantage?

Now is the time to get serious about creating a professional development strategy that integrates the needs of your members as well as the ongoing PD needs of staff. It is time to pony up the cash to pay for these PD programs for staff, especially if your organization is competing for educational dollars.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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For many fields, it may be time to rethink the traditional model of professional certification in order to meet the needs of the changing workplace environment and workers.

Say I’m considering changing careers and am interested in your profession. I Google the field and click to your website to investigate what I need to do. First, I discover I need a bachelor’s degree. Alright, I’ve got that. Oh, wait, it needs to be in x or y. Mine’s in z. Strike 1. And, it needs to be from a university accredited by your association. Although mine is a regionally accredited college, it’s not on your short list. Strike 2. Oh, I need 7 years of experience before I can get the credential anyway. That seems like forever. Strike 3. I decide to check out the Occupational Outlook Handbook and discover the crazy part: the certification is voluntary. All this and I don’t even need it? Plus, there’s no state regulation of the industry. Back to Google. What’s this? A university certificate program offered online…a corporate certification program… another association’s intensive training program…lots of appealing options that fit my needs.

You’re thinking, okay, so we have eligibility requirements, but they are all necessary to ensure the quality and meaning of the credential. That will be true for some professions, but definitely not all. Consider if yours are really necessary or if there could be alternate pathways. Is an academic degree necessary or could some combination of training and work experience substitute? Does the academic degree have to be discipline-specific or could additional training substitute? Do you have any requirements that serve as artificial barriers to earning certification? Is there really any evidence an individual not meeting the requirements is any less qualified than those that do?

Now, consider the projection that Millennials (sometimes called Generation Y ““ those currently entering the workplace) will engage in an average of six careers in their professional life. Yes, that’s careers, not jobs. Now, in that light, consider again the traditional model of certification. How many Millennials are going to be willing to go to a college you deem acceptable to get a degree you deem acceptable just to get a credential that is voluntary? What about those who already have a base degree and are in the workforce? Does your certification have enough value in the market to drive an individual to basically start over? Are you confident you can sustain that value positioning for the next 10 year? Or 20?

I’m not suggesting that standards be watered down. But, at minimum, credentialing bodies need to take a hard look at what artificial barriers they can remove. And, in some cases, the whole certification model may need to change.

The half-life of knowledge in many fields is decreasing rapidly, and fields are becoming more specialized. It may well be the current model of certification just won’t work for your field anymore. As one possibility, just-in-time credentialing may be a more viable model in the new marketplace.

Consider the just-in-time model occurring in parts of the IT industry. A new technology solution emerges so you: Get real life work experience. Take a comprehensive training program, IF you need it. Take a performance-based test to prove your competence. Earn a certification. Gain a new skill set and a resume-enhancer to position yourself better in the job market. A new technology solution emerges and the cycle begins again…and again…and again.

This model is already proven successful in the IT industry. Maybe there’s something to be learned here for your field. Or maybe an entirely new model needs to emerge. One thing is certain: you cannot assume that the traditional model of certification is going to meet future needs. It may not be already.

Tags: Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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Let’s try a thought experiment….

After numerous complaints from members over a three-year period, your board concludes the association’s dues are simply too high. They are so high, in fact, they have become the number one reason why even very good prospects don’t join. After extensive deliberation and discussion of the issue, the board votes to get rid of dues permanently, even though these payments represent at least 20% (and sometimes more) of your association’s revenue each fiscal year.

If confronted with this situation, what would you do differently?

If you don’t know, why? If you do, why aren’t you already doing it?

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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Associations love to copy the work of other individuals and organizations. Best practices are a big thing in our community, probably because the scarcity and constraints culture of associations leads us to conclude that best practices will be easier to implement and more cost effective over time. Unfortunately for us, there is overwhelming evidence that you cannot and will not build a truly great and successful organization simply by copying others. True success and true greatness come from daring to do what others can’t do or won’t try.

Personally, I loathe best practices, but I do recognize that some people like them, so I’ll hold off on further critique for now. But I still would like to challenge those association leaders enamored with best practices to consider the truly radical and counterintuitive notion of not duplicating what others do before first. Instead, be original. Rather than constantly “tweaking” someone else’s existing solutions to your context, open yourself up to fresh, different and even plainly absurd ways of thinking. (In this vein, remember the words of Albert Einstein, “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”) Take the time to consider the unique and creative contribution you, your team and your organization can make to addressing both new and long-standing challenges in surprising ways.

Best practices stifle meaningful innovation and embrace status quo thinking. (Oh, did I write that out loud?…;>)) But I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Leadership isn’t about driving our associations down toward the lowest common denominator. Haven’t we had enough of that? Genuine leadership values and demands authenticity, creativity and originality in the work of every contributor and from the organization as a whole. Seize the opportunity to become a true pioneer, and let the laggards copy you. Before long, they will be eating your dust!

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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The association community needs a credible advanced degree that offers association professionals an educational pathway other than the CAE. An even more important reason to create such a degree program is the dearth of executive-level learning and development that actually helps association leaders operate effectively in a time of profound, accelerating and intensifying disruption and discontinuity. Let me put it another way: there is good reason to question whether today’s association leaders are adequately prepared to deal with the realities of the genuine paradigm shift that is already taking place in our society. Can we really afford to do nothing to address this issue?

To initiate a dialogue on this topic, let me offer the following specific thoughts about how I would design an executive master of science in association leadership (EMSAL) degree program:

+EMSAL would be a 20-month, cohort-based program organized into five four-month learning modules with intensive course sessions conducted once per month on Friday and Saturday.

+Each cohort would include no more than 25 participants, but multiple cohorts could be in the program at once, with groups entering in September, January and May if necessary.

+During each module, cohort members would be organized into five different project teams, so that each participant would have the opportunity to collaborate with everyone else in the cohort. Each module would conclude with a team project.

+The five module topics would be (1) The Historical Evolution of Associations, (2) The Role of Associations in a Global Society, (3) The Role of Associations in Industry and the Professions (4) The Role of the Individual in Associations and (5) Leadership of Associations in the 21st Century.

+The global society module would include a study mission of some length (perhaps 10-14 days) outside of North America.

+The course curriculum would be multidisciplinary, drawing on a variety of fields including anthropology, business and management, economics, education, future studies, history, leadership, natural and physical sciences, political science, psychology, sociology and technology.

+Both individual and team assessment would be a part of determining whether a participant successfully completes the program, including individual learning portfolios, peer evaluations and team projects.

+Learning facilitation would be conducted by both faculty from the university partner and senior leaders in the association community.

I realize this is an ambitious program design, and that is entirely intentional. Some in our community appear believe that what we do in associations isn’t important enough to merit the most forward-looking and intensive learning and leadership development opportunity possible. I strenuously disagree. We need to give association leaders today and tomorrow every opportunity to build their understanding of the forces of paradigm shift so they can elevate the quality of their leadership going forward. We have a deep responsibility to these leaders, their organizations and members, the professions, industries and fields their associations serve and to society as whole to make this kind of innovation a priority. I hope we will soon be prepared to act on making it real.

Note: A version of this post originally appeared on the Principled Innovation Blog.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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When confronted with a problem, human beings instinctively want to solve it. Most of the time, that instinct serves us well, especially when it comes to both routine difficulties and matters of life and death. But more often than we might suspect, there are golden opportunities not to follow our instincts and, instead, let the problems we face “solve us.”

Solve us you ask? It is an insight that I took away from my graduate work with Professor Robert Kegan in the late 1990s. As Professor Kegan says, “Each of us does the best we can coping within the world of our assumptive design.” To put it another way, the assumptions we make everyday about every aspect of our life experience shape the way we make sense of and interact with the world. In effect, our assumptions allow us to design the world in which we want to live, one that is often at odds with the “realities” experienced by others. We cope by resolving this dissonance, which is why we are very intent on solving problems.

But what if we had sufficient awareness to recognize that our problems might not be the actual problem? What if we could see that sometimes the problem is simply an indicator of flawed or, at least, untested assumptions? What if we could step outside of the problem and look at our relationship to it so that we might understand it in a new way? Without a doubt, it is easier to ask these questions than it is to do what they ask. Nevertheless, I believe what I am writing about here is an absolutely critical capability that both staff and volunteer association leaders must develop going forward.

Let’s think briefly about how letting problems solve us might influence our work on strategy. Strategic planning is clear-cut method for solving the problems we have with ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty. In strategic planning, we identify mostly what we know we know today, and we do a little bit of elaboration on it to give it a future feel. Then, we pre-determine the outcomes we want to achieve and work fastidiously toward reaching them. No mess, no fuss. This approach may be clean and neat, but it is neither authentic nor pragmatic, given what we know is true about the current strategic landscape. In contrast, letting the problem solve us challenges our assumptions along multiple dimensions, especially our commitment to knowing all the answers even before the questions are asked. Letting the problem solve us focuses instead on learning as we go, exercising judgment and constantly testing our assumptions. From this process, not only will we achieve different results, but our approach to strategic leadership also will be different.

So, the next time you confront a problem in your work, consider stepping back from trying to solve it immediately. Instead, see if the problem can solve you.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Membership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, Strategy, Technology, We've Always Done It That Way by Jeff De Cagna
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Associations are beginning to try taking their conferences ‘paperless’: no more handouts on chairs, no more frantic photocopying late into the night. All handouts are available via the conference web site and/or a jump drive given to attendees. This saves the association a lot of money and attendees don’t have to damage their spinal column adding a few pounds of paper to their luggage for the trip home.

However there is one problem: attendees actually like to have a handout in the room to refer to. Paper still has a pretty high usability factor. Speakers also like to have the ability to put something in front of attendees, especially if it provides a useful reference for them during the session. What to do?

One solution is to print less paper rather than none. Limit speakers to a single 8.5 x 11 page, front and back for an in-room handout. This should not be a tiny set of slides. It should be critical information the attendees should have in front of them during the session. The conference organizers can still put extended handouts online or on a jump drive for people to review in depth once they get home.

Providing one page paper handouts allows you to continue to provide a valuable resource in the room while still gaining most of the benefits of going fully paperless. It also encourages speakers to do more than provide redundant slideuments.

Tags: Innovation, Professional Development, Technology by David
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It’s uttered in association professional development circles all the time: content is king. But there’s a new queen in town and her name is CONTEXT.

While most associations still shout out that they are “the source” for information in the field, the reality often is that they are “a” source among many others, such as competing associations, .entrepreneurs – both member and non-member and maybe even past staff, and for-profits of all kinds. They are delivering content via journals, magazines, blogs, white papers, books, conferences, e-learning, among others. Take a few minutes to consider what other sources provide content related to your association’s field.

It is no longer enough to provide content. Associations need to provide context too.

Consider a typical association conference. Fifty to 100 sessions on different topics, targeted to different levels, with speakers rolling in and out for their sessions only. Some speakers are experts that can speak broadly and others are novices who speak only to their limited experiences. Attendees are on content overload — they are receiving isolated bits of information, but there is usually little to no context. And, context is critical for understanding and thus for learning because it is context that gives meaning to content.

So how can you provide context? Here are a few ideas for a context-rich conference:

1. Change the way you organize conferences. Don’t just plan lots of individual sessions. Tracks are better, but not enough. Plan the track as a coordinated curriculum and have speakers work together to build upon each other’s sessions.
2. Provide pre-conference recommended readings to attendees to set the stage for the material they are about to learn
3. Encourage speakers to build meaningful case studies and problem-solving activities into their sessions.
4. Build lots of peer-to-peer sharing into the event, both structured and unstructured.
5. Continue the conversations post-conference with list-serve discussions or online communities.

Consider how you can provide context to the content on your Web site, in your journals or magazines, in books, in e-learning courses, or elsewhere.

Tags: Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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Google any key word in your industry and the search will likely yield thousands of hits. Tons of information is already at our members’ fingertips yet associations keep utilizing precious resources to crank even more of it out — newsletters full of articles on anything authors volunteer to write, conference CDs (or audiotapes, if you can believe it!) for every conference session, and conference sessions selected from whatever came in through the call for proposals.

Members don’t need more information, especially when it’s of such randomness. But they could really use someone to help make sense of the plethora of information out there for them. Members don’t have time to sort through all the information available nor do they usually have the skill to analyze the relative credibility of the sources or relative merit of the information.

It’s time for associations to get serious about their important role as knowledge creators…that is helping members find meaning in all that information. Consider if your association prioritized key content areas (in which members face challenges, where contradictory or vast research exists, etc.) and engaged experts in the field to filter out the nuggets and/or summarize findings/trends. What a valuable resource that would be for members. I know there are a few key areas for which I’d pay a premium for someone to filter and summarize for me. Find those key areas for your members and let your experts spend 40 hours of research and analysis rather than your members collectively spending thousands of hours doing the same.

Tags: Professional Development, Strategy, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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Marcus Buckingham has written extensively about how leveraging the strengths of your employees delivers dramatically better results than remediating their weaknesses. However, part of what comes with that power is finding a strength in your staff that they are passionate about. Here are a few questions, including a few follow-ups, that you can ask to get at that passion:

• If you could do anything you wanted here, what would you do?
• What do you want to be doing in five years?
• What would keep you here three more years?

These follow-up questions will work for any of the above to help you dig a little deeper and then tie it back to how you can leverage that passion:

• What are the steps you need to take to get there?
• Let’s talk about how we can work some of those things into your job and help you to reach your goal.

The key is that you have to be earnestly interested in helping them to achieve these things and be frank when you can’t. Staff will immediately sense lip service, so don’t bother if you don’t mean it.

Tags: Leadership, Professional Development, Staff Issues, We've Always Done It That Way by David
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Curriculum-based certificates are getting a bad rap. They’ve been called the “step-child” of professional certification, the implication being that they are inferior. I do not agree with that assertion.

This perception seems to stem from their inability to meet the current certification industry standards that stipulate that certifying agencies should not require training programs linked to the certification examination. Indeed, at the core of a certificate program is its comprehensive training linked to its examination.

However, discounting certificates simply because they do not meet the current ANSI and NCCA accreditation standards is short-sighted. Let me clarify that I am NOT implying the standards are flawed. I am a strong supporter of the standards for both ANSI and NCCA accreditation. In fact I am a lead auditor for the ISO/IEC 17024 standards required for ANSI accreditation. I use both sets of standards as the basis for my audits of client certification programs. My point is that certificates are a distinct type of credentialing program warranting their own set of quality standards.

To clarify, curriculum-based certificates are NOT just courses that provide a paper certificate after completion. There are a lot of programs out there called “certificates” that are not what I’m describing here. It’s a term that’s currently being used indiscriminately.

A quality curriculum-based certificate program typically includes these elements (and likely more; this list is starting point):

• It focuses on a specialized area within a field, not an entire field.
• Its content is identified through a job analysis.
• It includes comprehensive training on the identified content (knowledge and skills).
• It includes an assessment of identified content (knowledge and skill attainment).
• Its assessment is valid and reliable for the intended purpose, and systems are in place to monitor the performance of the assessment.

Here are the key differences between traditional certification and a curriculum-based model.

• Certification usually covers a broad body of knowledge – often an entire field. Certificates, in contrast, usually cover a focused or specialized body of knowledge within a field. For example, there wouldn’t be a “certificate in nursing”, or even a “certificate in pediatric nursing”, but perhaps there would be a “certificate in pediatric trauma care.”
• In certification the focus is on assessing current knowledge and skills. In a curriculum-based model, the focus is on first training individuals to achieve a certain knowledge and skill base and then assessing their attainment of it.
• Certification usually has eligibility and recertification requirements. Certificates don’t, although sometimes the certificates are dated (like a diploma) to encourage (or require) participants to retake the program at specific intervals to stay current.
• Certification usually awards a title and initial designation (e.g., ASAE’s “Certified Association Executive“ and “CAE”). Certificates award a certificate (like a diploma) so that individuals can list the attainment on resumes or other similar documents (e.g., Earned Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management, Commission on Dietetic Registration, 2005).

So, the decision whether to create a certification program or a curriculum-based certificate program should be based on the current state of the field and specialty area being investigated and the goals an organization is trying to achieve.

Consider this successful model. In 1990, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) had a strategic goal of better positioning their members in the expanding (tee hee) area of weight management. Had they been short-sighted, they could have decided to create a certification in weight management. That would have provided a form of recognition and visibility for their members. However, they recognized that training was needed to advance member skill in new treatment areas before they would be prepared to be positioned in the marketplace. They could have just created training programs, but that wouldn’t have directly addressed the positioning element. Enter curriculum-based certification. The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR, the credentialing agency for the ADA) created such a program (they call it a certificate program to distinguish it from their traditional certification programs). While ADA’s goal was to position members in the marketplace, CDR’s primary goal for the certificate was to protect the health and welfare of the public — a compatible match and reasonable aim for the certificate program. The certificate was created in much the same way as traditional certification ““ with a job analysis at the core. Yet, this job analysis formed the basis of not only a test content outline, but also a comprehensive curriculum. In short, participants are trained a specific curriculum, are tested for their attainment of it, and if successful earn the certificate. Five years into it, CDR has trained and issued thousands of certificates, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing. No one complains about the registration fee, despite it being almost twice the cost of the association’s annual membership. Consistently, over 95% of participants indicate they would recommend the program to a colleague. Now, have the members been better positioned in the marketplace? Has the public been better served? No quantitative data on that yet, but all indications so far are quite positive.

This is a unique model in the association world, and it’s one to watch. What role could a curriculum-based certificate have in advancing your members or the field your association represents?

Tags: Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
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So the Always Done It That Way crew is made up of five GenXers (if you haven’t figured that out by now). Three men, two women…all of us are consultants and all of us are business owners. With this said…

Very recently I attended a professional association conference (of which I am a member) where the membership is all women. I belong to a few of these groups, so identification will be difficult (although several of these groups are dealing with the same issue). They want to recruit young GenX and millenial women from to join the organization and to eventually be on the Board. Many associations are discussing the issue of how to recruit “younger” members. I can’t speak for my entire generation, but I do have some insight on recruiting GenX women….so here it goes.

Some Background –
The Board of this organization is mostly women 50 and older with a couple of token 40-somethings. Basically the female version of the “old white male” Board structure we see in the association world. The Board selected a keynoter for the conference who spoke about generational issues using data that was at least 10 years out of date – and again, an over 50 white female. The requirements to sit on the Board include attendance at the two annual conferences the organization hosts plus a whole bunch of other hoops. From an educational point of view, the content at the conference is weak – thus few people beyond senior volunteer leaders attend. Sessions are led, again, by Boomer+ women and this time a few minority women are included in the bunch.

Are you seeing the picture yet?

The one saving grace – the Board did have enough insight to hire a GenX female Executive Director (that get’s it). Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much guidance they really take from her. But I do have to give the Board credit for recognizing that they need to make significant changes to the organization to exist going forward.

I think you can begin to see my point here, but I’ll continue….

So after the first day of the conference I can’t tell you how many Board members pulled me and other token GenX participants aside to ask how the organization can do a better job of recruiting members “like us”.

Here is my off-the-top-of-my-head snap shot of what your association is competing with right now. And keep in mind GenX women are dealing with many of the same issues.

GenX women are of child bearing age. I happen to have two small children (2 1/2 and 11 months) – and miss them terribly.
A husband who likes to see my face occasionally versus our long daily string of instant messages.
A growing business (and travel quite a bit) – the office manager often questions who I am.
A large family and a group of friends – all of whom wonder where I am most of the time.
A stack of 50 great business books and industry publications sitting in my office that I want to get to.
A laundry list of business questions I want answers to NOW, not in six months when the next conference takes place.

Frankly, many of these issues are not GenX specific. However, I would add the following general characteristics…

- My generation of women is the first to fully view ourselves as peers and equals to our male counterparts. Title IX helped with that. And, we are the first generation to graduate in larger numbers than men. We expect equality with men AND women – and frankly everyone.

- We watched our loyal Boomer+ parents get fired and laid off from companies they spent their whole lives serving. So we’re not too interested in “organizational loyalty”. You will have to prove it to us that participation in your association is truly valuable to my professional goals.

Two big business isssues for me now – (1) how to create a business “dashboard” that include financial and other data that relates to a growing consulting practice. AND (2) I want to meet three to five other business consultants who have growing consulting practices. I want to get in a room with them for a day and pick their brains. However, this format is not available at the conference. Just a whole bunch of speakers spreading their “wisdom” about business issues.

So to sit on the Board or become a more senior leader within the organization you are asking us GenX women to spend $500+ on registration, $200+tax a night on hotel for three nights, plus travel to attend a two-day conference with questionable content? All so I can sit on the Board to “represent” the GenX crowd and possibly help you fix your “recruitment” problem?

Here is my free advice on your “recruitment problem”…

(1) Ask GenXers what it takes to get them to join a professional association. Don’t listen to consultants or anyone else – especially those with out-of-date generational information.
(2) LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Actually listen to what GenXers have to say.
(3) Do something about it today – not create a two-year plan on recruiting GenXers – make the changes quickly.
(4) Get smart GenX members into the organization at the highest levels…and not just one token GenXer at the Board table. If that means you have to loosen some of your requirements, do so.
(5) Make membership valuable. Provide challenging and interesting content presented by a wide range of people and allow for opportunities to collaborate with other like-minded members.

If your organization takes too long to make significant changes to attract GenXers, they will go start a competing organization that meets their needs. In this day and age it’s easy to do.

Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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As a volunteer, I recently participated in an association’s national conference program planning committee. While I was very excited to be asked to participate, it became clear very quickly that my participation as a volunteer was no more than a token invitation. There was one conference call that took place to “discuss” the program. While only two other committee members could attend, I assumed that we would have subsequent calls to design the conference”¦wishful thinking on my part. After one conference call with the conference chair (also a volunteer) and one other committee member, it turns out that that was it. No more communication regarding the program. I just received the conference program in the mail. The conference was ultimately planned by the organization’s staff and the conference chair.

This situation really begs an interesting question, why bother asking members to participate in a volunteer “committee” if you are not going to use their advice and input? Why not claim that it is what it is — a staff decision (in this case)?

I know that program planning isn’t the only place where volunteers are asked to provide input, only for that input to be “token”. As a member, I find this incredibly wasteful of my time. But I think it also speaks to a bigger issue, is the staff so well versed in the pressing business issues our members face that they feel comfortable planning content for our only annual event? I think numbers speak for themselves because only a small fraction of our members attend the national conference.

Food for thought ““ association staffers need to realize that program decision-making needs to be a collaborative process with practitioners from the field providing input. Volunteers need to realize that association staffers know how to plan the details of events. Each party needs to stay in their own area of expertise.

Tags: Professional Development, We've Always Done It That Way by Amy
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