Here’s your Who Wants to be A Millionaire million dollar question: What are the three states of association committee change? Is that your final answer? I’m sorry but solid, liquid and gas are not the right responses. And no, the State of WADITW (we’ve always done it this way), the State of WFIIINB (why fix it if it’s not broke) and the State of DIMWN (do it my way now) are not correct either. Resisted, Constrained and Dynamic are the three states of organizational change says author, CEO, … [Read more...]
Eight Terribly Common Association Breaches And Breakdowns
Sadly, and all too commonly, many associations appear to suffer from the equivalent of attention deficit disorder. If you know someone with ADD, you know what happens when s/he exerts energy in the absence of focus, goals and vision. Many associations are like this as well. They suffer from Organizational-ADD. It all starts with the executive brain—the association’s leadership. This includes volunteer leaders—advisors, board, committee chairs, committee members—and staff. What is required … [Read more...]
How The Nonprofit Association Program Pie Is Sliced
Most nonprofit associations find it difficult to abandon anything. Everything is a cause or "God's work." Yet performance and results are extremely important and often difficult to measure and control. Moral Versus Economic Causes A moral cause is an absolute good. For example, some religious leaders have been preaching against sex outside of marriage for years. Results have been small, if any at all. In these leaders' minds, the absence of results proves that they just have to … [Read more...]
Four Discovery Philosophies That Lead To Innovation
How innovative is your organization? Do your executives instill in you and your coworkers the courage to try new ideas? The Source Of Organizational Innovation Organizational innovation starts at the top. At least that's the finding from The Innovator’s DNA authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen. They researched and studied highly innovative companies and found several common traits. Innovative organizations are led by founder-entrepreneurs who excel at discovery. … [Read more...]
Association Members Want Movement Not Organizational Institutions
I have devoted more than twenty years of my adult life to nonprofits and associations. I have spent countless hours volunteering my time to help nonprofits succeed. I have given many staff hours to helping an industry progress. When a nonprofit works, it is a thing of beauty. It is uniquely able to do radical things such as helping the downtrodden, lending a hand to the underdog, assisting an industry's progress, educating the unlearned, challenging status quo, bettering our world, improving a … [Read more...]
10 Questions To Jump-Start Your Event Social Media Audit
Let's face it. Social media does not usually provide the instant gratification of a dopamine lollypop. Take a lick. Get a buzz. It takes time, intention and ultimately a plan. The Social Audit So perhaps you've stuck your Twitter thumb and Facebook fingers into the social stream. Now you wonder what is and isn't working. It's time for a social audit. Auditing your organization's social presence can help you make better business decisions regarding your actions. It can help you improve your … [Read more...]
You Don’t Know Jack About Working With Volunteers
(Here are some of my notes from Cynthia D'Amour's Lazy Leader Road Show "Creating A Surplus Of Volunteers" which recently stopped in Dallas.) Martyr leader volunteers! Our organizations are rife with them. They are the survival strategy for many nonprofits. Yet, focusing on them can actually kill an organization. The Awful Truth About Our Current Volunteer Strategies We reward volunteers who are over-achievers. The ones that throw their entire lives out of balance each year in the name of … [Read more...]
An Association Leader Should…
All living systems, including associations, go through five predictable life cycles: Birth Growth (formation, adolescence) Maturity Decline Death Healthy systems work to avoid decline and eventual death by using the wisdom and calm of maturity to plan a rebirth. Unhealthy systems avoid change as long as possible, often to their own demise. Leadership often needs to step back from their customary role of being agents for members, promoting members' interests. They need to become … [Read more...]
