Tired of Operational Surprises? Ask These Strategic Questions
Surprise parties can be fun. If the balloon tower featuring your age got cancelled—even better. Surprises in business aren’t so welcome. When the membership director springs a dashboard on you with every indicator trending south, it’s not a good day. Distraction is an invitation for the unexpected. If you’re playing Whack a Mole with details, […]
Stay the Course Through Changing Weather—Strategic Advice From Association CEOs
The association industry has a reputation for clinging to traditions as stubbornly as Linus hugs his trademark blanket. As the home of organizations that draw on decades of history, it’s not surprising that we love the security of time-honored strategies. But, our community doesn’t get the credit it deserves for invention. If you need proof […]
Rule Your Market—Blue Ocean Strategy Sidesteps the Sharks
Are sharks circling your member base, eyeing bites for their next meal? Even if your association is trapped in a sea of competition, you can change course and sail toward possibility. Sharon Rice, .orgSource Managing Director of Business Strategy, is our expert for guiding associations through tough markets. At .orgCommunity’s recent Innovation Summit, Sharon explored how Blue Ocean […]
Find the Athletes You Need to Innovate
Don Dea and Hugh Lee, the co-founders of DigitalNow, are colleagues I look to as voices from the future. In an interview for our book, “Association 4.0: An Entrepreneurial Approach to Risk, Courage, and Transformation,” Don made this prediction. “In order to help workers adapt, associations will need to find and hire terrific athletes. Talent who can […]
To Stay on the Bull, Learn From Other Riders
Being a CEO today is a little like riding a bull. The experience is guaranteed to be bumpy. But, if you have half an hour to listen to someone else’s story, you can learn a lot about how others manage the challenge. The leaders I interview for my Association 4.0 podcast encourage me to think in unexpected […]
In the Midst of Uncertainty, Expect These Trends to Rise
Dust off the crystal ball, slosh the tea leaves, and toss the I Ching. It’s that time of year when the pundits make predictions about what’s in store for the next 12 months. Based on our last two turns around the sun, these more intuitive schemes might be as reliable as a carefully considered hypothesis. […]
Integrated Planning Keeps the Glass Half-Full
In June, I thought the dust was settling. Now, with the onslaught of virulent Delta, not so much. We are still in the grip of disruption. The change seems to be that people are learning to cope. There is a shift from reactive to more deliberate approaches. Organizations are investigating technology acquisitions and launching new […]
Taking It Down to the Studs—Simplicity Streamlines AAHA’s Road to Excellence
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry What do Spotify, Robinhood, and HelloFresh have in common? Here’s a clue. The word “easy” has pride of place throughout all their promotional materials. These companies save […]
Empower Strategy by Incorporating Trends
Getting strategic planning right is challenging in the best of times. This season of disruption adds additional complexity and brings significant shifts in perspective that are important to recognize as associations prepare for the years ahead. I’ve been advising .orgSource clients to integrate strategy across organizational activities since long before the pandemic. If I ever […]
What Associations Can Learn from Lego
BY DOUG KLEGON I recently came across an article discussing how Lego came back from near extinction (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/04/how-lego-clicked-the-super-brand-that-reinvented-itself). There seemed to be several lessons for associations. Following a period of disastrous diversification, in 2003 Lego found itself $800 million in debt with sales down 30%. Lego’s CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp—the person who turned things around—is quoted as […]
The Enormous Value of Being a Day 1 Association
Have you heard about Day 1 and Day 2 framework? I had not until JP Guilbault CEO of YourMembership mentioned it at the company’s recent conference. A few days later my Dad sent me a copy of the first pages of Amazon’s 2016 year-end annual report which is a letter from the company’s CEO to shareholders. […]
.orgCommunity – Shaping the Future Together!
Innovation & disruption has been happening and will continue to happen at an accelerated pace. But today is the launch of .orgCommunity’s Innovation + Disruption Conference — the beginning of answers to how associations can tackle and get in front of disruption. We have worked with the .orgCommunity “Think Tank” in workshops to challenge our […]
POSITIONING THE ASSOCIATION OF THE FUTURE
BY DOUG KLEGON .orgCommunity has been engaging association leaders in a series of discussions regarding the evolution of associations and the need for innovation. Emerging—and as yet unseen—disrupters will require significant changes in the nature of associations, how they envision fulfilling their missions and serve their constituencies. In some industries we already have seen complete transitions […]
BARRIERS TO TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
BY DOUG KLEGON It is a truism that teamwork is important to achieve organizational goals. But what makes for effective teams? .orgCommunity has been exploring that issue. Our recent Leadership Summit featured a team effectiveness session led by association executive John Forbes. John also led a subsequent .orgCommunity “30 on Thursday” webinar on the same topic. […]
IT’S TIME FOR THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP SURVEY—THEN WHAT?
By Doug Klegon, Ph.D., FACHE, Managing Director – Customer Experience and Marketing For many associations the membership survey is an annual ritual. The survey goes out, a basic summary is prepared and there is a discussion at a management meeting. But then the results lie dormant awaiting the next measurement season. To prevent this wasteful cycle […]