The Association Innovation Blog by Jeff De Cagna

asae & the center annual meeting: part one

Well, I'm back from Nashville, and I have to say that I had a REALLY GREAT time at the ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting.  The staff did a fantastic job.  It was obvious that a great deal of creativity went into the planning for the meeting, and all of their efforts paid off by elevating the energy and enthusiasm level throughout.  The buzz among the attendees was awesome...everyone I talked to had fun and learned a great deal.  Most importantly, no one walked away from the meeting with the impression that this was your typical cookie-cutter ASAE meeting.  The spirit of the merged organization was unleashed in Nashville. Now it must be sustained everyday, day after day.  I'll offer a few thoughts on that subject on another day.  Today, I want to focus on some reflections on Nashville.

One final BlogJam post

I made my final post to the FC NOW BlogJam just a few minutes ago.  In it, I reiterate my hope that FC will launch a podcast, which I have suggested they call FC NEXT.  Whether they call it that or not, I just hope they'll run with the idea.  If you agree, please go to my post, and share your thoughts of support!

FC NOW Blogjam Posts #3 and #4

Here are my two posts from today.  I think I may have one more before the BlogJam is over!  You should check it out...

Inclusive innovation

Global competitiveness vs. Summer vacation

My For Immediate Release Interview

On Friday, I was interviewed by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson of the For Immediate Release podcast.  The interview is now available for download, and I hope you'll take some time to check it out.  (It is 55 minutes in length.)

For those of you who listen to my podcast, Associations Unorthodox, you know that I met Shel at the International Association of Business Communicators conference in DC in late June.  Shel introduced himself as "a big fan" of my podcast, which was a truly thrilling thing to hear, because until that point I wasn't sure whether anyone other than my friends were listening.  It was a very exciting moment for me, and I was even more excited by Shel's interview invitation.  I hope I didn't disappoint him and I hope you'll enjoy the conversation!  I look forward to your feedback and pushback...

FC NOW BlogJam 2005 Post #1

I've made my first post to the FC NOW BlogJam 2005, which began this morning.  I actually put it up a few minutes before midnight (because I'm a geek and I wanted to be the first one to post), and I thought I had blown it because my attempt to change the date and time initially failed, but I went back and corrected it and all is well.  Phew!  ;>) 

In this first post, I made a small proposal:  that Fast Company launch a podcast called FC NEXT.  Now that FC's ownership situation is more settled, I think this would be a great step for the publication to take.  (In addition, I think they should bring back their RealTime conferences, but that is a story for another day.)  I would love an FC podcast, and I am confident that I would not be alone.  The readership of this magazine is deeply devoted to it, so the podcast would have an interested audience from day one.  At any rate, we'll see what kind of reaction I get to the idea.

BTW, association executive and fellow blogger Shawn Lea of The Big Picture is also participating in the BlogJam and will be posting for the next two days.  I look forward to sharing in her brilliance and that of all BlogJam participants.  I suggest you join us! 

More on the decline of best practices

Here's another reason why I hate best practices.  The words are those of Johns Hopkins University president, William R. Brody, and they come from a speech he delivered at the end of April:

Risk aversion is eventually going to drive America into second-class status in our increasingly global economy. Guaranteed outcomes mean lowering our expectations. And lowered expectations lead to mediocrity and sub-par performance.

We need to ask ourselves: what's going on here? (Emphasis added throughout)

Our interest in best practices reflects our growing desire for guaranteed outcomes and a lack of tolerance for risk.  But best practices do not provide guaranteed or even reliable outcomes.  In fact, they rarely work out the way we have in mind when we copy them.  In the comments to my last posting on this subject, there were suggestions that best practices are useful for learning.  I can understand that view, but I would challenge it.  Best practices typically inhibit real learning by limiting the scope of possible inquiry, i.e., we focus our attention on what we know from the best practice and not on what we don't know, which is typically where things break down and where learning is most needed.  Yet we assume the best practice is comprehensive in its handling of the unforeseen because, after all, it's a best practice.  Unfortunately, that is virtually never the case, because best practices deal only with the very specific, context dependent problems their originating organizations are trying to solve at any given moment.  Most best practices don't produce either genuine insight or foresight until they've broken down or failed altogether.

The EMSAL debate continues

My friend Ben Martin of the Certified Association Executive blog has posted a response to my posting from late May regarding the EMSAL (executive master of science in association leadership) proposal.  You can read the comment I posted to his blog offering my take on his most recent points when you click through on the bold red "a response" link above.

I'm really glad that Ben has stayed in this conversation with me.  He's a great guy and very smart.  Thanks Ben!  I'm really looking forward to what comes next...

Building the case against best practices

Michael W. McLaughlin of Deloitte Consulting has published an excellent article called "The Worst About Best Practices."  Like me, Mike is frustrated by the prevalence of best practices and the thinking they promote.  As he writes:

The problem with best practices is this: That approach lulls people into thinking that a best practice really exists that can be successfully transplanted.

I agree.  TAIB readers will recall that I selected "the impending death of best practices" as one of the Top 5 issues facing associations in 2005.  Great organizations do not create value for members, customers and stakeholders by copying the work of others.  They understand that in today's marketplace, creativity and originality are the primary drivers of value.  When association leaders try to replicate the experience of others because it seems expedient or efficient to do so, they surrender the opportunity to dazzle their members and give ground to for-profit and non-profit enterprises willing to embrace the challenge of innovation.  In this sense, then, whether and how our organizations use "best practices" is truly a question of leadership judgment, and one that association executives and volunteers cannot afford to get wrong.  To them, I offer the following advice:  let's dump best practices and focus on building better practice in our organizations. 

UPDATE:  I have added a new poll on best practices.  Please cast your vote.

A new blog...

In my continuing foray into the world of social media, I am pleased to announce that my friend and colleague, Jamie Notter, and I have launched The Association Renewal Blog.  Jamie and I have created a joint venture called Association Renewal LLC, a consultancy through which we will collaborate to deliver next generation leadership to associations today.  This blog is one mechanism we will use to engage our community in a fresh conversation about how we can do just that.

We hope you will read and subscribe to our new blog.  We promise it will be provocative and well worth your attention.  Check out today's posting on our recent article in Executive Update magazine. Thanks!

UPDATE:  Jamie has also launched his new blog, Get Me Jamie Notter at www.getmejamienotter.com.  Check it out!

Another podcast at Associations Unorthodox

An update to TAIB readers...I have posted my latest podcast at Associations Unorthodox.  We're coming to the end of our discussion of The Future of Work by Tom Malone.  I hope you'll listen to my thoughts on the application of markets to associations, a subject I blogged on briefly during the Top 5 issues of 2005 posts toward the end of last year.  I have two more podcasts on the book to post, including an interview that Amy Smith and I did with Professor Tom Malone for our Internet radio show, Association Foresight.  The interview will be up tomorrow!

Coming up on March 18, some very cool stuff at Associations Unorthodox.  Join me then and listen carefully!