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!
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...
Dave Snowden, internationally-recognized expert on knowledge, storytelling and social complexity, has given us more ammunition in the fight against mediocrity by best practice. Speaking on Wednesday at an IBM event in Singapore, Snowden offered the following succinct yet powerful observation:
No company who has ever succeeded to be the market leader has ever done it by following the best practices set by the dominant leader in that space.
As I've been typing these words, I've been running a list of market leaders through my mind: Apple, Google, Starbucks, FedEx, 3M. Snowden is clearly correct. None of these leading companies achieved its position by duplicating the work of others. Instead, these companies focused their energies on advancing original ideas and built their continuing commitment to innovation as a prerequisite for sustainable success.
In his Singapore talk, Snowden also argued that necessity is the driver of innovation. When the environment in which the organization operates changes dramatically, the pressure that people feel to try new approaches increases as the old ways of working become harder to sustain. Apparently, Snowden isn't familiar with the association community, however, because necessity is precisely where we stand right now in our need for innovation. So far, however, the pressure doesn't seem to have caused enough pain and discomfort for a critical mass of association leaders to induce them to make innovation a genuine priority. I'm not that thrilled with the idea of making innovation happen due, in part, to a sense of fear. But at this point, I'll take what I can get!
In any event, the next time someone in your association suggests that you look for best practices, tell them to seek out original ideas instead. The former is almost certainly the road to being average, while the latter is the surer pathway to long-term success and realizing your association's full potential..
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.
Just a quick note to let everyone know that there is a new podcast posted to Associations Unorthodox, the first podcast I've done in a month. I'll be podcasting again later in the week. Please check it out!
Thanks to my friend David Gammel over at High Context for connecting me to the Original Tombstone Generator site where you can, well, generate your own tombstone for whatever particular purpose you have in mind. David sent me a "strategic planning is dead" version he created which I used in a presentation over the weekend. (Thanks David, it is really great!) I decided to create another one myself, which I have posted above.
I know it's a bit morbid, but we can still have a little fun with it, right?
This month's online edition of ASAE's Association Management magazine includes an article on podcasting in which I am extensively quoted. As the association community's podcasting pioneer--a new completely immodest, self-referential superlative that I just created (whadda ya think?)--I'm very proud to have been included in the article. I'm grateful to Jesse Alter, who was with AM at the time, for the fine job he did with this piece. I hope you'll check it out!
Just a quick note to TAIB readers that I have posted a new podcast on "the death of strategic planning" over at Associations Unorthodox. This will be the first in an occasional series of podcasts around the shortcomings of strategic planning, as well as alternatives to it, that I will be recording in the months ahead. I hope you'll check it out, and do let me know what you think!
This past Tuesday, I presented a free session on Google and innovation for the association community. The session was hosted by the Special Libraries Association and I want to thank Janice Lachance, SLA's executive director, my friend and colleague John Crosby, and all of the staff at SLA for their great help and support!
I've led many sessions over the course of my career and I've grown accustomed to having my photograph taken from the back of the room. But I've always wanted to take a picture of an audience from my vantage point, so we can see the learning experience from a new perspective. It just so happens that we had a great group of association professionals and learners assembled for this session who were more than willing to participate in this small experiment. Thanks to all of you for your participation and engagement, not only in this photo but in the session as a whole.
I'm looking forward to writing and talking about Google and innovation going forward, as well as to delivering more free learning sessions for our association community. If your association would like to organize this kind of "thought leader" session for its staff or the community at large, please send me an e-mail. I'd be happy to chat with you about it.
I am incredibly excited to announce that today I have launched my brand new podcasting blog, Associations Unorthodox! What makes this blog different is that all of the posts (with the exception of an occasional informational post perhaps) will be in an audio format. You'll be able to listen to the posts online and, even better, you'll be able to access a podcasting feed so you can download those posts to your iPod or MP3 player. My first podcast in online right now!
As a reader of TAIB, I hope you will also take a listen to Associations Unorthodox. I'll be using this new communications medium to engage our community in a conversation that challenges the conventional wisdom and prevailing orthodoxy of the association community. My goal is to create new strategic options for associations that can help our organizations not simply survive but thrive in the 21st Century.
Spread the word about Associations Unorthodox to your friends and colleagues in the association community. We're entering a new phase of the discussion so get ready to be a part of it. And remember to always listen carefully!
