The Association Innovation Blog by Jeff De Cagna

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 why best practices don't cut it...

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..   

Google Logo Maker

Wanted to make you aware of a useful site that will generate text in a Google-style font, as you see below.

I've added it to the Just for Fun list on the right side of the blog.  As it says above, try to have fun!

Why do I love Google?

I love Google because they know how to be serious and playful, smart and fun at the same time.  Read on to see what I mean...it's a very cool thing actually!

Google Hungry For Executive Chefs

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - August 4, 2005 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a worldwide search for two executive chefs with the experience to creatively manage the preparation of thousands of quality breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals each day at the company's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. The executive chefs will oversee the development and continual refinement of an eclectic menu capable of suiting every Googler palate, from vegan entrées to pad thai, grilled
burgers, and wood-fired pizza-all while using organic ingredients whenever possible.

Hockey's back...

This doesn't have anything to do with either associations or innovation, but I'm simply ECSTATIC about the return of the NHL.  I'm really looking forward to being aggravated, irritated and frustrated by another abyssmal season of New York Rangers hockey.  It's going to be great...let's go Rangers!

By the way, I have added a Rangers-related poll to the blog.  Please cast your vote today!

Now this is a great idea...

Today, I received an e-mail from ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership that allowed me to proof my name badge for the upcoming Annual Meeting in Nashville.  Here is an image of what I received:

This is a terribly exciting development, not only for ASAE & The Center and for meetings in general, but for me personally.  I have struggled my whole life with the challenge of getting others to spell my last name correctly.  I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times over the decades other people have substituted their judgment for mine when spelling my last name.  People have actually argued with me about it, suggesting that the space in my name is not necessary or not a mistake.  The joke I make is that if I could get back all of the time I've spent correcting error-filled spellings my last name over the last 37 years, I'd still be 18 years old!

To me, this very simple e-mail is more than just excellent customer service.  For me, it is a sign of respect, a recognition of my individuality and a very simple step that allows me to regain control over how I present myself to others.  Oh sure, an incorrect name badge could be corrected at the meeting.  But now I'm know that ASAE & The Center cares about me as a person, not just as a meeting attendee, and that's a wonderful feeling.  Bravo!

UPDATE:  Rich over at the Trade Show Marketing Report pokes fun at my enthusiasm about the badge proofing option.   But Rich doesn't get my mail...today's extraordinary new spelling of my last name:  DeAcagna.  Now that's one I haven't seen before...full marks for originality.

The XtremeASAE Blog fun has begun...

It is with great pleasure that I announce the XtremeASAE Blog is now live and ready for you to visit!  This blog will be a resource for both Annual Meeting attendees and for members of the association community who are unable to join us in Nashville.  My advice to you:  subscribe today!  You can do that by visiting the site and entering your e-mail address in the Subscribe box on the right side of the blog.  When you subscribe, you will receive ONE E-MAIL per day with all of the updates to the blog for the previous day, so you won't have a bunch of new messages cluttering up your inbox!

I'm personally excited about this new blog, because we have such a great group of bloggers and we are actively seeking your participation in this blogging experience.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please email us at xtremeasaeblog@gmail.com.  We look forward to engaging you!

ASAE Annual Meeting blog launches Monday!

Great news!  ASAE & The Center are moving forward with a blog for the Annual Meeting in Nashville!  The blog will launch on Monday and I'm pleased to say that a group of association bloggers will be managing it, with the advice, guidance and support of the ASAE & The Center staff. It is an honor to be a part of that group, and I know that you're going to be pleased with what we're doing.

We're writing this blog for everyone who is attending the meeting, of course, but we're also doing it for the overwhelming majority of association professionals who won't be able to join us at Opryland.  We want the blog to be a useful resource for everyone, something you'll check daily over the next month and even after the meeting.  We will also make it a little bit provocative--dare I say "xtreme"--to capture your attention and spark your imagination!  And we very much want to get you involved!  More on that to come...

So get ready...and check out the various association community blogs over the next few days for updates.  It's very exciting!

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.

London 07-07-05

Yesterday, we had yet another tragic and painful reminder of just how precious life is.  It is hard to look at the images of bloodied and battered Londoners sitting on sidewalks with dazed looks on their faces and not be moved to tears.  Of course, for all of us, yesterday's attacks bring to front of mind the excruciatingly difficult memories of September 11, 2001.  And once again, we have been forced to confront the presence of pure evil in our world, in the most unforgiving and horrific way possible.

Last Sunday, my wife and I saw the movie, War of the Worlds. For me, it was not an enjoyable viewing experience, because various scenes replicated some of the worst visuals of 9-11...ash-covered people running for their lives, the heartbreaking photos and signs with impassioned pleas for help in locating missing loved ones, the wreckage of airliners strewn everywhere.  I emerged from the theater with my feelings--feelings I thought I had put down years ago--sitting right at the surface. It was hard to keep it together.

But what happened yesterday was not a movie.  What happened yesterday was as incomprehensible as it was barbaric.  The human race is suffering today, filled with the sharp pain of lost and shattered lives.  Of course, we must be resilient in the face of threat, and we will be.  But today and for the next few days, our hearts will be breaking because of these acts of senseless destruction.

To our friends in London, stay strong.  We are with you.