The Association Renewal Blog

Getting ready for generational renewal in 2006

Jamie and I have a new article on generational renewal strategy in ASAE & The Center's Executive IdeaLink, the official newsletter of association's Executive Management Section, and we wanted to make it available to everyone here on the blog.  You can find it by clicking the "Continue reading" link below.

We think this article is pretty timely, considering the fact that one minute and one second from right now, the first of the Baby Boomers will turn 60 and we will enter the next phase of a profound national and global transition that will change our organizations and our society forever.  The question for associations is whether Boomers, Xers and Millennials will be able to set aside their assumptions about what motivates the members of other generations, in favor an authentic discussion about how those motivations can be directed toward the larger goal of meaningful and enduring organizational renewal. 

We look forward to engaging you in this and other explorations of renewal issues during 2006.  But for now, Happy New Year one and all!

What are they thinking at NATO?

I don't normally use the blogs to which I contribute as vehicles for singling out specific organizations for criticism, but I have been quite struck by the remarkable shortsightedness exhibited by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) in recent weeks.  First, NATO's CEO argues for the status quo in an article on Mark Cuban that appeared in last month's Fast Company. Then, the other night, local news in DC reported that NATO is considering making a petition to the FCC for the right to either ban cell phones from theatres or perhaps jam cell phone signals.

I have only one question for NATO's staff and volunteer leaders:  what the heck are you thinking?

Buy Low, Sell High

Jeff posted Association Renewal’s strategic principles. The first one—which was the first one that he and I realized would be a principle for our work together—is that we only work with leaders who “accept the need for renewal.” Said another way, we only work with people who realize that their organizations must engage in real change and renewal in order to be successful in the future. Change is not optional.

We recently got a little push back on this principle from a Board member of one of our clients who said, in effect, “But why would we change if we are currently very successful?” I understand that it seems counterintuitive to change a winning strategy, but think of it in terms of a stock market analogy. The inexperienced trader might panic when the market is tanking and sell, or they may get caught up in the exuberance of a hot market and buy, and intuitively that makes some sense: sell before it gets any worse and buy before it goes any higher. But remember the basic principle of making money in stocks: buy low and sell high. So when things are good (market is up, or “high”), you sell and get out, and when things are going down (low), you would take advantage of bargains and buy. I know this is an oversimplification of stock markets, but the principle is actually in effect (and it keeps the markets from fluctuating too wildly).

Back to associations: when your strategy is working the best, that’s when you have the resources, energy and attention to focus on renewal (sell high). The reason you start changing your winning strategy is that the alternative would be to wait until it becomes a losing strategy and then change it. But then you’re “selling low” by trying to modify your strategy at a time when resources are tight and internal frustration is high.

You don’t have to stop doing everything that makes you successful. But you do need to take time during your success have some critical conversations about what will make you successful in the future and start working towards that (and yes, that will involve some change).

Executive Foresight Conversation on Unbundling

You can listen in to the conversation several of us had earlier this evening about unbundling and other issues that are fundamentally challenging the association business model.  Reflecting on the conversation, here are a few questions for you to consider:

1.  How well does your association understand the fundamental changes created by the emergence of Web 2.0, i.e., the Web as a platform for participation rather than publishing?

2.  What will it take for you and other leaders in your organization to shift their mindsets from the association as the locus of value creation to the context in which value is created by others?

3.  How will you challenge your association's leaders (as well as yourself) to embrace the paradox of taking greater responsibility for driving  more work from the edges of the organization that is beyond the leaders' control?

Obviously, these broader strategic questions only scratch the surface, but they are starting point for the kinds of conversations we must have in the association community.  Our session this evening was stimulating and a great step forward in building our understanding of where our organizations must go.  We look forward to hearing your thoughts!


MP3 File (approximately 1 hour, 10 minutes in length)

Tomorrow's session on unbundling

Tomorrow evening beginning at 6 pm EST, I will be leading an informal telephone conversation on the issue of unbundling, i.e., "the choice by associations to offer their products and services a la carte rather than as an organized package."  This session will be conducted entirely by phone and it is not necessary for you to have read any of the resource materials for the conversation.

Among the questions we will consider:

• What are the forces driving unbundling and what effect are these forces having on the broader association business model?
• What is the "Google effect" and how can associations develop strategies that capitalize on it?
• What role does innovation need to play in the work of associations going forward?

I look forward to a spirited conversation.  The details for dialing in to the call, as well as the list of resources that will shape our conversation, can be found by clicking on the link below.  Please join us!

Our principles...

Jamie and I recently spent some quality time reflecting on the core strategic principles of our joint venture, Association Renewal LLC.  The work of surfacing strategic principles is something we challenge our clients to do, and we would not be credible if we didn't challenge ourselves to do the same.  By our definition, principles are statements of justified belief that reflect the necessary conditions for organizational success.  We are still working on the rationales but we wanted to share the principles with you, in the hope you will give us some feedback on the intentions they reflect.

Association Renewal LLC Strategic Principles

●We partner only with clients who accept the need for renewal.
●We drive renewal through authenticity in both thinking and acting.
●We pursue renewal as a holistic, interdisciplinary and collaborative process.
●We work to foster renewal throughout the association community.
●We challenge our clients to take responsibility for leading renewal within their systems.

You may be wondering why we're sharing these principles openly.  We think a close look at them should tell you all you need to know.

Cool, and proud of it...

Our friend and fellow blogger Kevin Holland informed us recently that he included The Association Renewal Blog on his Ten Cool Blogs list for ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. Jamie and I are quite proud to be among these many fine blogs and bloggers, and we want to thank Kevin for thinking of us.  Of course, we're big fans of his blog as well.

Going into 2006, we intend to enhance the value of The Association Renewal Blog by driving the conversation about renewal in the association community.  We don't need to remind anyone that our organizations face complex and unrelenting challenges in the years ahead.  The commitment Jamie and I share to delivering next-generation leadership to associations today, however, inspires us to pose the difficult questions that association leaders must be able to answer if their organizations are to survive and thrive in the years ahead.  We want to raise the level of discourse around these issues and, with your help, hopefully achieve some breakthroughs in thinking that will benefit all organizations in the association world.

I don't expect we'll pull any punches in this conversation and we may ruffle a few feathers in the process.  We hope you will join us and be an active contributor to the dialogue.  Your insights and perspectives definitely have a home here.  And thanks again to Kevin for the kudo.  We really appreciate it!

Mistakes will happen...

Earlier today, I erroneously posted something to this blog that was intended for one of our private client blogs.  Before I realized the mistake, I pushed the publish button, the pinging began and...AARRGGHH!  While I have removed the post from the blog itself, I cannot get back what RSS has delivered to you. 

Jamie and I request that you simply delete this mistaken post from whatever application you use to read your feeds and pretend it doesn't exist.  Of course, we know our readers are upstanding people, thus we don't anticipate a problem.  We all make stupid mistakes from time to time, but we know we have your empathy, compassion and discretion as fellow professionals and members of our idea community.  Thank you all!

OMG, not another blog...

It's time to let a little kitten out of its bag...Jamie and I are among five "independent thinkers" contributing to a book blog called We Have Always Done It That Way:  101 Things About Associations We Must Change.  We hope to have our book done in a few months, but we can't do it without you!  Your ideas, insights, comments and suggestions are critical to the success of this project and we challenge you to join us in this exploration of what we can all do together to build a better, stronger association community.

We are not pulling any punches in posts, and some people may be unhappy with what we write.  It is not our intention to insult or offend anyone personally, but we are trying to attack the outmoded assumptions, beliefs and practices to which associations continue to commit themselves, and we are doing so head on.  In fact, if you perceive that we have not gone far enough in our thinking or writing, please let us know.  Thank you in advance for being a part of this effort.

(And no, Kevin, I'm not pimping for comments...I"m pleading!)