Nonprofit

Learning the Dance

Do you recall your first time? The first time you rode a bike, perhaps hit a ball, mastered a puzzle, went on a date, graduated, won an award, traveled to a foreign country. Do you remember the first time you tried to perform the critical aspects of your current job?

The first strategic planning retreat I facilitated, my client was a museum and the board had not held a planning session in years. I worked for a week preparing PowerPoint slides, agendas, and handouts. I stirred myself awake at night thinking about contingency plans. I wondered what I would do if a part of the retreat got off-track or failed? I was a nervous wreck going in the door.

I would venture to say that I could facilitate the same retreat today and would be many times more effective. The result of the client’s planning would increase many fold. I could be called on tonight to work tomorrow morning and I would sleep just fine. Why?

I have hours of practice now. I have worked with incredibly motivated organizations, dysfunctional boards, inappropriate venues, challenging agendas, and even witnessed shouting matches between attendees. I have a routine. I am constantly adjusting and tweaking my performance but I know the key steps. I have tried multiple approaches, learned the strengths and failings of each one. My best laid plans have been hijacked and the most despondent moments have turned into watershed victories. One client recently thanked me for guiding an engagement that memorable for being particularly ineffective. I asked them what had transformed for the organization since the retreat. The client told me that they never wanted to feel so helpless again. The enterprise had come to realize they were wasting time and resources. It took dead calm seas for this group to get perspective on what was important.

We all have a dance, we know our steps. The music may change but we can work our same moves with a new beat. The power of the fundamental steps is the difference between a sleepless night and the certainty of success.

What moves have you perfected?

Cycling Strategy from Lance

I am a fan of cycling and a cyclist. My morning routine this time of year includes trying to catch a couple minutes of coverage of the Giro d’Italia on Universal Sports (living streaming coverage of the Tour of Italy). One of the team strategies that you see executed over a three week cycling tour is the strategy of sending a supporting teammate up the road on an early breakaway from the peleton (main group). One of the advantages of doing this is to the allow your team leader a chance to bridge forward and catch the teammate in the later portion of the race. Once the team leader catches the earlier breakaway, the domsetique (or support rider) buries himself using all their remaining energy to lead the star rider as close to the end of the race as possible before pulling to the side and allowing the star a chance to win the stage or gaining enough time to win the overall tour.

What I like about this tactic (and I believe may be useful to your organization) is that you take a calculated risk by putting a team member in the early breakaway. If the early breakaway fails then you have only expended the energy of one of your support riders. If the early breakaway happens to stay away, you have a team representative to contest for the win. Or, if your team leader is able to reach the earlier breakaway, you have an individual dedicated to supporting their chances. The team leader has little to risk until they make the final push for the win.

Is your organization considering a new program or service, possibly launching a new marketing campaign, adding key new personnel? Is there an opportunity to send a smaller advance party forward to see what the reaction of your customers and clients will be? Can you send a teammate up the road and then bring the rest of your organization along if the conditions appear favorable? Much better to alter the results of a trial program than to retool an entire enterprise because you put the organization at the front of the peleton too early.

He who controls the venue…
For years a community arts group booked the summer concerts for their resort community. Positioned as the leader in the arts, it was an obvious extension of the arts organization’s mission and offered three to four well received summer public events. The audience at the concerts ranged between 1,000 to 4,000 depending on the artist and the date. The one impediment was that the arts group was reliant on the owners of the local ski resort to provide the venue- which was typically the base of the ski slope. The resort could promote nationally recognized musical artists and was a draw for the community. The art’s organization used its expertise in the performing arts and the relationship with the resort who was interested in attracting people to its hotel and property appeared symbiotic. The musical venue was temporary and required a complete set-up and breakdown for each concert but the concert series worked for years.

Last year the ski resort owners decided to build a summer amphitheater that turned into a grand musical venue. Suddenly the ski resort decided to program the new venue with musical acts and no longer needed the expertise of the arts organization. The ski resort hired a program director to schedule the events. As the owners of the music pavilion the resort has priority over dates, artists, and vendors. Suddenly a long held tradition of summer concerts produced by the art center was no longer the headliner event. The summer will sort out the results but I think that this is a good illustration of the power and dysfunction of partnerships.

Does your enterprise have a critical resource that make you relevant to an on-going partnership? Can you be replaced? What are your contingency plans? Does your organization understand what it is uniquely positioned to do?

It Does Not Matter How Comfortable the Cabin is…

A strategic planning client recently received the results of their on-line strategic planning survey. One message throughout the results was clear- STOP. Stop adding new programs, stop expanding the services, stop moving forward at 75 MPH. It was a kind message with a simple request. Take time to do the current programs better. Sure-up the current services. Focus on the basics.

To put it in terms many of us can understand, make sure the luggage is on the plane before you take-off. I do not care if I have a flat-bed seat, a 17″ personal monitor, great food, 500 thread count sheets, and noise canceling headphones. If my bags are not on the plane then the journey is going to get off to a rough start and I am going to be dissatisfied when is disembark. So before you pour an estate Reserve wine and give me access to the lounge make sure you have mastered the fundamentals, then we can talk about the on-board massage.

Has your organization mastered the basic steps? Are you concerned about the core service or the extras?

Not Any Old Starbucks


Have you ever noticed that not all Starbucks are the same? Typically the drinks offered and the aesthetics are similar. It is the employees that really add the flavor- so to speak. My wife mentioned the other day that we have two Starbucks in our town that always give the impression that the team is thrilled to be working at that particular store. They greet you quickly and cheerfully. The drinks are made with extra attention to detail. They are quick to recognize a problem and correct it. Somebody normal offers a ‘thank you’ as you depart. At the end of the day, I walk out with a similar product but my perception of the experience at the different Starbucks is dramatic. The dynamic ones make me remember them. The less energetic Starbucks make me remember the drink, which is usually average at best- or at least that is my perception when it is not made by a barista with a flare for adding something extra.

What have you experienced? What companies standout?

They do not always know what it isn’t

Just because your organization was not able to get all your:

  • points in during a conversation,
  • elements into a program,
  • information into a marketing campaign,
  • slides into a PowerPoint presentation,
  • links on the website

does not always mean that your customers or clients know what was left-out. How many times have we ‘kicked ourselves’ because we missed an element or did not include certain information? Yet the realization is that there are no margin notes that say ‘this information was not included.’ Make sure you get the critical pieces included and focus on the ‘Big Rocks’. There will always be little pebbles and pieces of sand that do not fit into the vessel but if you get the big rocks in then you can feel proud.

It should be simple, right?

Sponsor Something Free

The other day it struck me that you do not always need money to sponsor an event. Just think about the opportunities that exist daily that are free. Intel claims to be “the sponsor of tomorrow.” I do not think they had to pay a cent for the rights (except to a marketing department). TGIF has built it’s campaign around sponsoring the concept of Friday. What can you sponsor that so ubiquitous that we never have thought of attaching our enterprise to… weather, days of the week, future moments in time, emotions, memorable moments, forces of nature, etc.

The list is really endless and yet a creative opportunity to springboard marketing campaigns with no contracts.

If you are looking for existing funding opportunities consider all the youth sports leagues that suddenly find themselves trying to replace the Ford, GM, Chrysler logos that use to adorn their sports jerseys. I listened to an interesting piece on ESPN radio bemoaning the lose of these critical sponsors. Many open doors to make a difference and be a savior for community programs.

What opportunities have opened themselves which were never considered options previously?

Size Doesn’t Matter

Reading the Twitter tweets of Johann Bruyneel (@johanbruyneel), the Sports Director of the Astana Cycling Team- or as most people recognize him as the manager of Lance Armstrong’s Seven Tour de France wins. He posted a tweet the other night that was humorous and yet immediately one I could identify with:

“If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”

You never can be too small to have an impact and if you are BIG remember how quickly something small can take all your attention.

The New News

The state of the newspaper: Do we think a market will continue exist where individuals will purchase a newspaper filled with information that is not real time? Will you continue to pay versus go online and view information for free? Do you think what is being deemed ‘an outdated model’ will perpetuate simply due to tradition?

What will I pay for? I deeply value the flow of information. Additionally, I value another person’s perspective on the news. Who can make sense of the news and present information in a context that allows me to decode complex issues? I value people’s opinions and perspectives when well thought-out.

I see an opportunity in this ‘dying’ medium. What opportunities exist in your market that may have been written-off already?

5:45 AM Conference Call


I woke at 5:45 AM this morning, walked down to the computer, and 10 minutes later was on a video conference engaged with a board that was holding a retreat in New York. This is done daily across the world. For me it re-enforced the point that resources are available from all over. If we limit our thinking and ask less powerful questions our results will be in proportion with our vision. Do not be afraid to ask grand questions or consider resources from around the world. In a global world, you never know who or what you will find.