Strategic Planning

Even When You Have All the Resources

Traveling to Seattle this winter, I had the privilege of meeting with experts in the world of early childhood education. Their knowledge, curriculum maps and facilities are among the best in the United States. One of the major supporters of the school’s work at the pre-school level is the Gates Foundation. Over lunch, one of the leaders remarked how the the original intention of the Gates Foundation was to reform the public school system. The foundation’s financial grants and programs were transformative in their size and approach. What the Gates Foundation did not anticipate was the general resistance to change in the education system and the obstacles created by bureaucracy. After evaluating their impact, the foundation decided to change its strategy. It did not leave the field of education but rather jumped forward on the timeline to focus on opportunities within early childhood education. The reception to their efforts and programs has been dramatic. They are now collaborating with the leaders in the field to create new programs and share their discoveries.

Sometimes all the money in the world will not help you meet your mission (do not tell your Director of Advancement or Development) because the obstacles that exist are not ready to budge. Seth Godin describes this as the ‘Dip’. If the Dip is too big you may never get to the other side during your organization’s life cycle. If the Dip is not big enough, then lots of organizations can get to the other side and your enterprise and its programs are no longer remarkable. But you can look for a new entry point. For the Gates Foundation, the move upstream, closer to the educational headwaters shifted the educational paradigm. The foundation’s mission did not change but their approach did.

Is your organization committed to executing your mission despite the resistance and results? How do you evaluate how your organization might best achieve its mission? Are you finding the best place to cross the swift current?

Like a High School Senior

I was sitting at the bagel shop for lunch yesterday and watched a number of Seniors from the local high school assembled for a quick lunch. The energy in the room was palpable. This was their final week as high school students and they were about to graduate to the next chapter of their lives. The conversation was energetic. It made me consider the following: how can students get so invested in their graduation and accomplishments and yet nonprofit board members typically roll off a board in an exhausted heap?

Sandra Hughes, a master nonprofit consultant and trainer with BoardSource once recommended that you ‘whack them and plaque them’ in celebration of a board member’s service. I agree that a great recognition event and meaningful memento is a vital ingredient to feeling appreciated. When this step is forgotten or done poorly it can leave a lasting impression, even if unintended. I once received a customized pottery plate with my name misspelled. I had served the organization as Board Chair for four years so it was an humorous but awkward final farewell.

How do you allow board members to reach a crescendo instead of falling off a cliff during their final weeks on the board? A couple ideas:

  • Personal Goals: Give a new board member a blank piece of paper somewhere early in their tenure. Have them write down some key accomplishments and goals they wish to fulfill while serving the organization. Track this at least two to three times a year and recognize the appropriate successes in front of the board and staff. This gives great insight into what is personally motivating to each board member.
  • Be flexible: Far too often we hold term limits as the mandatory finish line. Sometimes board members come with a specific talent that they fulfill on behalf of the organization and then they are ready to be released to another project. We keep individual board member’s locked-up in a bizarre volunteer agreement. If a board member is ready to go, it may be best for the organization to celebrate them at their zenith. No reason everyone has to run the same distance on behalf of the nonprofit, sometimes sprinters bring great results despite our marathon mentality.
  • Communicate: Either prior to their service or after completing a period as a board member, many individuals miss the ‘insider’ information that comes from being in the boardroom. No all of it is appropriate to share with your potential and past board members but I have found a couple well crafted releases of information can do a tremendous amount to keep individuals close to the enterprise.
  • Strategic Planning: A great planning process provides one of the richest opportunities to engage the broader community. Focus groups, online surveys, task forces, interviews, research, etc. There are many possible fields of engagement and nothing is more rewarding than being asked for advice.

Can you envision your organization with board members who celebrate their final month of board service with the same enthusiasm as a high school senior? A genuine feeling of accomplishment and participation. A small bit of trepidation about playing a new role. Imagine seeing a board member walking around in a t-shirt declaring their graduation and accomplishments from your nonprofit organization?

This Moment: Tonight


Starting the week and wondering if I am picking-up where I left off from last week or starting with a clean slate? My ‘to do/project list’ certainly contains items that trace their vintage to previous days. Reality is that the current moment is the only currency I can spend. It can be as spectacular or dull as I command. Change is taking place with or without my participation, regardless of how established my routine.

For any late night television fans, this week brings the launch of Conan O’Brien ads host of NBC’s Tonight Show. It takes a monumental change sometimes to realize how comfortable the I was with Jay Leno for the past 17 years. A normal Monday night under Jay’s reign would have included the predictable ‘Headlines’ segment. Now there is plenty of uncertainty as to what will appear during this evening episode of the Tonight Show with Conan.

Makes me question: am I my routine or am I the moment?

What are you focused on? Are you repeating or innovating? How do your strengths and talents support your effectiveness each moment?

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?

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?