April 30, 2008
We Are Pleased to Announce a Major Initiative In Which You Might Be Vaguely Interested
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
Associations love to do “big” things. We love to launch “major initiatives.” I think it’s because we love making a big announcement. You know, sending out the press releases, maybe holding a big launch at an annual meeting, proudly announcing a major new program that is going to revolutionize our sphere. Associations love to do big things, because you can’t grow big by thinking small, right?
Wrong.
In fact, I think starting small is almost always preferable. The revolutions that really impact an association — the discovery of a new program, the development of a new tool that makes members’ lives easier, a sea change in the way programs are developed and made available, the growth of transparent conversations between members, finding new ways to make members feel heard and special — these are all things that can make a profound impact on the association’s bottom line, create new value for customers and members, and almost never get “announced”. They’re the things that make the association viable and successful, but tend to get pushed aside and ignored by folks eager for a shot in the spotlight with their “major, earth-shattering, world-colliding, paradigm-shifting, life-will-never-be-the-same initiative.”
We should all keep a scorecard of how many “major initiatives” turn into actual programs that make a real difference in the lives and businesses of members and how many just get thrown overboard next year for the “next big thing.” (If your new initiative involves “people sitting around and talking about something important,” then you can pretty much just assume that it made little difference. To the majority of your members, it was, at most, just background noise happening somewhere else.)
Ha - I sense an ally in my “bastion of incrementalism”! But it’s so true. You have to plant the seeds of new value and help them grow.
Maddie, I was actually talking about something else, but now that you mention it, this does seem to fit in with your recent back-and-forth on “revolution” and the thought process does seem similar. Personally, I think in an organization, revolution is best when it happens organically — and behind the scenes. Announce it when it’s done, not when you intend to do it. In fact, if you do it right, you won’t have to announce it at all.
Oh God, my overboard scorecard has pencil holes in it where I have beared down to hard with the lead. Hey are we protected by the 5th here? LOL