Principled Innovation LLC

Are associations wasting what is most precious?

September 26th, 2006

Writing in the October 2006 issue of Wired, digerato George Gilder makes an intriguing observation about the underlying dynamics of corporate success, with a specific emphasis on Google, whose current efforts in cloud computing are the article’s primary focus:

Google’s success stems from more than foresight, ingenuity, and chutzpah. In every era, the winning companies are those that waste what is abundant - as signaled by precipitously declining prices - in order to save what is scarce. Google has been profligate with the surfeits of data storage and backbone bandwidth. Conversely, it has been parsimonious with that most precious of resources, users’ patience.

Gilder’s perspective got me thinking about the strategic trajectory of the association world over the 15 years that I’ve been a part of it, and wondering whether a reverse dynamic has been in play in our organizations, i.e., have we been trying to conserve resources that are more readily available than we imagine, while wasting resources that actually are precious? To put it in more concrete terms, have association leaders been so boxed in by the “we don’t have enough and we’ll never have enough” mindset living at the heart of traditional non-profit thinking, that we have squandered the finite goodwill and discretionary commitment of the individuals and organizations we are trying to serve, as well as those who provide service to them?

On this inquiry, I would not presume to draw conclusions for all associations, since a deep appreciation of context is necessary in exploring this kind of challenging strategic question. In my years of association experience, however, I have certainly been a witness to many executive decisions made in ways consistent with the dynamic I describe. Whenever an association chooses to “nickel and dime” its members or inconvenience its staff over inconsequential matters, it is being profligate with something that while intangible, may also be irreplaceable. In an environment in which the relationship each of us has with time is increasingly negatively dynamic, and our levels of energy and attention often fluctuate within a relatively small range at the low end of the scale, all association leaders need to rethink whether a short-sighted focus on savings really can continue to trump the long-term need for consistent growth along all relevant metrics.

If associations are going to jump to a new trajectory of sustainable success in the 21st century, I believe all leaders must embrace an approach that is closer to the spirit of Gilder’s observation. Of course, I don’t advocate on behalf of wasting any resources, no matter how cheap they are or eventually may become. But just about everyone I know who believes in associations also believes that there are things much more important than money, and it is therefore incumbent upon us to begin making regular and meaningful investments in building the available supply of what will become the essential elements of our long overdue renaissance.

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