Principled Innovation LLC

ASAE & The Center 2007: Lessons Learned

August 22nd, 2007

My post-ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting travel has made me late to the post-mortem party, and with another trip staring me square in the face, I thought I should respond to Dave Sabol’s lessons learned meme before the passage of more time renders my perspectives irrelevant. So, without further delay, here my five lessons learned, in reverse order:

5. There is clear dissatisfaction with strategic planning among association CEOs and senior executives, but they still regard the conversation about alternatives as largely a matter of semantics and, unfortunately, they do not yet recognize the threat that strategic planning itself presents to the long-term sustainability of associations.

4. Innovation evangelists working in and with associations need relief from the energy-sapping effects of legacy governance systems. Within this network of activists, there is an appetite for exploring a fundamentally different approach to stewardship–ungovernance–that could become the metaphorical sword our community needs to cut the Gordian knot of traditional governance bureaucracy.

3. Social responsibility must be more than a compelling catch phrase.  It must become the subject of sober strategic discourse in all associations, a conversation that is inextricably intertwined with mission, business model, governance and day-to-day operations. ASAE & The Center will need to do more than convene a dialogue about social responsibility. ASAE & The Center will need to lead the association community by example by embracing the challenge of integrating social responsibility into its own work.

2. “We have always done it that way,” the phrase, is becoming a rallying cry for attempting what’s next in our organizations. It’s the anti-mantra that when uttered can unleash the passionate creativity, unfettered imagination and spirit of discovery that is so desperately needed in associations going forward. (I suppose We Have Always Done It That Way, the book, may have had something to do with that. ;>)

1. No matter how much I may push and poke the association community, I truly love being a part of it, and I am especially fortunate and grateful to have incredible friends and colleagues with whom I can share all of these experiences. Thanks to all of you.

With due respect to Dave’s grand design, I won’t be tagging anybody else with this meme. But I do hope that other ASAE & The Center 2007 attendees will share their five lessons learned below, as well as comment on what I’ve written here. I’m intrigued by the dialogue.

BONUS KINDA HUMOROUS LESSON LEARNED: I came back from Chicago with many business cards, and it was interesting to discover that some associations use unbelievably complicated domain names for their websites/e-mail, some people are still using AOL e-mail addresses and, believe it or not, some people still don’t include an e-mail address on their business cards!

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Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, Random Thoughts, The Association Innovator, Simplicity, We Have Always Done It That Way, Governing Simply