Principled Innovation LLC

Association 3.0 and being generative

February 10th, 2008

Late last night, I posted some more thoughts on why and how we can move beyond relevance-based thinking and language for our organizations. As I re-read the post this morning, I realized that there is one more idea I want to add to the mix.

In my forthcoming Associations Now article, “The Next Traditions of Association 3.0,” I present six “next traditions,” ways of thinking and being that I believe all of our organizations must adopt to be successful in the 21st century. Here is the list:

+Tradition of curiosity–We must be able to learn about both the world around us and about ourselves. Before there can be learning, there must be curiosity.

+Tradition of care–We must be able to maintain empathy and trust, even in the face of divergence and dissent. Before there can be community, there must be care.

+Tradition of imagination–We must be able to innovate in order create radical new value. Before there can be innovation, there must be imagination.

+Tradition of choice–We must be able to embrace the global explosion of diversity along all dimensions. Before there can be inclusion, there must be choice.

+Tradition of courage–We must be able to open up our organizations without fear. Before there can be openness, there must be courage.

+Tradition of responsibility–We must be able to serve as stewards and leave our organizations better than how we found them. Before there can be stewardship, there must be responsibility.

Each of these six next traditions is about thinking and acting in a generative fashion. Associations that are able to internalize these traditions in the 21st century will find themselves with hard-to-duplicate strategic advantages over organizations that are unable to escape their blind adherence to tradition as the way they have always done things.

Association 3.0, with its focus on building a systemic capacity for a different approach to associating, doesn’t need to announce its relevance. Instead, it can focus its efforts on re-weaving the unraveling fabric of a rapidly shifting society in ways that can help all stakeholders make sense of the world, connect with broader perspectives on where it is headed and exercise better judgment when making decisions.

So I’ll say it again: relevance is a losing argument. Being generative is a winning argument, and adopting the six next traditions I’ve presented here makes it much more possible for us to get on with living it everyday.

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