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Reply:
Vision,
Mission, Strategic Planning and other delusions.
By Susan B. Waters, CAE, Sextant Consulting
Come on, Henry, its not that bad.
I agree that many strategic planning sessions lack focus,
but I found during my 30 years as an association executive
that associations with the will to do so can achieve focus
if they try. That’s why in my consulting practice, I emphasize
planning for strategic focus rather than strategic planning.
I don’t know any exec who wants the same old strategic
planning exercise where you make long lists on chart pads
(or some other media), then find ways to combine everything
under broad categories that don’t allow for much change
or priority setting. Many associations are learning to
“tell good friends goodbye” through focused planning.
Lots of associations have learned that they need to be
clear on their vision, mission and areas of focus, and
that those things should have enduring qualities. Their
actual plans tend to be for shorter periods of time than
in the old days, acknowledging that the pace of change
has accelerated.
One of the major roles of associations, in my view, is
creating an environment that allows members to be socialized
into the future. Members of associations are people (even
in trade associations, this is true because the members
send representatives, and those representatives are people),
and people are change averse. Associations are a major
force in moving people along and creating new futures.
Sure, it takes longer than it took Chainsaw Dunlap, but
how successful was he, really?
Professional associations and organizations formed to
support people suffering from certain diseases teach people
to use technology that is changing dramatically and rapidly.
All associations advance the public policy debate, and
the expertise they bring helps us to avoid at least some
ridiculous laws, and shape public policy in a way that
is more beneficial than what the legislators would dream
up on their own.
Associations don’t change? What about the energy associations,
the medical associations, and charitable organizations
that form community in ways we never envisioned as recently
as 5 years ago? What about associations that didn’t even
have a presence on the web 10 years ago, and today have
rich web sites, online communities, online learning, and,
lately, blogs?
No, Henry, associations won’t make headlines for rapid
slash and burn change, but they surely promote change
and reinvention of themselves and their members pretty
quickly, and their changes have staying power.
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