In just a matter of days our lives have been up ended and our livelihoods threatened. We can’t do what we want to do and, in some cases, that which we need to do. If we’re fortunate, we find ourselves cooped up at home seeking information so we can make good decisions regarding our jobs and family. The stress is …
Black swan is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise and has a major impact. The coronavirus pandemic definitely fits the definition. Its impact has left no nonprofit organization and their stakeholders untouched. Day-to-day operations, meetings, conventions, fund raising: every aspect has all been impacted. The cascading impacts of social distancing, hoarding, shutting down of nonessential …
Like the private sector, the nonprofit community is facing significant challenges over the next 5 years that are certain to reshape how organizations are set up and operate. I thought it may be useful to explore some of these trends and thinking through the potential implications. My purpose is to provide some ideas and concepts in the hopes they will …
Problem Assigning responsibility for a strategic change or initiative is straightforward for most organizations. Whether the assignment is made by the “tag your it” approach or a more thoughtful “who is best suited to lead this effort” approach, holding someone accountable for success of the change/initiative has shown to be a quite vexing. This problem is exacerbated when multiple people …
At every venue you visit for the services you need, there are credentials and certificates hanging on the wall. Behind the desk of your attorney and CPA are their degrees and licenses; your surgeon and dentist proudly display the medical credentials they worked so hard to earn. Even for professions that don’t take years of university schooling, you put your …
It is always a celebratory moment when organizations finally have strategic objectives defined after the exhausting strategic planning process they have gone through. Oftentimes, though, staff jump directly to determining “what should we do to achieve those objectives?” and put all their energies into implementing selected projects. After a year or so, organizations find either that they can’t quantify their …
Public outcry for environmental action is escalating, carbon reduction targets are not being met, and worst-case “global average” temperature rise is becoming more likely and has been declared by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration as a “long-term global upward trend that is clear and unambiguous.” Armed with urgent warnings coming out of the climate science community, leaders from the …
Recent research conducted by George Washington University, Center for Excellence in Public Leadership and LBL Strategies points to this conclusion: The #1 reason strategy fails in the public sector is lack of leadership in executing the plan. In April 2019, several public and private sector organizations serving the public sector at the federal, state and local levels reached out to …
Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We can apply the same adage to strategy. If we always use the same input and thought process when developing strategy, will we really get a different result? How do we prepare ourselves for an uncertain future, when we …
By Jim Stockmal, Association for Strategic Planning Past President Strategic planners and strategists have for many years focused on environmental factors that may impact their organization either positively or negatively. Whether using a classical PESTEL model – that is the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors – or strategic foresight, we have often considering these macro trends as …
