How to choose your future

It is easy to think that the future is thrust upon and we have little control over how it will turn out.  But this is only partly true. A vision, linked to a strategic plan can define what we want our future to look like, and how to get there.  

The key words here are “we” and “our”.  The task of the leader is to lead her people into agreement on their vision (what they want for the section, corps, region or division) and the strategy (the overarching plan of how to get there), so she must engage as many as possible in the development process. 

The vision and strategy are not made up of the the pet-subjects of one person or even a small group of people.  Every stakeholder should be invited to take part in the conversation.  Collectively you are trying to understand what the Spirit of God is saying to the whole group and no one has the monopoly on that!  So a process of prayer, sharing ideas and discussion will lead to the development of the best vision and the strategy.  

But before beginning the process, there are two fundamentals that must be in place. 

Fundamental #1: High-level* buy-in on the Mission Objectives

First of all it is essential that you have a concise statement of the mission objectives and strong buy-in from the stakeholders.  The mission objectives are the raison d'etre for the group.

A corps may adopt the territorial mission objectives, in fact I believe it is best if it does (more on that in a future blog perhaps), or it may develop its own, but they must be congruent with those of the broader organisation, and preferably a local expression of them. 

(For examples of mission objectives go to: http://www.salvationarmy.org.tw/sa/modules/tadnews/index.php?nsn=33, and http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/vision-and-mission/. )

The mission objectives will form the overarching framework for the vision and the strategy.  In other words, they will be fleshing out the mission objectives over the next few (I suggest three to five) years. 

Fundamental #2: Almost the whole group buying-in on the need for a vision and strategy 

The second stage is to get your group members to buy-in to the need to a vision and strategy.  This requires some work on the leader’s part.  She needs to research and prepare material that shows progress (or lack thereof) in recent years, and “sell’ the idea that a focused approach is required to achieve those things that matter.  She will probably draw on some of the many scriptural injunctions for visionary thinking and behaviour. 

And then . . .

Only after we have established that there is general agreement that a vision and strategic plan are required and that they should be based on the mission objectives, can we begin work.  Essentially, the role of the leader is to ask the question, “What do we have to do to successfully carry out the mission objectives?” 

Key questions that can drive this conversation might be: 

• What does God want us to do over the next five years?
• What will our preferred future look like?
• What do we have to do to meet the needs of the mission?
• What do we have to stop doing in order to have time and resources to do meet the needs of the mission?
• How will we know when we have been successful?

The overall goal of the vision and strategy development process, is to collect a mish-mash of ideas, organise them into something that will work for the group, and get buy-in for a final version of the vision and strategy.  So I am going to make the methods of achieving these things the focus of my next post.  After that, I will explain about communicating the strategy and implementing the strategy, two critical elements for it to work.  Stay tuned!

----------------------------------------------------

*A note about buy-in:  For anything new, you will never get 100% buy-in.  There will always be those that are keen from the beginning, hungry for change, the radicals.  There will be those somewhere in the middle that will range from ready for change if it appears to be well thought-through (the progressive)  to being persuadable if there is a high chance of success (conservatives).  And there are the traditional, who will resist all things new, no matter how good they are.  

So the take-home message is high-level buy-in in the early stages of a project in reality means about 2/3 to 3/4 of your group, but for something like well-established mission objectives it should be much higher – around 90% or more.  

What's so different about Impact?

 Many consulting companies claim to have solutions for NGOs and business, so why has The Salvation Army in Taiwan partnered with Impact? 

Impact is a newly formed “profit for purpose” business dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness, health and capacity of NGOs in Taiwan.   Impact’s Director, Steve Parker, says, “There is a lot of pressure on the not-for-profit sector to be increasingly smarter, efficient and more accountable.  There is a need for development and I believe that Impact can play a significant part in that.” 

As a primary partner of the Taiwan branch of one of the world’s leading NGOs (The Salvation Army) Impact has to capacity to leverage skills and competencies from around the NGO world.  Using these resources, as well as those of its own in-house team, Impact offers NGOs skills development assistance so that they can better fulfil their mission.

Impact is linking NGOs with potential funders too.  “We are helping the NGO sector to create income streams through businesses, fundraising and special events.” said Parker. 

But that’s not all Impact is doing.  Impact is able to represent NGOs, to be their voice, in contexts where they less able to do so themselves, such as in the business community, with governments and with potential funders. 

 Steven Parker, Impact’s Director, brings to the role a diverse set of skills from both the commercial and NGO worlds.  Having been in senior management in both of these areas he is well placed to understand the needs of both NGO’s and of their corporate sponsors.  And, being an Australian who has lived for nineteen plus years in Taiwan gives him a good understanding of the local and international environment. 

Along with many in the non-profit sector, Parker recognises that the social programme and policy environment in Taiwan has potential for growth, and will be one of the many voices calling for development in this area. 

When asked what is meant by a “profit for purpose” business, Parker said, "Our business is not based on maximising profits for shareholders.  Of course, we have to be viable, but we balance that with other, broader, goals; like building up the NGO sector.  As well as that, all the profits we make, beyond those needed to operate the business, are donated back into the not-for-profit sector". 

If you are an NGO looking for ways to develop capacity or a business looking for ways to develop your philanthropy programme, I think it could be well worth your while giving Steven Parker a call.  

Steven Parker’s phone number:  +886 988 061725

Email:  stevenparker@taiwanimpact.com 

Breaking the Creativity Drought

When an organisation is getting on in years, it can be prone to some stuck thinking styles.  Add this to some national or local cultures that are somewhat conservative and you have all the ingredients for a creativity drought. 

How can the creativity drought be broken? 

Brainstorming is a technique for getting great creative ideas out of a group of people who, for one reason or another, are not known for their creativity.  

Rarely practiced at its best, even in more progressive settings, brainstorming is the first stage of an ideas generation process.  It can be the start of:   

• Finding solutions to difficult problems,
• Stretching beyond small thinking,
• Overcoming “stuckness”, and
• Getting buy-in to new approaches.

 The process in a nutshell

1.    Ideas are generated,

2.    Ideas are sorted, categorised and refined, 

3.    The relative merit of each is assessed,

4.    A viable way forward is developed. 

The psychological environment must be safe

However, many brainstorming sessions do not reach their full potential because one or more of the crucial principles are not adhered to.  For a brainstorming session to work well, the following “group rules” have to be enforced: 

1.    There are no bad ideas, 

2.    Everyone in the room is encouraged to share, regardless of age, position, level of expertise or seniority,

3.    All ideas are received with gratitude and affirmation,

4.    No one is put down for an idea that isn’t so good.

The rules of engagement

For brainstorming to work effectively, the facilitator must create the right psychological environment from the beginning.  Here’s how:

1.    Announce the group rules (as above) before the session begins and get commitment from everyone in the room. 

2.    Enforce the group rules as the meeting progresses, being ready (even seeking out the opportunity) to quickly jump on someone who breaks one of the group rules.

3.    Ask key questions to get ideas flowing.

4.    If there is a degree of “stuckness”, it is often because people cannot see beyond their immediate experience, so try an obtuse line of questioning such as placing the problem in a colony on Mars, or asking how we would sabotage our project if we were the opposition.  Once the discussion becomes fluid, draw out some principles and bring the discussion to the concrete. 

5.    If there is a greater degree of stuckness, ask obscure questions with multiple choice questions. Get members of the group to justify their answers. (Should the rocket to Mars be petrol-powered, nuclear-powered, or powered by oxygen fuel?  Why?) 

6.    Once you get going, record all the input from around the room, giving it equal value at first.  All ideas are considered worthy.  None are rejected, even if they seem unsuitable.  No rejection, criticism or ridicule of ideas is countenanced.  All ideas are written up so they are visible to all (whiteboard, butcher’s paper).

7.    Begin to focus in on those solutions that seem to be the most viable to the group. 

8.    These can be sorted, categorised, and shaped into a solution or range of possible solutions. 

Absolute stuckness requires the removal of an elephant (or person) in the room

If, after going through approaches 3 to 5 above, there is still stuckness in the room, you will probably have a good feel for what might be causing it. 

This is where a great deal of sensitivity is called for.  Whatever you do could go either way and you might end up with an outstanding failure or resounding success.  You may decide to name the elephant in the room.  (“Clearly there is a lot of reticence in the group.  May I ask what it’s about?  Is it because there is still some tension about the huge mistake that costs thousands of dollars last week?”)

Allow the group to give this some time, but not too much, then try to extract a commitment from each one to put aside their feelings on the issue for the rest of the session. 

However, by far the most frequent reason that people do not speak up is because it is counter to the organisational culture and there is someone in the room who would (they perceive) disapprove and bring about consequences.  He is usually (though not always) one of the management team. 

In this case, I call a five minute break, during which I privately explain to the manager what is going on and ask him to leave.  When the meeting reconvenes, I simply say that he had to leave and won’t be able to continue with the session.  Usually, the atmosphere in the room changes dramatically. Everyone understands that you will report to management team, but they know that it will only be about the outcome of the meeting, not what individual members said.  They are confident they cannot be picked off (as is prone to happen in some dysfunctional stuck workplaces). 

Changing the world one brainstorm at a time

If brainstorming is practised widely at frontline and middle management levels in a stuck organisation, it can be an important tool in the armoury for changing the nature of the stuck organisation from the bottom up.  In the long run, rational managers cannot resist the overwhelming force of quality ideas and grass-roots opinion based in practical experience from the frontline.    

(Picture: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net)