by Susan Detwiler | Jun 6, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, Uncategorized
What could you do with an Innovation Committee?
In their post How Boards Can Innovate, Michael Useem, Dennis Carey, and Ram Charan make the case that in corporations, while product innovation is not the purview of the Board of Directors, strategies and structure clearly are.
That division of labor is not so different from nonprofit organizations, where rendering services is the job of the staff, and the structure and strategies remain the job of the board. So how does a for-profit board incorporate innovation?
A very quick look at major corporations show that corporate boards frequently have innovation committees. From to Acxiom, corporations have instituted innovation committees that are generally charged with oversight of innovations and new product development. They act as advisors to staff in reviewing innovations, and act as advisors to the rest of the board, helping them to understand the new innovations being proposed.
Wellpoint Corporation has an interesting variation. Wellpoint renamed the planning committee of the board. It’s now the Strategic Innovation Committee,
to assist the Board in discharging its responsibilities relating to various strategic issues identified by the Board from time to time, including the Company’s long-term plans and its ongoing investment in technology and targeted areas strategic to the Company’s interests.
Fascinating! The formerly titled planning committee is charged with innovation.
What might this mean for a nonprofit board? 
According to Merriam-Webster:
Innovation is: 1) the introduction of something new; 2) a new idea, method, or device
Planning is: the act or process of making or carrying out plans; specifically: the establishment of goals, policies, and procedures for a social or economic entity.
In other words, we might conceive of planning as figuring out how to execute an idea or a concept, whereas innovation is seeking out new ideas or strategies, and bringing something new to the table. Of course, an innovation committee will also plan, but a planning committee doesn’t automatically imply innovation. The word innovation itself implies searching out new, possibly disruptive ideas, and considering whether they may be applicable to the organization.
If, as Hildy Gottleib maintains, language matters, then the name of a committee can influence how the members view themselves. Just as potently, it can influence how the rest of the organization views the work of that committee.
It is exciting. It is forward-looking. It is ˜out-of-the-box.’
We’ve already changed the name of the Fundraising Committee to Development Committee, because raising resources is a process of developing relationships.
How about changing planning to innovation?
What might that make possible for your organization?
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | May 6, 2014 | collaboration, governance, leadership, nonprofit, Standards
We all know that getting the right board members around the table is crucial. That’s probably why there are thousands of articles and blog posts that talk about recruiting new board members.
Some focus on the attribute grid or board matrix, or skills grid. That’s the grid that helps you identify the skills and attributes you want on your board, relative to the skills and attributes you already have on your board, and where the gaps are. Standards for Excellenceâ„¢ has one for its members, as does KPMG and many others.
Then there are articles that tell you to throw the infamous grid out the window, like Blue Avocado, in their article ˜Ditch Your Board Composition Matrix‘. These make the very valid point that just having a lawyer on your board doesn’t mean a darn thing, if she’s a divorce lawyer and you need someone with real estate law knowledge. Or if he’s a tax accountant, and you need someone who can oversee the nonprofit accounting process.
True confession: In the past, I have been a proponent of attribute grids, while leaning more towards the Blue Avocado model “ what are we trying to accomplish? Who do we have, who do we know, who’s in our corner who can help us accomplish this? As a matter of fact, I still think that way. But there’s a glaring omission.
The thing is, skills don’t make a board, people do. And people have basic qualities that can make a board exceptional “ or dysfunctional. Board members who don’t respect the Executive or each other are toxic. Board members who don’t care about the cause won’t do anything to further it. Board members who live in the past “ ˜tried it once, didn’t work’ “ don’t consider how the world has changed.
So no matter what other skills a board member has, she must have these:
¢ A passion for the cause
¢ Respect for others
¢ Thoughtful ability to consider issues, and to articulate those thoughts
¢ A sense of responsibility for making things happen
¢ The vision to think beyond today
Passion for the cause is first and foremost. Why waste a seat on the board with someone who doesn’t care enough to really work for your success?
Respect is probably next. I’ve experienced too many boards where board members belittle the executive or a staff member in front of the board or their peers. And I’ve experienced other boards where discussions devolve into a shouting match between two members who don’t even try to listen to each other. Time is too short and your cause is too worthy, to waste a seat on a disrespectful board member, no matter how much money they might give.
Thoughtfulness “ the ability to really consider the issue at hand and weigh its ramifications for the organization “ is a rare gem. The best board members ask questions that cause you to think through your own responses as well. If a board member can’t stop to think about why he is in favor or against an initiative, then you’re allowing his personal past experiences to automatically have a vote, regardless of where those experiences have led.
Passion, respect and thoughtfulness are great, but responsibility is where the rubber meets the road. When it comes time to act, you need board members who take responsibility for ensuring that promises are fulfilled. Whether it’s connecting the executive with the governor, reviewing the audit, or making calls to supporters, promises don’t cut it. Board members must take responsibility. As sung by Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Don’t talk of love, show me!
Finally, board members must be able to envision the future and think beyond today. So many decisions affect both today and tomorrow; considering only today’s issue jeopardizes your future. Faced with an excess of income (it does happen!), do you put the funds aside for tomorrow or spend it today? Do you invest in building infrastructure or in professional development so tomorrow you can serve more clients? Faced with a significant deficit, do you cut back programs or invest in development staff? Envisioning the future ramifications of today’s decisions is imperative for your future.
Passion
Respect
Thoughtfulness
Responsibility
Forward thinking
This is the final checklist when weighing the value of a new board member. Without these five qualities, you can have the best real estate lawyer, the best CPA, the best HR administrator, each at odds with each other, unable to make a decision and unwilling to connect you to those who can help you change the community.
So go ahead, consider what you want to accomplish, and seek people who are able to make it happen. But before putting them on the board, use this checklist. Ask yourself, do you want to work with this person?
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | Apr 22, 2014 | collaboration, governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit
A remarkable event occurred in the Fall of 2013, that demonstrates the power of a community coming together to embark on a new venture.
The community foundation in a rural Pennsylvania county decided it wanted to build capacity in its community. Acknowledging that there is wisdom beyond its own borders, they invited colleagues from far and near to a two-day conversation led by the organization, Creating the Future.
Before you read the blog post about that conversation, I invite you to envision what your community would be like if you, your organization, and your sister organizations, as well as each of your organizations’ supporters and suppliers, all had the same vision for your community. Now add in each of your organizations’ funders. Now add in the local and state government.
What could you accomplish together?
It takes reframing how you envision working together. Read what they did here in Building Community Capacity.
And join me next week at the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations/Creating the Future Conference: The Power of WE.
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | Apr 7, 2014 | collaboration, leadership, miscellaneous, nonprofit, social media
Follow Jane Doe to customize what you see in this email.
People who bought this book, also bought¦.
Because you liked this movie, you might also like¦..
When Amazon, Netflix, LinkedIn and Facebook curate what they show me, I find out about movies I would never have otherwise known about; books and articles that are right up my alley.
But I miss The Magic of Serendipity.
I’m a serial reader, and often go back to the same authors again and again. But in the library, I browse the books next to that author, and I’m exposed to writers that have nothing in common with my current favorite other than the first 2 letters of their last name. Serendipity.
General circulation newspapers keep me informed of things going on around the country and the world, not just topics I’ve decided to stay informed about. Even if I don’t really care about what’s happening in Antarctica, the paper covers it, and I at least glance at the headline. I find connections between ideas and events I would otherwise overlook. Serendipity.
Attending conferences, asking how participants ended up in this field, I emerge with connections made by doctors, lawyers, cab drivers, librarians, therapists. Serendipity.
I’m not a curmudgeon pining for the old days. Curating by Amazon, LinkedIn and their ilk allow me to dive ever deeper into areas I already know I care about. This is a good thing.
But how do we get exposed to other ideas? To other subjects? To other fields?
When we’re caught up in a particular field like nonprofits or, more specifically, local homelessness, the religious response to hunger or LGBT issues, it is easy to be so focused that we essentially wear blinders. We lose the opportunity to look beyond the all-consuming topic. We don’t give ourselves permission to read speculative fiction, or nonfiction beyond our own sphere.
We lose the clash of ideas and thoughts that spark creativity. We lose the spontaneous creativity that lies in the serendipitous Aha! moment emerging from seeing connections between 12th century commerce and the current distribution of food in the state.
Having diverse viewpoints on my board of directors leads to robust discussions about our issues. Just as important, though, are the serendipitous comments made about things outside our realm that spark creative ways of envisioning our future.
Amazon and Netflix use algorithms to give us more of the same. It’s time to find a book or a movie that has nothing to do with anything you’re currently working on, and that is nothing like anything you’ve read recently. Watch a documentary about a subject you’ve always been curious about but didn’t indulge.
Ask your board members to talk about their lives outside of their board service.
It’s time to break out and look for serendipity. Our creativity relies on it!
Have some thoughts to share on this subject? Get in touch with me at sdetwiler@detwiler.com.
by Susan Detwiler | Mar 20, 2014 | leadership, management, nonprofit, Standards, work
Does the quality of the Executive Director make a difference?
You bet it does. Or, at least in the corporate world, a great CEO seems to have an outsized impact on the strength of the corporation.
Walter Frick, reviewing work by professors Quigley and Hambrick at Penn State and University of Georgia, makes the case that in corporate America, when business is more dynamic and less predictable, the CEO has a disproportionate effect on the success of the corporation. They looked at data spanning more than 60 years “ the equivalent of 18,000 firm-years, that is, the combined years that the firms had been in existence “ and found that the effect of the CEO almost doubled from 1950-2009.
What does this mean for the nonprofit world? Look carefully at this quote from Frick:
an increase in business dynamism has amplified the impact of CEOs over time, but that effect is at its highest in companies where industry and economic constraints still limit the firm’s options.
While I wouldn’t make one-to-one comparisons between for-profit and nonprofit organizations, you can’t deny that by its very nature, the nonprofit world is continually under economic constraints, with limited options, facing increased competition for support, higher needs, and declining resources. How well you manage these constraints is a function of the Executive Director and the Executive-Board partnership.
One of the most important functions of a Board of Directors is to hire, evaluate and, if necessary, replace the Executive Director. The quality of the partnership between the Executive and the board has an enormous effect on whether the board’s vision is achieved, or whether the board and Executive spend most of their time on minutiae.
Hiring well, and putting in place a sound evaluation system based on relevant criteria, can make a huge difference in the future of your organization. And, if there is any similarity to the for-profit world, it is even more important in uncertain times.
Consider it an investment in the future of your agency.
For more hallmarks of transformational boards, or to find out more about achieving nonprofit Standards for Excellenceâ„¢, get in touch. Let’s have a conversation.
Susan Detwiler
by Susan Detwiler | Mar 6, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, philanthropy
Dear Nonprofit Board President,
Your board members need to hear this.
In person… From you.
“Thank you for all the time and wisdom you’ve been contributing to our organization. We have a firm foundation now, with a great executive at the helm.
Our clients rely on us to change their lives. You’ve heard their stories; and I’ve heard how passionate you are about what we do.
Every time we’ve invested in making our dreams happen, we’ve had a great return on that investment. We invested time and energy into finding a path out of debt. We invested time and energy into finding our new executive.
And in the last year, we’ve made great plans for the future.
Now we have to make those plans a reality. When you joined the board, you made a commitment to invest in our future. It’s time to fulfill that commitment so we can start the new year knowing we can make those goals come true.
Please join me in making this organization, that I know you passionately love, your top philanthropic priority.“
If your board members think the only reason for 100% participation is so other funders will give to you, then you need to rethink who’s on your board.
Donors give money.
Volunteers give time.
BOARD MEMBERS GIVE BOTH!
If you’d like to hear more about inspiring your board members “ please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
Susan
sdetwiler@detwiler.com
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