During my first few years working in the non-profit arena, I traveled to Eastern Europe to work with  organizations on creating and implementing effective community projects.  I was shocked, at the time, that local organizations sharing similar (sometimes nearly identical) goals rarely talked to each other.     Even more infrequently did they work together, unless perhaps they were “forced” to do so by the carrot of receiving funding from a foundation that valued partnership…  In most cases I encountered, staff and volunteers talked about other organizations as “rivals”, if they talked about them at all.  Each treated lessons learned, new solutions, programmatic details, and especially information about potential funders and grants as “top secret” information.

I was surprised because, well, we were all basically working toward the same goals…  All three local environmental organizations, for example, wanted a cleaner town, protection of the pristine surrounding nature, educated citizens who were willing to do their part in cleaning up the environment, and county laws and officials that supported all of the above…  All three organizations had different strengths, skills and areas of expertise represented in their staff and membership.  It looked like an inter-organizational network made in heaven, but yet they never joined forces, shared ideas, worked on projects together…  They operated in their corners. Hmm…

At that time in my early twenties, naively I thought this behavior was unique to former communist countries, where trust is in one’s neighbor was still hard to come by.  Clearly I hadn’t had enough experience rolling up my sleeves in U.S.-based non-profits yet!

After I returned to the U.S. and began to get more deeply involved in domestic non-profit program development, it became clear that many organizations here are operating on similar principles:  they are working inside their own bubbles, keeping their ideas to themselves, and eyeballing other similar organizations in their target communities with looks that could catch your hair afire.  They are attempting to accomplish incredible feats alone…desperately seeking grant monies, donations…whatever it takes to keep the organization and its programs afloat.

It makes no sense, really.  And today, funders and philanthropists are recognizing this, and demanding more.  More competition to spur us to create a “bigger, better, faster” project or program?  No.  More cooperation in our endeavors.  You see, collaborating and working together to fill in existing “gaps” in a community allows us to create “bigger, better, faster”, more comprehensive, and wider-reaching programs.  We have more strength when we approach common goals as a community team.

In non-profit work today, the importance of building partnerships and networks to develop cost-efficient, meaningful, effective projects in one’s community cannot be emphasized enough.  In my experiences sitting on grant review committees, there was nothing more frustrating than reading proposals that clearly demonstrated that an organization was completely unaware of projects that were going on, in some cases, literally a few blocks away.  Not only do funders want to see formation of organizational partnerships and networks in our community work, it just makes sense:  We CAN accomplish more with less when we join forces.  And it today’s economy, this is absolutely essential.

My recommendations to today’s non-profit organizations, or those looking to create a non-profit:

1.)   Really, honestly find out what already exists in your community.  Don’t reinvent the wheel.

2.)   If you’re an individual or a small group that doesn’t already have non-profit 501(c)3 status and you’ve got an idea for a project, find organization(s) under whose mission statement your project fits, and see if they would be interested in serving as a fiscal representative for your project.  It costs a lot more to start up a new organization, cover overhead costs, etc. than it does to find and establish a solid relationship with an umbrella organization.

3.)   Research, talk to people, meet with groups, organizations, and target populations to find out what expertise, skills, etc. are available in your community that you can tap into to enhance the program or project you are creating. It doesn’t have to be another non-profit, it can be a school, a university, a local business… When you find a solid, reputable fit, get them on board.  Not only will this more than likely create a better end-product, it will also generally make the project cheaper to do.

4.)   Don’t think that grants are the only way to go.  I’ve done and seen many extremely effective projects done with lots of creativity and enthusiasm and very few dollars.  The key is partnerships (and volunteers…which you have more of with solid partnerships…).

5.)   While conducting your initial needs assessment, include organizations who have similar goals, work on similar issues, or work with the same target populations.  Talk with other people and groups in the field. Find out what’s working, what could be improved upon, what additional programs/services are needed to fill in the gaps they’re seeing from their angle, etc.

6.)   Don’t think it’s going to take less time and energy to “just do it by yourself”…  It ends up taking longer to re-invent, to re-learn lessons that someone else in your community already learned, to put together all the pieces of a program by yourself or within the bubble of your organization.

If you are on the other end, looking for effective non-profit organizations to contribute tax-deductible donations to:

1.)   Try to keep your dollars with local grassroots organizations – generally local groups know much better what the community really needs than a large national or international organization operating from afar.  They have a greater ability to form real, meaningful partnerships with other local groups as well to get the project done.

2.)   Seek out organizational partnerships/networks – webs of organizations that are working together already – each filling a “niche”, applying for grants together, etc.

3.)   If you want to fund international projects, or projects outside your community, look for organizations like Ashoka, which find people and groups who are starting up grassroots projects in their own communities around the world.  (Hence, it’s not an “outsider” going in telling a community what it needs, it’s a local person who knows from direct experience what the needs are and is working with local partners to reach goals.)

“Ap-pre’ci-ate, v., 1. valuing; the act of recognizing the best in people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living systems 2. to increase in value, e.g. the economy has appreciated in value. Synonyms: VALUING, PRIZING, ESTEEMING, and HONORING.

“In-quire’ (kwir), v., 1. the act of exploration and discovery. 2. To ask questions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities. Synonyms: DISCOVERY, SEARCH, and SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION, STUDY.”

How often do we as businesses, non-profits, schools, corporations, and individuals get stuck focusing on our problems?  How many of our conversations in evaluating projects, conducting strategic planning, or designing a new program or product are focused on “what went wrong”, “what doesn’t work”, “what we’re missing”, or “what we don’t like”?  For most of us, the answer is probably somewhere between “many” and “most”, if not “all.”

One of the most transformational techniques I have encountered in organizational management is something I was introduced to at the School for International Training in Vermont about five years ago.  It has completely altered the way I approach organizational management and community development, taking me far away from traditional problem-based questions and approaches.  I am grateful to have had a professor introduce the technique and give our work group an immediate opportunity to put it into practice.  Otherwise, I would have likely remained a skeptic myself.  Instead, I use it regularly and am consistently amazed with this technique’s ability to generate glowing enthusiasm, excitement and uniquely creative ideas and programs in once depressed, overwhelmed, tired organizations and communities.  It is something we need more of today.

The technique, called Appreciative Inquiry (AI), was developed by David Cooperrider in the early 80s and first presented to the Academy of Management in 1984.  It is often received as “Polyannaish” when people first hear about it… “But we have “problems”… How can we solve them if we don’t talk about them, confront them head on?”  Trust me.  It’s incredible, and it’s well worth exploring.  The idea is that if we focus on talking about our problems, we are destined to remain there, to hold ourselves back, caught up in a dialogue based in negativity and spent picking apart our “faults.”  Whereas, if we focus on our existing strengths and dreams for the future, nothing can keep us from attaining our highest potential.  In other words, “Our words create our world.”

In a nutshell, AI is “the study and exploration of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best” (Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2003).  In organizational management, it is a tool used to foster organizational growth and change by building upon the strengths of an organization.  It involves using positive questions and dialogue to identify existing organizational assets, determine dreams, design a vision for the future, and bring that future to fruition.

AI is based upon the idea that every organization, every community has some strengths, some resources, some  elements that make us proud to be a part of them.  AI says “let’s ask around to find what those are… What elements of this organization, how we work, who we are – make even one of us smile and feel good to be here?  What examples can we give of times we have provided service we’re deeply proud of?  What common themes underlie these examples?  And what dreams do we have for our organization?  When we envision it operating at full potential twenty years from now, what do we see?”

Some of the main concepts behind it include the following:

• Questions and dialogue about strengths, successes, values, hopes and dreams are themselves transformational.
• All people individually and as groups have unique gifts, skills and contributions to bring to life.
• Organizations are human social systems, filled with relational capacity, and are created/lived in language.
• Through human communication (inquiry and dialogue) people can shift their attention away from the problem-focused approach to develop productive possibilities for the future.
• There are no right answers in inquiry.  It’s a process of exploration, discovery, a quest for new possibilities.
• Combining appreciation with inquiry creates a catalyst for positive organizational change.

The first time I used the four-D cycle of AI (discovery, dream, design, destiny) for a strategic planning session, one of the participants stood up at the end of workshop and said, “I’ve been in my job for 20 years now.  This is the first time in the past 10 years that I’ve felt excited to come to work tomorrow, proud of what I’m doing, and anxious to implement the ideas we’ve come up with today.”  The keys are, of course, good facilitation of the process and organizational commitment to following through on the implementation of what is designed.

I’m not alone in loving AI…  (It’s a truly uplifting, fun process to facilitate and participate in!)  It’s being used by a plethora of grassroots to high-profile organizations, communities, corporations and countries around the world, including the United Nations, the U.S. Navy, Verizon, Nutrimental, a variety of schools and school districts, the list goes on.  You may be familiar with it already.  If not, I highly recommend checking it out.  The Appreciative Inquiry Commons website gives fantastic information (http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu).  If you don’t look at anything else on the site, go to the Practice and Management tab, click on the dropdown “Stories from the Field,” and read through a few case studies.  The one that initially hooked me was one of Cooperrider’s early cases, Park Plaza hotel.  This case is written up in a working paper, which can be found at appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/uploads/working_paper_spirit_ai.pdf.

In a time of great change and tremendous possibility, it is critical that we be using methods of inquiry that uplift and inspire us, that recognize how wonderful and valuable each of us is and the contributions we make to our community and world each day… that let us beam about what we’re doing “right” and where we want to grow from here.  AI is one such tool that can serve as a catalyst in tapping and expanding the great potential we all have as individuals, organizations, and communities.

Bibliography:

Whitney, D. & Trosten-Bloom, A.  (2003). The Power of Appreciative Inquiry:  A Practical Guide to Positive Change. San Francisco, CA:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Appreciative Inquiry Commons website, www.appreciativeinquiry.case.edu.

Sally Gill emphasized the importance of not letting yourself be overwhelmed with social media.  In reality, she explained, social media is not about technology but about human activity… a means of human communication.  Historically speaking, in order for people to fully participate in the culture they live in, it has always been important that they be literate in the dominate communication medium of the time, whether it be oral, print-based, computer-oriented, or focused on social media.

Michelle Shapiro explained how utilizing social networking tools will allow you to demonstrate your expertise before engaging them in your services, which is key.  She also pointed out that it’s beneficial to be interacting in a medium in which criticism can be responded to quickly and easily – easing concerns and frustrations right away.   For example, the fact that you can address problems immediately when you see a negative Tweet is a tremendous opportunity to do damage control and build relationships with your customers.

If you’re not comfortable linking customers from your business site to your personal page like Michelle, who expressed how she never mixes business with personal on Facebook, there are alternatives.  Amber Sims Hinterplattner suggested the following:  setting up a fan site for your community to engage, writing expert blogs, joining expert-based social media sites, and simply providing a link to a professional site such as LinkedIn.  Whether you choose to link your business and personal sites or not, Amber said, one just needs to remember to be professional on Facebook:  treat it like a BBQ where anyone, your target audience members and clients included, could show up and engage in conversation.  She recommends that it is good to consider participating on both Facebook and Linked In, as it makes you look multi-dimensional.  One site is considered more “fun” and the other is hard-edged.

Here are some interesting stats quoted in the discussion:

• There are 60 million users on LinkedIn, and 50% are outside the U.S.
• There are 75 million users on Twitter, but only 1-15% are active participants.  You must stick with it for a higher rate of engagement
• There are 400 million users on Facebook, and Facebook has over 900 employees.  Google is now fighting with Facebook for first place as the most visited site in the US.
• Social media sites are the top websites visited online.

One of the biggest challenges facing many professionals is the TIME to keep up with the various social media sites.  The solution is to devote one hour a day for example, to read blogs, posts, provide relevant content to your target audience and build relationships.

The reality is that many companies are investing up to 25% of their marketing budget on social media. It works. I’m looking forward to researching the various tools for things like measuring social media ROI and scheduling articles for blogs.

Top Tips from the Panel:

Do’s

• Make it relevant and make it real.
• Provide information that can be helpful.
• Get interested in what others are talking about.
• Connect with other people in your field.
• Target your audience.
• This is permission based marketing, so if they are not listening, you’re not saying the right thing.
• Pull don’t push.
• Use social media as a valuable feedback loop, and a cost effective, real-time solution.
• Be sure to use words in your communications to describe your business for better traffic and search engine optimization.
• Remember this is a human activity.
• Understand that the power is back with the consumers.
• Think of it in terms of welcoming people and giving THEM something back.

Don’ts

• Don’t try to sell them something or be too “salesy” in your conversation.
• Don’t speak to the masses.
• Don’t post something that doesn’t add value.
• Don’t write a blog if you are not a good writer; get contributors.
• Don’t let an account sit idle or build something like a Twitter page and then not use it.
• Don’t be self-serving and remember it’s all about them.
• Don’t build a fan site on Facebook and keep it live long-term with only two fans.
• Don’t forget that there are several roles in social media and that it’s not just about personal commerce.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/12/glaxosmithkline-barnes-noble-ent-manage-cx_kw_0712whartongoldsmith.html

I’m now reading Goldsmith’s new book called, MOJO, How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, a gift from my toddler son for Mother’s Day (?). I was surprised to learn that Goldsmith, who is a world renowned executive coach, contacts his coach at the end of each day to recap his activities. It’s this kind of discipline along with Goldsmith’s simple tools and wisdom in dealing with human behavior that keep me coming back for more. He describes Mojo as “the moment when we do something that’s purposeful, powerful, and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it.”  I’m looking forward to learning more about how professional and personal Mojo is impacted by four key factors: identity, achievement, reputation and acceptance, and how we can create it in our lives, according to Goldsmith.

Good Advice From Biz Coach Marshall Goldsmith

By Knowledge@Wharton 07.12.07, 3:00 PM ET

Excerpt:

Everyone’s Bad Habits

“Goldsmith’s work centers on helping people identify and break the bad habits that are getting in their way. The meat of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There is his elaborate and revealing discussion of the “20 Habits That Hold You Back From the Top.” They are:

1. Winning too much. Goldsmith notes that the hypercompetitive need to best others “underlies nearly every other behavioral problem.”

2. Adding too much value. This happens when you can’t stop yourself from tinkering with your colleagues’ or subordinates’ already viable ideas. “It is extremely difficult,” Goldsmith observes, “for successful people to listen to other people tell them something that they already know without communicating somehow that (a) ‘we already knew that’ and (b) ‘we know a better way.’” The fallacy of this sort of behavior is that, while it may slightly improve an idea, it drastically reduces the other person’s commitment to it.

3. Passing judgment. “It’s not appropriate to pass judgment when we specifically ask people to voice their opinions … even if you ask a question and agree with the answer.” Goldsmith recommends “hiring” a friend to bill you $10 for each episode of needless judgment.

4. Making destructive comments. We are all tempted to be snarky or even mean from time to time. But when we feel the urge to criticize, we should realize that gratuitous negative comments can harm our working relationships. “The question is not, ‘Is it true?’ but rather, ‘Is it worth it?’” This is another habit Goldsmith recommends breaking via monetary fines.

5. Starting with “no,” “but,” or “however.” Almost all of us do this, and most of us are totally unaware of it. But Goldsmith says if you watch out for it, “you’ll see how people inflict these words on others to gain or consolidate power. You’ll also see how intensely people resent it, consciously or not, and how it stifles rather than opens up discussion.” This is another habit that may take fines to break.

6. Telling the world how smart you are. “This is another variation on our need to win.”

7. Speaking when angry. See No. 4.

8. Negativity, or “let me explain why that won’t work.” Goldsmith calls this “pure unadulterated negativity under the guise of being helpful.”

9. Withholding information. This one is all about power. Goldsmith focuses on ways even the best-intentioned people do this all the time. “We do this when we are too busy to get back to someone with valuable information. We do this when we forget to include someone in our discussions or meetings. We do this when we delegate a task to our subordinates but don’t take the time to show them exactly how we want the task done.”

10. Failing to give recognition. “This is a sibling of withholding information.”

See full list:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/12/glaxosmithkline-barnes-noble-ent-manage-cx_kw_0712whartongoldsmith.html

There were several gems that I took away from the presentation, but the one that struck me most was his unique hiring practices. Greathouse told countless success stories about his experience with hiring individuals (mostly sales professionals) at Citrix, Computer Motion and CallWave who didn’t necessarily fit the ideal corporate profile or have the most impressive resume. He looked for raw talent, honesty, and respect, and most times his instinct paid off. He said in a start-up organization it is critical to hire the right person at the right stage. This has been my experience as well over the years, particularly in content licensing which involves a unique blend of research skills, relationship building and creative input in the sales process. Building a team with complimentary talents is absolutely key to long term success. Crafting a candidate profile prior to the interviews is a good exercise in general to organize your thoughts, but keep in mind that sometimes the slightly edgy candidate who doesn’t necessarily look stellar on paper will surprise you. You might find that his/her interests, skill-set and personality are a perfect fit with your client base, and remember…people do business with people they like. I try to ascertain whether or not they have a sense of personal responsibility and motivation to exceed their objectives. Any doubts, keep looking.

Greathouse also mentioned hiring freelancers when building a start up team. For employee hires, he recommends calling on non-references like peers, subordinates, former bosses that he finds on LinkedIn, for example. Interesting idea. He meets the spouse or significant others when making a hiring decision to get to know the person better, especially for a start-up with a high risk factor.

I recommend following John Greathouse’s blog at www.infochachkie.com. His articles are relevant, thoughtful and entertaining. Check out his 7 tips for hiring for further details, and also his article, The Tribe, Entrepreneurial Core Teams Are Tribal.