Ann Oliveri

The Promise of Another Day

Need to put off working on that project?  Kill some time reading a special issue of Slate on, well, procrastination.  The entire issue is an ode to putting off til tomorrow what you just can't face today.  An inspiration to all of us. 

To get just a taste, read the post on LanguageHat.com that distills Ben Zimmer's article in Slate on the etymology of the word procrastination.   "The promise of 'another day' is the key to the word's origin. It derives from the Latin verb procrastinare, combining the prefix pro- 'forward' with crastinus 'of tomorrow'—hence, moving something forward from one day until the next."

Need even more time to get around to reading the article? Take another day, but replace procrastinate with perendinate, "to put something off until the day after tomorrow."

Does Being Ethical Pay?

That's the question posed in the Wall Street Journal's special section feature today--page R4 for dead tree readers.  "Companies spend huge amounts of money to be socially responsible.  Do consumers reward them for it?  How much?"  To find out, the WSJ tested consumer panels on willingness to pay for ethical vs. unethical goods.  The results?

Consumers will pay a small premium for socially responsible products, but--here's the kicker--will punish the unethical by demanding deep discounts.

"The lessons are clear.  Companies should segment their market and make a particular effort to reach out to buyers with high ethical standards, because those are the customers who can deliver the biggest potential profits..."

Do you think that applies to membership in your association?  If you raise the bar to attract ethical members, your ultimate product, will you and they be rewarded? 

 

The Back of the Napkin

The secret to good writing is clear thinking.  Both got a boost with the publication of Dan Roam's new book, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. 

With his visual vocabulary and discipline, you will be able to more effectively conceive, communicate, and sell your ideas--visually.  (Look at the video at his blog to get the basics.)

I love this book!  As an ADD-enabled marketing and communications person, I have used pieces of this approach to clarify my thinking and in small group discussions for years. The Back of the Napkin makes me exponentially more effective.  Really.

So here's my suggestion. At your next meeting, ban PowerPoints and send every speaker a copy of Dan's book and a cocktail napkin.  Better yet, offer a Napkin workshop and change your culture permanently!

The TED Conference limits speakers to 18 minutes, why not limit speakers to a 4 x 4 handout?

What I Learned This Week

At the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, someone in the audience pointed out that half of New York City's 1 million high school students will drop out before graduation.  Half. It's been nagging me, so this last week, I Googled up more information.  Here's what I learned.

According to a study published six weeks ago, Cities in Crisis, by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, graduating from high school in America's largest cities is a "coin toss. Only about one-half (52 percent) of students in the principal school systems of the 50 largest cities complete high school with a diploma...Only six of these 50 principal districts reach or exceed the national average. In the most extreme cases (Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, and Indianapolis), fewer than 35 percent of students graduate with a diploma."

The trend dates back to the 1970s and has only increased in the 21st century.  A new study by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin finds that Texas' public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), directly contributes to lower graduation rates: "Losses of low-achieving students help raise school ratings under the accountability system."

Economists Heckman, Lochner, and Todd (2008) note that "the internal rate of return to graduating high school compared to dropping out has increased dramatically and is now over 50 percent. Therefore, it is surprising and disturbing that...the high school dropout rate in America is increasing.

"Proportionately more American youth are going to college and graduating than ever before. At the same time, proportionately more are failing to complete high school. ..."

And, one out of 20 college students didn't graduate from high school, but took the GED (General Education Development) test.

No wonder there is a rising concern about workforce-readiness!  What is your association doing to help members win the war for talent? 

Agreeing in Principle(s)

To make social responsibility operational in associations, a group at the Global Summit on Social  Responsibility discussed the need for a set of principles for an association version of the UN Global Compact. Fortunately, university business schools created a terrific model: the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME.org).

"The PRME...call for business schools and universities worldwide to gradually adapt their curricula, research, teaching methodologies and institutional strategies..."  Developed in 2007 by an international task force representing sixty leading business schools and academic institutions, PRME now has 119 participants, including American University, Boston College, Case Western Reserve, Cornell, and my alma mater, the George Washington University.

Signatories commit to engaging in a continuous process of improvement, reporting on that progress, and exchanging effective practices with other academic institutions. The six principles revolve around Purpose, Values, Method, Research, Partnership, and Dialog.

As collectives for business, the professions, higher education, and social  advancement, a set of principles around Shared Responsibility, tied to the Global Compact, is a logical first step with ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership as the first signatory.

Solutions ISO Problems

Malcolm Gladwell, writing in The New Yorker this week (In the Air: Who Says Big Ideas are Rare?), makes the case for multidisciplinary problem-solving, at least as it relates to invention and science. 

At the heart of the essay is the well documented idea of 'multiples' or why more than one scientist arrives at the same idea at the same time and the Intellectual Ventures lab that harnesses the capacity of genius from various disciplines to produce an astonishing numbers of patents.

Knowing that physicians learn by observing phenomena and physicists do the math, Intellectual Venture's CEO Nathan Myhrvold decided to combine the two.  Gladwell notes "...that the only time a physicist and a brain surgeon meet is when the physicist is about to be cut open—and to (Myhrvold's) mind that made no sense. Surgeons had all kinds of problems that they didn’t realize had solutions, and physicists had all kinds of solutions to things that they didn’t realize were problems."

How can you be a more efficient source of insights?  Do your members have solutions to things they don't realize are problems?   

What if you could create a patentable idea incubator in your field? Who would be in the room?

Conscious, Not Conscience

Still struggling to get your arms around social responsibility?   Think of it as sustainable prosperity.  To get there requires us to be conscious--aware--not everyone else's conscience.  It's "a conversation, not a sermon,"  as the people at WorldChanging.com say.

In fact, if you're paralyzed by the sheer scale of the problems of climate change or the opportunities of the UN Millennium Development Goals, try a steady diet of positive possibilities,  the kind of news WorldChanging.com delivers daily.

"Every idea we cover is informed by technology, but the new possibilities we cover aren't just high-tech... We make a point of showing ways in which seemingly unconnected resources link together to form a toolkit for changing the world."

This extraordinary web resource of ideas and solutions includes information on "how best to collaborate, how to build coalitions and movements, how to grow communities, how to make our businesses live up to their highest potential and how to make the promise of democracy into a reality."

The WorldChanging.com Manifesto reads like the minutes of the Global Summit on Social Responsibility and can help create a future-oriented society. Check it out.

Rent-A-Crowd

The best way to neutralize extended families behaving badly, say at Thanksgiving Dinner, is to include friends--outsiders.  Before your eyes, the usual bickering and role playing is put on hold and you experience something that feels more like a dinner party.

That's what happened this week at the Global Summit on Social Responsibility.  In addition to the familiar faces, a large number of people working in the responsibility industry participated.  Those new to trade association and professional society payrolls participated.  Virtual groups linked in for day one, and some truly valiant, and infinitely patient, people persisted and contributed in extraordinary ways.

Held in the gentle hands of the perpetually positive David Cooperrider who was working to specifications of a design group that wanted it all, we suspended judgment and like Edith Bunker stifled ourselves, to reveal something of our better selves, as promised.

The best dreams were the simplest, such as the transition of social responsibility from emerging trend to becoming "second nature."   

One younger professional was a little disappointed.  The problem apparently was too many CEOs in the room. He thought we could have gotten more done without them. 

Artificial Reef

You've heard of someone putting a stake in the sand, but with the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, Susan Sarfati and her team have buried an artificial reef off the coast of the association community that will not only stem further erosion in the value of associations, but will no doubt promote new life.  Thank you, all, and I promise to do what I can to sustain your efforts.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

At the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, we have been reflecting on the nature of associations and the capacities of the collective.  In one discussion, someone reminded us that at the very heart of every profession is a promise to serve the greater good, expressed as a standard of practice or code of ethics.

I am reminded of the Code of Ethics adopted some 25 years ago by members of the Urban Land Institute, at the same time the mission of providing responsible leadership was crafted.  The ULI Code of Ethics is a personal code of conduct, ten statements of respect--for the land, the public, the environment, for future generations. 

Respect.  No wonder that's what ULI earned over the last 70 years.

Download code_of_ethics.pdf