Every nonprofit — whether a charity, professional association, or community group — faces a constant flow of choices. Some are big and irreversible, others small and routine. But all of them involve ‘decision doors’: a threshold between what we know and what’s next. The Decision Doors framework helps us pause at that threshold. Instead of… Continue reading Decision Doors
Tag: risk management
Traversing the Valley of Change: States, Stages, and Lenses
Advocates of ‘continuous improvement‘ often present the associated change process as one involving a linear series of positive steps between current and desired future states. This characterisation of the change process is unfortunately not the way many experience it, especially during the period immediately after a change is introduced. One prominent example of the ‘positive… Continue reading Traversing the Valley of Change: States, Stages, and Lenses
Watch your words; they become your thoughts
The Power of Words in Organisational Life Before NLP there was Lao Tzu. His admonition to “watch your thoughts, for they become your words” forms part of a ’cause and effect’ chain which helps us to think about how present actions, and the thoughts behind them, lead to longer-term consequences. While the truth of this… Continue reading Watch your words; they become your thoughts
First Principles First
Thinking about first principles, the oft-quoted line from philosopher-comedian Groucho Marx, “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like those … I have others” comes to mind. Beyond the moral ambiguity implied, might there be a hidden reference to other legitimate sets of first principles here? If so, what would this mean for nonprofit… Continue reading First Principles First
The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 3
Mind bending, surprising, and shocking plot twists are common narrative devices, designed to intrigue and entertain audiences. Yet when a plot twist occurs in our working life, especially when it results from our own actions, none of us see this as ‘entertaining’. ‘Tales of the Unintended’ in the header image is an adaptation of Roald… Continue reading The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 3
The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 2
The nature of unintended consequences (types, causes, and rating levels) was broadly canvassed in Part 1 of this series. This sequel considers how the side-effects of your activities fit within your risk management system. To recap – unintended risks are those we incur as side effects of our own goals and actions (or inaction), rather… Continue reading The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 2
The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 1
In the mission-driven world of non-profits, our decisions are infused with purpose, values, and an abiding desire to make a difference. Yet, despite noble intentions, our actions can yield surprising — and sometimes counterproductive — outcomes. Collateral damage, side-effects, and ripple effects are just some of the names we give to unintended consequences. We all… Continue reading The Consequentiality of Unintended Consequences – Part 1
Governance ‘Freedoms’ and their constraints
“Art lives on constraint and dies of freedom”[Michelangelo] Paraphrasing Michelangelo, we might also say that the art of governance is catalysed by constraints and lacks focus or coherence when directors are free to do what they want. For those of us who think of governance as a system of controls, it may seem that the… Continue reading Governance ‘Freedoms’ and their constraints
Ethical Communications
Nonprofit organisations generally have communication and social media policies to guide their spokespeople and staff on acceptable practices. Despite this, mis-communications and other communication problems occur, especially where social media is involved. Most of the tensions within our communities are fuelled by words. Words used to label, blame, shame, or cancel people. Legitimate protests can… Continue reading Ethical Communications
Balancing ‘long’ and ‘short’ strategic perspectives
The ‘strategic horizon‘ most nonprofits use is between 3-5 years. That seems to be about as far into the future as we feel able to project – either in terms of what we might confidently predict about our operating environment, or the timespan over which we are willing to commit to achieving our goals. Such… Continue reading Balancing ‘long’ and ‘short’ strategic perspectives