Time and timing considerations are central to most decisions we make as nonprofit leaders. Planning involves using past and present data to adopt targets for future work. It also involves scheduling tasks and activities, monitoring and reporting cycles, deadlines, and time-sequencing of processes (including coordination of serial and parallel processes e.g., using Gantt Charts). Time… Continue reading Fusing experience and expectation in decision-making
Tag: strategy
‘Doughnut’ thinking for NFPs
This post looks beyond the ‘donut’ chart and geometric descriptions of toroidal shapes to reflect on three doughnut metaphors. These are drawn from philosophy, economics, and organisational design with a view to offering insights applicable to nonprofit governance. Doughnut topology A toroidal shape, also known as a torus (‘tori’ is the plural), is a three-dimensional… Continue reading ‘Doughnut’ thinking for NFPs
“The die is cast”: On Randomness, Intentionality and Certainty
Julius Ceasar was reported to have said “The die is cast‘ when he sent his troops across the Rubicon in 49 BC. This quote is generally thought to refer to his having made a decision from which there was no going back. While we can’t know what was in Ceasar’s mind, nor whether he actually… Continue reading “The die is cast”: On Randomness, Intentionality and Certainty
Strategic Capability, Flexibility, and Maturity
During a recent project focussed on evaluating board effectiveness, the client’s wish to enhance ‘strategic capability’ was highlighted. As this concept is one with many possible interpretations, it triggered this post, reflecting on: Strategic Capability Organisational capability includes numerous dimensions, one of which is called strategic capability. Strategic capability, in turn, is a collection of… Continue reading Strategic Capability, Flexibility, and Maturity
Policy Analysis and Advocacy Options
Most associations and charities recognise the importance of some form of advocacy within their strategies. Sometimes that advocacy is for public benefit, but it is often on behalf of constituency or stakeholder interests. Quite often, representation to government involves both sets of considerations. Not all advocacy is lobbying As noted by the US Research-to-Policy Collaboration,… Continue reading Policy Analysis and Advocacy Options
Actors, Factors, and Vectors of Change
Not all goals are amenable to linear change processes. Some prefer being nudged towards actualisation. While there is a range of possible strategic styles and methods, the two contrasted in this post involve linear (logframe) and non-linear (vector-based) theories of change (ToC). These are illustrated in the header image above as the straight line arrow… Continue reading Actors, Factors, and Vectors of Change
Working with assumptions – risky but necessary
I presume that: Examining assumptions Good advice in one context may be poor advice in another. For example, the injunction to ‘never assume‘ may be sound advice when applied to making assumptions about people and their motivations. It is likely to be poor advice however, when applied to strategic planning and project management. Not that… Continue reading Working with assumptions – risky but necessary
How effective is your board? – Part 6
This post concludes the series on board effectiveness evaluation with a somewhat disparate collection of observations and reflections. Some of the ideas and charts included here might have been quite relevant in earlier parts of the series, but if they were not available at that time, their inclusion here acts as an amplification and reinforcement… Continue reading How effective is your board? – Part 6
A question of skillful questioning
Asking the right questions in the right way One of the shorthand ways of explaining what governance focuses on is to say it’s about ‘Doing the right things in the right way’. This post offers a reflection on one essential aspect of governance, that is used by every director at every meeting. Skillful questioning is… Continue reading A question of skillful questioning
Prompts and algorithms for people (not just AI)
There has been a flood of material published lately on the many varied uses that can be made of AI tools like ChatGPT, Chatsonic, YouChat, and MidJourney. The more helpful material, I find, focuses on the intelligent framing of prompts to engineer optimal responses from the AI tool. The notion of prompt ‘engineering’ is not… Continue reading Prompts and algorithms for people (not just AI)