Comments on: Innovating While Getting Things Done

By: Jenn Kantz

Jenn Kantz — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:55:02 +0000

“I think Tim is right that the big challenge is to “build business cultures that are agile enough to incorporate both.” This is an area where nonprofits and for-profits share the exact same challenge. There’s no simple answer to this problem. It is simply something every outstanding organization has to figure out.”

I agree: there is a sweet spot between exploring new opportunities and shoring up existing programs. Nonprofits may have an advantage in that there are two main avenues available to the organization to help them continually adapt.

First, listen to your “boots on the ground” – your donors, your clients, and your volunteers. Track their changes in needs and as you solicit their feedback brainstorm new opportunities to solve their problems.

Second, listen to your social environment. If you’re in the child welfare arena or the crusade to end hunger in America listen to what’s going on in legislature. Tune into networks and policy advocates to learn about upcoming changes and how you’re organization can adapt to those changes, ultimately making them work for you.

By: Sean Stannard-Stockton

Sean Stannard-Stockton — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:30:19 +0000

Thanks for the links Beth. Thanks for the amen, Dennis!

By: Dennis Whittle

Dennis Whittle — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:55:32 +0000

Amen to this post!

By: Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:12:12 +0000

And the path to improvement and agility – is creating a culture that isn’t afraid to fail – this is both relevant to nonprofits and for-profits – I had a delightful conversation last week about this with folks from larger corporations and their social media adoption. Lots of great ideas
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/09/how-do-you-encourage-an-organizational-culture-that-is-more-receptive-to-social-media.html

By: Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:09:51 +0000

Sean: This is the hard part of social media adoption for a lot of nonprofits – the fact that you have adapt and learn and improve your strategy. Many organizations don’t have try it and fix it in their DNA – because it means pushing the pause button and doing a little reflection – saying this isn’t working, how to improve it. Along with the risk taking.

SO, how you create a safe hands-on place for learning that can lead to innovation?

http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/09/how-can-you-create-a-safe-place-for-handson-learning-from-social-media-pilots.html