I attend a lot of board meetings. Some are good, some aren't very good. But I love the fact that, if you have two different meetings that are productive and successful, they may not be anything alike. A group here at work came up with this meeting evaluation that gets at some of this, and I thought it was interesting to be so transparent about these points that usually people don't even articulate to themselves. What do you think, dear reader?

• The purpose of the meeting was clearly stated at the outset. (Y/N)
• The meeting's agenda was available to all attendees. (Y/N)
• The agenda was followed during the meeting. (Y/N)
• The meeting's objectives were met. (Y/N)
• My personal objectives were met. (Y/N)  Read more »

And the sooner the better. There are three things that drive me crazy when they come up in board meetings. Things that I have to stop myself from grabbing the person who suggested it and shaking them vigorously. However, I wanted to post it here to see if anybody has a differing opinion, and why.

First off is the whole silent auction thing. These make me want to scream. Somebody donates something that is worth $100 and it gets auctioned off for $15. Yay, the organization made $15!! Does anyone spot the problem with this plan? Do these ever make sense?  Read more »

So there's these pieces in the Washington Post about the nonprofit sector failing to nurture its future leaders. A lot of the points people are talking about look really familiar. The generational divide is a really big deal.

My boss talked to me about Baldrige's Quality Criteria. It seems interesting. Anyone have any experience with this?

This is my review of the most recent leadership issue of Associations now (table of contents here. It was quite useful. One thing I need to bring up with my section council is that this info is very useful but it's not quite packaged such that a true volunteer-driven organization (like a small chapter) could make sense of it. More on that later.  Read more »

You all know I travel a lot, and one of the things that comes in handy about that is I can catch up with my reading pile. I just got through the last issue(s) of Associations Now (1/08, along with the Leadership Issue), and the publication just seems to keep getting better and better. People who know me well know that sometimes I get the “grass is greener” thing and I sometimes think it might be nice to be involved in an industry where things move a little faster. But I’m glad to see that there are people leading the charge to bring associations into the 21st (if not late 20th) century. I felt a lot more enthusiasm for what I’m doing after reading cathing up with my AN.

Things to note:  Read more »

In the November Fast Company, there's a great article from writer Alex Frankel. In the piece, he poses as a frontline employee in several different companies and recounts his experience. So often we hear businesses cite "experience" as a defining feature and yet the people who create those experiences aren't nurtured. I've often thought it might be an interesting model to set up a consultancy who hired bright youngish people and sent them around to be the uber-secret-shoppers. It would be great information, for those who cared to hear it.

I've been dark here for a little while, but still busy, busy!

Lots of travel (work-related). Plus, a real vacation! I also started the graduate certificate in leadership coaching at The George Washington University. Had my first class and it was great fun. Also, I had a telephone interview with one of those SF-based community-building places. It seemed pretty interesting, but not a fit for my life right now, so I'm going to keep on keepin' on.  Read more »

David Armano, from Logic+Emotion, has a terrific piece in Business Week that's worth a read.

"Consider the example of a typical creative brief template, which usually says something like, 'What are we trying to communicate?' Can you see the old-world residue in the word 'communicate'? It lacks the dimensions of experiencing something and having an ongoing two-way dialogue. 'What are we trying to communicate?' implies a one-way conversation. Maybe we should ask ourselves: 'How can we facilitate?'

I forgot to link to my new feature in Associations Now. It's called "Chapter Psychology 101," and the point is that if you try to exert control over your chapters you'll fail but if you have good relationships with them you'll be able to influence them quite effectively. Here's the link.