2014 Session Topics

Jay Daughtry is available to facilitate staff retreats and team-building exercises in 2014. Exercises that focus on customer service, communication, storytelling, collaboration, innovation, and related topics include but are not limited to:

• Five Objects
• The Tattoo Question
• The Lemonade Stand
• The Novel
• Organization Idol
• Birthday Party DJ
• Undercover Boss
• The Lineup
• Bicycle Inc.
• Cartoon Characters
• Writing Your Story
• Best Places to Work
• Secret Millionaire

Similarly, ChatterBachs is now booking webinars, seminars, conference sessions, and keynote presentations on the following topics:

• Engage Like the Big Boys
• The Rise of Visual Social Media
• Connect Like You’re Getting Points for Prizes
• Communicate Like You’re Life Depended on It
• Collaborate for a Win-Win-Win
• Content Marketing Lessons from Major Brands
• Workplace Innovation Trends
• Customer Service- What Wows You
• Team-Building from Real Teams
• Innovate Like Silicon Valley

Sessions can be combined or customized for a given audience, and new topics will be developed upon request.

The first 25 session commitments for 2014 received prior to December 31, 2013 will receive a 10% discount off standard rates.

Please contact Jay Daughtry at jay@chatterbachs.com or 703.430.6411 with questions and for availability.

What’s the one area where you want to see improvement in 2014?

What’s the one area where you want to see your team/staff/organization improve over the coming year? Weigh in on the poll below:

 

Putting It All Together (originally appeared on Kathy Robinson’s Blog: http://www.kathyrobinsonsblog.com/what-does-teamwork-mean-to-you/)

digitalNow 2013 in Less Than 180 Seconds- #diginow13

I had the privilege of attending digitalNow 2013 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, April 4-6. The notes below are based on my notes and tweets on what stood out to me and are not intended to capture all learning from each of the sessions nor the entirety of the three-day conference. I have put in bold and italics those comments I personally found to be the most impactful or thought-provoking.

Dr. Michio Kaku, Opening Keynote Presentation

• More power in computer chip in musical birthday card than all forces of WWII.
• More power in your smartphone than NASA had in 1969 to send a man to the moon.
• Like electricity, in the future the computer will be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
• The word “computer” will disappear in next 20 years. Think “electricity”.
• Digitalization of transportation: Driverless cars may make words like “accidents” & “traffic jams” disappear.
• In the future your toilet will have more computer power than an entire university hospital today.
• How much to do the first gene sequence? $3 billion. By 2020? $100. An owner’s manual for your body.

Dr. Michio Kaku, Futurist and Author

Keynote panel with Dr. Michio Kaku

• We are born scientists until we hit junior high school. Junior high school kills scientists.
• We have to create a new sputnik to invigorate education.
• Day to day transactions are obsolete. We have computers to do that. We have to elevate the workforce.
• When hot shot programmers get tired of making social media, they can build firewalls to protect data.
• Some predictions don’t come true: paperless offices, people-less cities. We want proof of kill, & we’re social.

Dr. David Metcalf and Jenny Levine, The “Maker Society”

• Networking Uncommons designated section at conference: have your own session or meeting there, charge your laptop, etc.
• At ALA they’re trying to create a hacker association… engage people w/out a long-term commitment.
• Make your association hackable? You have to break bureaucracy & red tape, engage people on a project basis.
• Encourage organization hacks. Put unofficial events in official program for event.

Stuart Meyer, Your Association.TV

• By 2017 82% of all TVs sold will be smart TVs.
• More than half of senior execs share videos weekly with colleagues. 80% watch more video now than last year.
• Video-based storytelling leads to emotional proximity.
• Two goals with video: give immersive experience to connect to place & people they can relate to.
• Video: Today there is less members-only content because sponsors want more eyeballs.

Susan Etlinger, Day Two Opening Keynote Presentation

• The HIPPO problem- the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.
• The challenge: Different kinds of media- print, digital, etc. Concept of paid, owned, and earned media. Received on various devices.
• Different purposes of media/content: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy
• Average global company has 178 social media accounts.
• Geico is easier to monitor on social media because it’s not a verb or noun otherwise. The Gap is, has different meanings.
• Advances in technology- Smart carpets detect falls, unfamiliar footsteps.
• Social data is a dress rehearsal for big data.

Susan Etlinger, Industry analyst with the Altimeter Group

John Dorman and Grant McInnes, “Getting the Biggest Bang for your Mobile Buck”

• When you go to the Texas Medical Association web site via mobile, it sniffs that you are on mobile & sends you to a different site.
• WordPress has a theme with responsive design built into it.
• Responsinator- see how web sites look on different devices.

Stephanie Young, “Innovation by Disney: Transforming the Customer Experience”

• After 21 years with Disney, she is constantly surprised & delighted by guest experience.
• Passion for storytelling is the Disney difference… it fuels its culture & its people.
• How can we take what we do & make it better?, a question asked at Disney.
• Disney uses RFID to track cast members’ costumes: check out, return, inventory, laundry.
• We can’t keep everything behind the curtain until it’s practically perfect.
• Innovation cannot take away from current work that we’re doing.
• Does technology enable you to better deliver on your core values?
• What’s in your fan mail? What are your members/customers raving about?

Dr. Alexander Pasik, “The Impact of Emerging Technologies on Associations”

• If you’re not analyzing operational data, why are you thinking big data?
• We don’t need systems that spit out reports; we need systems that use data to help us figure out what to do.
• What are social networks? Personalized associations.
• IEEE saved $500K by moving from in-house email to Google, did it in a weekend.
• Redefine membership in the context of existing platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, & Google+.
• Think about cloud security in same context as “Is my money safer under mattress or in a bank?”

Maggie McGary and Andy Steggles, “Social Media as Viewed from the C-Suite”

• Speed of technology adoption: 50 million users, it took radio 38 years; Twitter, 9 months.
• 3 reasons why execs adopt social technology: fear of falling behind, to get work done &/or to build culture of innovation.
• HR & IT are 2 departments most indifferent to social media.
• Having a complete LinkedIn profile w/ headshot is a living resume. It’s your business card- online.
• Using Google+ helps your findability, appear in Google search results.
• Think about like & share. It’s a different function in an activity feed. What if “approve” started a workflow?
• Internal facing software like Yammer & Chatter can help improve company workflows.
• The most at-risk members- the ones least likely to renew- are traditionally those that are least engaged.

John Maeda, Day Three Opening Keynote

• “Bad design is irrelevant. It is superficial, pretentious…” -Paul Rand
• “Design is the method of putting form and content together.” -Paul Rand
•  “I like people who have big dreams and execute well.” -a student of John Maeda
• 80,000 biological specimens at RISD. It’s like a library. “At RISD you can check out a turkey.”
• Innovation= Art + Design
• Artists think in the macro and the micro simultaneously.
• Traditional leaders avoid mistakes; creative leaders accept that mistakes happen & learn from them.

John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design

Interesting stats & quotes

• Between now & 2030 someone turns 65 every 8 seconds.
• Every person is as powerful as a newspaper.

I’d also like to thank those who aided my understanding through their tweets: Tom Hood, Greg Melia, Elizabeth Engel, Jackie Brown, Sheri Jacobs, Scott Wiley, Dan LaBert, Stuart Meyer, Amy Bassett, John Mancini, and others.

What stood out to you from digitalNow? What were the lessons learned? What other blog posts or resources on this conference have you found to be insightful?

The Greatest of Great Ideas in Less Than 180 Seconds- #ideas13

I had the privilege of attending the ASAE Great Ideas Conference in Colorado Springs at The Broadmoor March 10-12, 2013. I was certainly not in a position to capture all that was happening at this inspiring conference. My hope is that if you attended this will serve as a reminder of the material covered in the sessions. Also, may this post and the notes, tweets, photos, and resources below provide you with enough insight that you too will be challenged to think differently about the challenges you and your organization face.

Conference Catalyst, Thom Singer

• This is not a junior high dance. Ask questions. Power in the word, “Hello.”
• #1 reason that people attend conferences: networking. But then we stink at it. Smile. Have name tag visible.
• Invest in people. Anything you need… it’s probably somebody’s 1st cousin who holds the answer.
• Plan while at the conference how you will follow up with people you meet.

Thom Singer, The Conference Catalyst

Opening General Session: The Fascination Advantage: From First Impressions to Lasting Value, Sally Hogshead

• Are you giving your members the orange ticket- a distinct, irreplaceable experience?
• What kinds of personalities do you want to attract to your association?
• Fasination is an intense focus. You’re engaged, in the zone.
• A $39.99 UPS costume. They’re getting your kid to dress up like an employee of a company. Think about it.

Sally Hogshead, speaker and author of Fascinate

Helping Your Association’s Innovators, and Generating Non-Dues Revenue, Jeff Glassie, Whitney Kulesz

• How do we support new business ventures that can transform professions/industries?
• TripLingo: 1st to receive angel investor award from ACTE.
• One difficult obstacle to overcome for angel investing from an association: just selling people on a new idea.

Associations Got Talent, Mark Milroy and Jay Daughtry

• Select 5 objects that describe you.
• How would you finish the sentence “I am…” ?
• How do you identify hidden abilities that others possess?
• Getting people to talk about their talents helps them identify their dreams
• What cues lead to misperceptions about people?
• Give people the freedom to try something new & fail at it.

Career Mapping Tools: Charting the Present and Future, Shawn Hulsizer, Scott Mackenzie

• Creating a career map can help members understand and identify their professional pathway.
• Career mapping helps rethink and reorganize association products, services, website, education, etc.

Creating Meaningful Business Relationships, Shari Harley

• In building relationships, ask more, assume less.
• Going bowling won’t help people work better together. Talking about working style preferences will.
• The people we work with often think they told us what they want, even though they didn’t.
• Candor questions: 3 things that will keep you with organization? Worst boss you ever had? Best boss you ever had?
• Do you prefer to communicate via: email, voicemail, text message or IM?
• When do you do your best work: early am, mid-day, late afternoon or evening?
• Choose candor over comfort.

Components & Strategy- Lessons from Sun-Tzu’s “The Art of War”, Cecilia Sepp, Lowell Applebaum

• If people can help build it, they’ll support it.
• When we lose focus, that’s when we start to hear the noise before defeat.
• Every member of an association should be a volunteer.
• The best marketing tool you have? An engaged volunteer.
• Do what you can when you can with what you’ve got.

Closing General Session: The Vuja De Moment: Shift from Average to Brilliant, Simon T. Bailey

• Reach the point of being uncomfortable with being comfortable.
• The same letters that spell “listen” spell “silent”.
• People engage because of authenticity.
• What are we doing to ignite a fresh a fresh vision?
• There are 20,000 moments in a day. We are in the business of managing, creating & mastering moments.
• In the dictionary failure is before success. Embrace failure. Failure is not final; failure is feedback.
• What would I do if no one paid me to do it?
• An association is a memory, a connection, a collection of moments.
• Ask yourself what makes your association come alive.

Simon T. Bailey speaking at Great Ideas ’13, photo courtesy of Libby Hoppe

Innovation in a Box, Rick Johnston and Becky Granger

• Exercise: In 30 seconds name as ways as you can think of to use a brick.
• Think beyond the normal. Don’t let your mind edit you.
• Win like you are you used to it; lose like you enjoy it.
• Take someone else’s idea and put your spin on it.
• Innovation: Don’t worry if most ideas don’t seem immediately implementable- keep them in your back pocket for later.

Thanks to all who followed my tweets from Great Ideas. Thanks to so many who added my understanding while at the conference: Gabriel Eckert, Libby Hoppe, Dan Scheeler, Amy Lestition, Rachel Johnson, Brian Cheung, Rhea Steele, Katie Paffhouse, Kylee Coffman, Ron Moen, Jenna Crane and more. I also appreciate the numerous conversations in hallways, before and after sessions, at meals, and at receptions. All of this made it a richer experience.

For a recap of the 2012 conference, check out my The Greatest of Great Ideas in Less Than 180 Seconds post.

What lessons did you learn from Great Ideas ’13? What were the highlights for you? What other posts or resources from this conference have you found helpful?

PCMA Convening Leaders in Less Than 180 Seconds

I was able to be a virtual partipant at PCMA‘s Convening Leaders (#pcmacl) in Orlando January 14-16, 2013. Thanks much for the opportunity, PCMA. I present to you my notes and tweets from a few of the sessions I participated in.

Monday, January 14, 2013:

Morten T. Hansen: “Great by Choice: How to Thrive in Uncertain Times” 

• Fanatic discipline= consistency of action, makes difference between the great & the average.
• Reliable growth is better than spectacular growth; it’s a long march to greatness.
• Experiment. Fire bullets, not cannonballs. It’s how you innovate.
• Plan for everything going wrong. Productive paranoia. The path to greatness is not paved with risky bets.
• SMaC Recipe- Systematic: Formulas; Methodological: Works; Consistency: Durable

Greg Fuson:

• Great conferences create vibrant, active communities.
• Don’t be a conference that tries to add community. Be a community that holds in-person meetings.
• Invitational marketing- a community saying, “Come be a part of us.”
• Online engagement is about building social capital, giving more than what you’re asking for.
• Foster (but don’t force) connection.
• Identify intangible indicators of success.
• Large events: Incubate small experiences.
• What resonates with you? What aspects of your job do you feel yourself come alive for?
• If you don’t feel passionate about the topics you’re organizing, you can’t expect your attendees to.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013:

• Digital isn’t as risky as renting a convention center.
• Socialize your content because it helps promote your brand.
• Content management for a virtual event is key. 20 minute presentations instead of 90.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013:

Here I am virtually participating in PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2013. My second year joining in this way!

Tom Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author:

• The biggest thing happening on the planet today: the merger of globalization & the IT revolution.
• In 2004 LinkedIn was a prison, and Skype was a typo.
• Phone calls from top of Mt. Everest begin w/ “Mom, you’ll never guess where I’m calling you from!”
• Employers are looking for employees who can do problem solving, redesign their jobs while they’re doing them.
• High wage, middle-skilled job has disappeared.
• 25% dropout rate in US.
• Think like an immigrant. Think like an artisan. Think like a starter-upper. Think like a waitress at Perkins Pancake House.
• Think like an artisan. Give so much extra that you want to carve your initials into what you do.
• Think like a starter-upper in Silicon Valley. Always be in beta.
• Passion + curiosity always trumps IQ.
• Think like a waitress at Perkins Pancake House. May not control much. Deliver extra. Think like an entrepreneur.

David Novak, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Yum! Brands: “Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen”

The man behind cool ranch Doritos AND the crunch wrap supreme… David Novak! Photo and caption by Sarah Beauchamp, PCMA

• What perceptions, beliefs, habits do you have to change, build or reinforce to grow the business?
• Two reasons people leave a company: they don’t feel appreciated or they don’t get along w/ their boss.
• David Novak is an All-World Ripper-Offer. He likes learning from others, getting ideas from other areas.
• Celebrate other people’s ideas more than your own. Tell people you want to hear them.

Other great resources and blog posts from PCMA Convening Leaders:

“My Day Attending a Hybrid Meeting” by Thom Singer

PCMA Session Recap: Thomas Friedman, a Storify by Meeting Change

Convening Leaders Roundup: One Attendee Shares What She Learned by Jena Tesse Fox 

I’d also like to thank a few others I learned from and interacted with virtually. Thanks for adding to my experience and my understanding, Christine Melendes, Traci Browne, Sarah Beauchamp, Angela Carr, and Barbara Palmer!

It should be noted that there will be a Convening Leaders Redux on January 30, 2013, where some of the most popular sessions will be re-broadcast virtually. I’ll most likely tune back in. Will I meet/see you there?

What were your takeaways from Convening Leaders? What other sessions did you learn from? What would you add to my notes?

Thoughts and Readings on Collaboration, Innovation, and Engagement

I’m sitting here on a Monday afternoon, and I’m trying to synthesize the various things that I’ve learned about over the past week or so.

First, Kent Allaway asked at the end of his PCMA blog post on Blurring Lines, ” If information truly is the key, how do we share knowledge among the community, in order to benefit ourselves and our customers…?” In this post Kent talked about competition, cooperation, and co-opetition. More and more, organizations need to find ways to add value to the lives of their customers. They made need to go outside their four walls. They may need to provide wins for others while staying focused on their own goals.

It calls to mind a recent chat I had with Hilary Marsh. We were talking about content management, content curation, content strategy, content marketing (you get the idea… content). Hilary gave me this great illustration which has stuck with me. Imagine a museum. Suppose 70% of their exhibits come from their own holdings. To make up the difference and provide their patrons with a great experience, they have to “partner” with museums and other entities and borrow from their collections. Who wins? Both do! The local museum is not looked down on because they had to borrow from a museum in Philadelphia or Chicago or San Francisco. Rather the perception is favorable. The curator made the efforts necessary to expose the local audience to exhibits they might not otherwise see. And if those individuals find themselves in one of those cities, they might be more apt to visit that museum and see the rest of what they have on display. In my thinking it’s giving up control to gain prominence.

Interestingly enough, I heard or read two references Friday to 3M, historically known as one of the most innovative companies in the US. In 5 Ways Process is Killing Your Productivity, Lisa Bodell, author of Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution, wrestles with the question, “When people’s jobs depend on meeting metrics and maintaining the status quo, can you fault them for their reluctance to expend any energy toward creation and invention?” Process keeps people in meetings and writing reports. How do we create, foster, and nurture an environment of innovation, collaboration, and engagement? (see how I used 3 of my 5 MIICE words for 2012 right there?)

The other reference to 3M came from a recent Bloomberg Radio interview with Thor Muller and Lane Becker, authors of  Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work For You and Your Business. Their perspective is that one has to have a commitment to goals while having an openness to other ideas and directions. Muller and Becker believe in training oneself to be able to “link together unrelated concepts in order to generate meaningful insights”. An individual also has to be in “motion” to get out of a routine and be able to “run into new ideas in new contexts“. 3M has put itself in a position to be innovative by creating this kind of work environment. Thus, by following these kinds of approaches, the “accidental” discovery of Post-It notes was not really accidental.

And, of course, I wouldn’t have gotten to this without reading Dave Lutz’s blog post on Creating Planned Serendipity For Your Conference Success. He has some great ideas on how to foster engagement and connections at conferences. I like his take on an “army of connectors”. Putting attendees in proximity to other people and connecting them and then creating an environment conducive to conversations are key components to this concept of planned serendipity.

What additional insights can you share on collaboration, innovation, engagement, and planned serendipity? What has challenged you recently to think differently about your organization’s goals and strategies?

The Greatest of Great Ideas in Less Than 180 Seconds

I present to you “The Greatest of Great Ideas in Less Than 180 Seconds”: the best of the notes, quotes, tweets, posts, and questions from ASAE’s Great Ideas Conference. I have organized these topically rather than by session or chronologically. I have put in bold ones that resonated with me, my personal favorites.May the content below inspire you to more great ideas!

On presentations and learning:

• The brain craves meaning before detail.
• Give people three reasons they need to do something. Short term memory can’t handle more.
• Think visually and tell stories to be remembered.
• Retention goes up to 65% when just an image is used. Telling stories is underused.
• The story is for your audience, make sure they care about what you’re talking about.  
• Talking trumps listening, cut presentation content in half and provide time for discussion.
• Provide bite-sized education: 10-minute segments are best.

On innovation and creativity:

• CEOs and senior management must be open to innovation from any level.
• Innovation like jazz often happens in the spaces between the notes.
• Innovation is not about products and services; it’s about experiences.
• The overhead projector appeared in the bowling alley 30 years before it appeared in the classroom. We’re slow to innovate.
• Sell dreams, not products.
• Dream bigger! As Steve Jobs said, in crazy there is genius.
• Creativity is found in connecting disparate concepts. Connect ideas and fields: Steve Jobs modeled Apple stores after the Ritz-Carlton experience.
• There is no magic toolbox for innovation. But uncover opportunities. Then act.

On leadership, opportunities, and competition:

• Visions should be bold, concise, crisp and have a deadline.
• Besides identifying new business opportunities, associations have to identify current ones that are no longer relevant and eliminate them.  
• FedEx redefined overnight service. How are you redefining your market?
• If we hypothetically created the competitor that puts us out of business- what would we do differently?
• In a global economy you compete with everyone from everywhere for everything.
• Think big, start small, and scale fast!

On collaboration:

• Collaboration is too often something we are weak at internally which is why we have trouble collaborating externally.
• It doesn’t have to be your program you’re promoting. You may need to collaborate with others to better serve members. What collaboration could occur so we can achieve our goal?
• Inventing it all yourself is too slow and too expensive. Do you have the capacity to make the right connections?
• When you plan, do you collaborate to paint a clear picture? What does your preferred future look, feel, and sound like?

On the role of associations:

• Association web sites need to focus on benefits and information to members- not about who and what the association is.
• If we closed our doors, would they notice?  What would members not be able to do for themselves? Innovation comes to life when you think differently.
• Associations should not want members; they should want engaged, empowered, and active citizens.
• We don’t always have to be education providers, we can serve as curators and provide value to our members.
• If an association does not build the capacity to innovate, its very existence is thrown into question.
• You have to conceive of your brand as having an impact beyond your potential membership base.  

Miscellaneous:

• 75% of association executives believe their members use smartphones, but only 28% of associations have a mobile strategy
• In Japan buildings are painting giant QR Codes on top of roofs so they can be seen by Google Maps.

What would you add to this list? What are your key takeaways? What blog posts on Great Ideas have you gotten additional insights from? (Feel free to provide links below.)

I’d like to thank Amanda Batson, Bob Vaez, Jamie Notter, Devin Crosby, Abby Myette, Maddie Grant, Tobin Conley, Walt Tracy, Kim Howard, Linda Eller, Jane Lee, Lowell Aplebaum, Sarah Albright, Stacy Copeland, Scott Oser, Nancy Fisher, Mark Dorsey, Staurt Meyer, Nora Burns, and Carmine Gallo for their tweets, comments, and contributions to my understanding.

4 Innovation Lessons from Football

Well, it’s the final week of the NFL regular season, and playoffs are just around the corner (Go Packers!). College football bowls are going into high gear as well (Go Wake Forest!).

Just recently I read an article on the “Top 10 Play Innovations” in the NFL so I thought it would be a good time to explore what innovation lessons are held there for us.

First, let’s talk about what they didn’t do in pro football. It may be obvious, but teams didn’t diversify into baseball or basketball or any other sport. They also didn’t expand their footprint by using the sidelines, stands, or concession areas for certain plays. Coaches didn’t suddenly start playing 12 or 13 players at a time to gain the upper hand. Teams also didn’t elect to use an object other than a football like keys, a shoe, or a pineapple (Sorry, Southwest Airlines!) on their possessions.

So, what did coaches and teams do to create competitive advantages while staying within the confines of the rules of the game? Just how did they create innovation in what might be perceived to be limiting circumstances?

This is not a lesson on football (I wouldn’t be the right one to give it), and I’m not going to go into great detail about schemes, formations, and defenses. Here are, however, a few themes I noticed that have lessons in innovation for all of us:

Placement- Most innovation in offensive or defensive schemes starts with the placement of the players. Use of more running backs, more wide receivers, or an extra defensive back created options and changed the game. Words like “pressure” and “neutralize” are used to describe the effects of these inventive formations. Does your organization have people assigned to the right positions? Do you need to shift areas of responsibility? Would putting more emphasis on a given facet of your “game” create a competitive advantage?

Motion- The movement of players at the onset of a play also was a means of bringing innovation to football. Words like “mismatches” and “uncertainty” are key. Do your employees, members, prospects, customers, and/or competitors always know your next move with communications, marketing, public relations, branding, etc.? Are they certain of your tactics at conferences and trade shows with exhibits, sponsorships, advertising, etc.? Do your constituents already have you classified, pegged, nailed? What can you do to create a mismatch, to make them have to respond accordingly and not think of your organization in the same way? What can you do to develop new efficiencies (wins) and at the same time make it more exciting for your “fans”?

Time Management- At times innovation in football has focused on the management of the clock. Terms like the “no-huddle offense” and “2-minute offense” have become universally known. Looking at the clock and play calling differently has led to long-term success for some franchises. How does your organizations approach project management and deadlines? Are you effective at the division of responsibilities? We’re all dealing with tasks that need to be done that need to be finished by a certain date or time. Does your organization procrastinate until you’re woefully behind and then try to scramble in the last two minutes of the game? How can you create an organizational culture that addresses the need for purposeful time management from start to successful completion?

Intent- Teams have found success when they took a step back and stopped doing what the rest of the pack was doing. They embraced a different approach. These teams stopped settling for what was tried-and-true; and, instead, they innovated. They stopped going with limited opportunities with defined results and forged a new paradigm. In short, they took a risk, a gamble. They could have looked like idiots if their new methods failed. Instead, they developed options for running backs, trick plays, short passes, deep passes, and schemes for linebackers to get sacks. And, these franchises came up big! What are the ways you see that you could approach problems and issues differently? What large opportunities await but haven’t been addressed because the organization is too focused on the tasks at hand? Where has dynamic leadership simply become adequate management? How do you take time to reflect and plan strategically, to truly innovate in your field?

What are the innovation lessons you see in football or from another sport? How are these being applied in your organization? What more can be done to take these examples from the field to the office?

My 5 Words for 2012

I was inspired by Shelly Alcorn‘s post on this concept of 5 words for 2012 as well as Lowell Aplebaum‘s subsequent response. Basically, the idea is selecting 5 words you want to use to help guide your priorities, time, reading, professional development, etc. You then post these 5 words in a visible place as a reminder.

For my 5 words I’m sticking to concepts that are relevant to my professional development while not necessarily being central to my daily tasks. In other words these are primarily areas of interest for me while also having a bearing on my work life. Lastly, each of these concepts is of some importance to the circles I move in and as a result I’ve had opportunities over the past year for learning and discussions around these. I expect many more in 2012.

My 5 words for 2012 are (drumroll please)…

Mobile- More and more statistics show what kind of computing is being done via mobile devices. More email than ever is being sent via mobile. e-Commerce on smartphones is seeing dramatic increases. I was astounded to learn from a presentation by Luke Wroblewski (@lukew) at ASAE Tech ’11 earlier this month that many people around the world are using only mobile devices. In other words what they see in the palm of their hand is the only way they see that information. They never see what I take for granted on the larger screen of a laptop. If you’re not thinking mobile, you’ve been asleep Rip Van Winkle-style. The phone is not used much as a phone much anymore. The implications for conferences, social networking, e-Commerce, geolocation, etc. are huge. I want to give more thought and attention to mobile, what kind of experiences I’m looking for in apps, mobile sites, functionality, and how that translates to people I talk with regularly.

Innovation– It seems to me that the recent death of Steve Jobs has only served to bring the concept of innovation more to the forefront. Jobs, seemingly the patron saint of innovation, is referenced frequently in discussions on the topic (I’ve even done it myself, not because I’m an Apple fanatic but because his life, methods, and products bring out great illustrations). More organizations are having discussions around streamlining. Gone are the days when an association tried to be all things to all people. We’ve seen how large businesses can fail because they didn’t focus on their core competencies. The public is crying out for more customized experiences. They want- no, they demand to see value for hard-earned dollars. This will force creativity and innovation from otherwise complacent organizations. I like what I heard from Scott Steen and Jeffrey Cufaude (@jcufaude) at an ASAE InnovationTalks Day. basically that how one frames the question will help to determine the results. Are you trying to build a better mousetrap? Is the problem getting ride of mice? Are you trying to create a safe and clean environment? Are you a problem solver or an innovator? In 2012 I want to think more along the lines of being an innovator and be an integral part of discussions with organizations that are willing to look at their missions with fresh sets of eyes.

Improvisation- Because, after all, how much of life is scripted? Through the work of Jenise Fryatt I’ve been exposed to more concepts and principles regarding improvisation. It’s not just for comedy clubs anymore. Improvisation has applications related to sales, customer service, social networking, etc. and for interactions with members, colleagues, customers, prospects, and partners. Companies, associations, and even governments can no longer hide behind well-scripted statements and press releases. Teaching the skills of improvisation while giving employees appropriate training in other areas and empowering them to make decisions leads to responsive individuals and organizations. I’m looking to learn more in the area of improvisation and apply to my interactions with others. And, it’s just so darn fun!

Collaboration- I’m all for any tools, resources, or methods which allow people to work more closely together. Technology is some of the answer, but it’s not all. Corporate culture dictates whether a collaborative spirit thrives or is moderately successful or dies despite the rhetoric. As I heard Jeff De Cagna say recently, “No one person in the room is smarter than everyone in the room.” We give mental assent to this kind of notion but then go back to departments, divisions, or agencies and then act as solitary agents, never seeking best practices, never asking for the input of an experienced colleague, in effect never tapping into the expertise that is all around us. In 2012 I want to do my part to be more collaborative, to learn more about collaborative technologies and techniques, and to set the tone for others in collaborative endeavors.Engagement- I try to be engaged wherever I am, whether it’s in a one-on-one discussion, at a conference, online, or on the phone. I respond to others’ ideas and acknowledge their contributions. I take note of what interests those around me, and I myself have varied interests. In short I’m engaged. So, why is this a word I have selected for 2012? Because the name of the game for organizations moving forward is engagement: customer engagement, membership engagement, community engagement, constituency engagement, etc. You get the idea. Social media has only expedited and elevated this concept. Social media could go away tomorrow, and I’m convinced that we’d still be left with this sense that engagement matters. The public no longer wants to be talked to, lectured, sold to. They want to interact- with athletes, with actors, with elected officials, with brands. They want to provide input. They’ve been talking to their friends, neighbors, and co-workers for years, offering opinions and insights. Now they’re just willing to make them public, a part of a permanent landscape of online feedback. Tapping into this power of engagement will be key for all types of organizations. And I, for one, want to learn more and offer more in the way of engagement.

If I had to choose a sixth word it would be gamification. Why? Because it has some interesting applications and potential. And it’s just fun to say. Say it with me now: “gamification“. And now try using it in a conversation with someone today. Do they know what it means?

Anyway, so those are my 5 words for 2012. They make a great acronym: MIICE. So, while I’m watching the MIICE in 2012, what will you be watching? Have you selected your 5 words for 2012?

Oh, and if you have any reading material, blogs, conferences, etc. related to any of the letters in my MIICE, send ’em my way. After all, I’m here to learn as much from you as hopefully you are learning from me.