OD180 Nonprofit Management Letter #44

January 2010
Creativity in Approach: Adapting to Context

Dear Friends,

Last month I started my second round of articles on what I call the five foundation-stones of building organizations. This month, I continue with this second series by returning to the principle of creativity in approach. When I introduced the principle last year, I addressed the question of how to stir creativity. Here I focus on adapting to context. 

As I mentioned previously, if you would like a copy of the first set of articles, write to me at davidnorgard@OD180.com and I will be glad to send them to you. As always, I welcome your reflections and comments.

Peace, David

The Five Foundation-Stones of Organization-Building

Courage of Commitment... Creativity in Approach... Generosity of Spirit...
Honesty in Communication... Steadfastness of Purpose

OD180's Five Specialties

Board Training & Development... Organizational Assessment
Strategic Planning... Development Assessment & Planning
Constituent Relations Programs

Creativity in Approach: Adapting to Context

The Two Common Barriers Revisited

Last year, in writing about ways to stir creativity, I described two very common barriers to making the attempt, namely a perceived lack of time (often more self-made than not) and a likewise self-constricting comfort with old habits. They falsely turn the wisdom of versatility in method into folly (a topic of a future letter) and they make us blind to the necessity of adapting to context.

The demon of presuming to be too busy to observe and reflect, particularly on matters beyond our immediate perimeter, is especially pernicious. Nearly all of us these days operate without any slack in our staffing and budgeting; we are all trying to do more with less. And so exercises in fact-gathering and analysis may seem like an unaffordable luxury. Yet, without knowledge of the environment in which we are operating, without being vigilant about the trends and patterns that affect what we do, we can easily doom ourselves to doing what is either no longer relevant or no longer effective.

That leads us to the comfort of routine. At their best, routines can make us more efficient. The wisdom of not re-inventing the wheel every time we need to go somewhere is self-evident. Routines can also make us myopic, however. The old saying, "We've always done it this way before," can become prescriptive as well as descriptive when our processes and task-lists and procedures all fit like a well-worn pair of shoes. Familiarity may very well breed contempt with people but in organizations, it tends to act like a natural soporific.

Why Adaptation Is Necessary

To state the obvious, this is all dangerous because change in the environment in which we and our organizations operate really is constant. Neighborhoods change around churches, requiring new kinds of outreach - both in terms of congregational growth and community service. State regulations and funding change with respect to chemical dependency treatment and treatment centers rise or fall with these vicissitudes. Economic and demographic patterns shift in a community, making some higher education offerings attractive to the potential student body and others obsolete or redundant or esoteric.

To put it most simply, the world changes around us. So we faced with a decision: Either we change with it and live to effect our own preferred change another day (our mission, presumably). Or, we stay attuned to circumstances which no longer apply and, whether slowly or precipitously, we die.

Adapting to Context - Two Elements

So how do we adapt to our circumstances? How do we change not for change's sake but for the sake of doing what we are called to do with sustained vigor and effectiveness? There are two essential elements...

Element #1: Know your context!
Make your organization's environment a subject of ongoing study.
There is no substitute for being aware of our surroundings. Are funding patterns for what we do starting to shift? Are regulatory changes being debated in the halls of government or accreditation bodies? Are the people we serve multiplying or are they gradually disappearing from our area? Without a vigilant attitude toward what others are doing and seeing, everything will be a surprise to us and we will be in a persistent state of reactivity.

Element #2: Stay true to purpose, not program.
Stay committed to your mission, not your current way of fulfilling it.
Mission, whatever it may be, is an end, not a means. This is where creativity comes into play. Whether our fundamental mission is to heal bodies or teach minds or convert souls or preserve wildlife, the ways by which we must equip ourselves adequately to accomplish those things will and must evolve. And so will the ways by which we need to accomplish them.