For various reasons — as a board member, a staff member, an advisor, and such — I find myself in the middle of four separate strategic thinking efforts among four separate organizations and initiatives. Although these are non-similar organizations, with very different purposes and governance structures, the conversations have been strikingly similar.<\/p>\n
The most vexing question they’ve all come around to is this: what would success look like if we achieved it? In other words, if our organization or initiative was working exceptionally well, what evidence of a difference would we see in the world around us?<\/p>\n
It seems a simple question, but I’ve seen it stump several rooms full of really intelligent and passionate people. It seems most of us — as board members, staff members, volunteers — are unprepared for the question, and lack the words to answer it directly.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that’s because an answer to that question requires more than the vague, aspirational phrases you usually find in mission statements or grant language — ”we strive to connect our community to the magic and power of [insert art form here] at the highest level of excellence.” Instead, you have to be focused and specific. If you did<\/i> connect your community to some kind of magic or power, what evidence would you expect to see? What does excellence<\/i> in your particular discipline look like — critical acclaim, national recognition, customer satisfaction, artist satisfaction, percentage of house sold?<\/p>\n
There are books and seminars galore on ”outcome measures” and ”managing for results,” jam-packed with tools, methods, processes, and matrices to help you form that conversation. But it seems even the most simple version of the outcomes question can be rich ground for meaningful discussion and debate:<\/p>\n
\nWhat would success look like if your organization achieved it? And what might that vision tell you about how to focus, how to work, and how to judge your progress along the way?
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