A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 9.3.5.B

Got edges?

Conventional wisdom says an ailing organization should aggressively cut costs and /or develop new products and services to raise revenues. UCP's done both of these in recent years. To minimize operating costs, the former UPC of Central OH merged with another nonprofit (that also serves people with disabilities). On the revenue side, the national office has introduced at least three significant new service offerings...

Assuming for a minute it's done all the COST CUTTING it can do -- organizationwide, affiliate network included -- I want to focus this post on the GROWTH side of the UCP equation. 

"When organizations speak of pursuing growth, most are speaking of product- or service-level innovations produced in the core of their organization." 

The word "core" is key here. The authors of The Power of Pull contend that innovations derived from core operations are offering diminishing returns these days. Marginally improved, marginally differentiated products and services aren't moving the dial. As it relates to UCP, their concern would be that improvements of that ilk would likely not generate enough dough to make up for any losses the organization is experiencing due to reduced government support and /or increased competition.

(Do LIFE LABS, Mission Driven Consulting, and The World CP Challenge represent just marginally improved or differentiated services? If so, are they destined to provide  mediocre-at-best returns? If not, are there additional things UCP could do to ensure their sustained effectiveness? I hope to make those sorts of questions the subject matter of the next post.)

JSB et al. would counsel against pursuing marginal returns. It's not sensible, they write, "to keep pushing harder and harder on existing resources with minimal gains." 

If this is the organization's m.o., it should consider looking to the edge and learning to innovate at a more fundamental, institutional level -- for at least three reasons: (1) there's a good chance market opportunities are being missed (2) pursuing edge opportunities can be relatively less costly [because you're leveraging external resources] and (3) significantly, UCP would develop new institutional capabilities in the process.

If things are "difficult" for UCP, that's a sign that more changing and adapting need to be done. Changes in management mindsets are likely in order.* What the authors offer is a pragmatic pathway to making said changes and to improving, specifically, UCP's ability to learn.

In the next post I'll try to characterize and categorize some of UCP-National's innovations. Then, after that, I'll go into how UCP could inch itself closer to the edge.

*Question for UCP top managers to ponder: Do you consider it your purpose to be an orchestrator for your people to connect and learn from others, i.e., to improve their performance?

A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 7.0

I believe the best way to get from here to there -- where “there” is sound, social media related recommendations UCP and Red Treehouse can use to deliver the social goods -- is to do it methodically. To follow a framework that's logically consistent and proven effective, and that meaningfully addresses the key drivers of organizational success.

BRING ON THE EXPERTS.

Here are a few big thinkers whose frameworks fit the bill, along with a sentence or so about how they frame the challenges all organizations today face:

• John Seely Brown, John Hagel III, and Lang Davison: authors of The Power of Pull. How do you systematically draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges? 

• David Weinberger: author of The Cluetrain Manifesto  and  (released in January of this year) Too Big To Know. How do you build networks that make people smarter? 

• The Social Business Bunch ('cept that there is no such bunch, ‘s’far as I know; this is just my shorthand for management consultants with social business* offerings -- a few at the front of the pack being): 

• IBM: IBM. How do you become an agile, transparent, and engaged organization? 

• Dachis Group: the social marketing optimization software solutions leader. How do businesses re-envision their inherent architecture to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities brought by changes in technology, society, and work? 

• Gartner, Inc: the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. How do you use social media to identify, catalyze, empower, and derive value from a community and their mass collaboration? 

IN THE NET THESE PEOPLE TRUST.

It's their belief that those who know how to take advantage of the digital infrastructure have opportunities to create disproportionate impact and do great work.

My daughter and I have a stake in UCP’s and Red Treehouse’s great or not-so-great work to come. I want to be sure both organizations are at least considering -- 'cause I’ve been drinking more or less the same Kool-Aid -- what these experts are serving up. 

I’ll be methodically snooping around for signs that they are, and reporting back in the posts to follow. 

*One definition of a social business: An organization that has put in place the strategies, technologies and processes to systematically engage all the individuals of its ecosystem (employees, customers, partners, suppliers) to maximize the co-created value.

A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 1.1

It was already in my notes to research the ways in which LIVESTRONG and other “most admired” health non-profits like American Cancer Society are using social technologies to build hope and keep it alive. What wasn’t in my notes – and what took me by surprise, I must say – was to have what I had planned to look for...find me. In my car. On my radio. In the form of a public service announcement from the National MS Society. 

What got me about the psa was its relevance to this series. The point? To drive traffic (by driving those of us who were in traffic) to a new web site: www.msconnection.org. The point of the new site? To be a platform for sharing ideas, for "giving what you know." The rationale behind it? Lots and lots of caring and connected people is the best hope for slowing MS down -- if not obliterating it altogether.

For now, you can visit this page to hear and /or see the psa. (radio and TV formats)