The headwinds against association innovation are strong. It’s clear that comfort, status quo, complacency and inertia represent business as usual.
How do we move—collectively as staff and board—to discomfort, disruption, and industriousness?
We plan for it.
Business as usual takes energy. Business as unusual requires even more energy, as well as added enthusiasm, persistence, perseverance, patience, pacing, boldness and courage. To become part of the core of an association, innovation must be prioritized to be realized. For many associations, it’s also incentivized.
But innovation doesn’t have to be a slog, or a marathon, or an energy-depleting exercise. It can be a sprint, a habit, a collaboration, an exploration, an experiment or iteration. At its simplest, it’s a question and an answer. The result of curiosity. The solution to a problem. When we make it more than it is, we’re defeated before we begin.
Some of the best innovation I see occurs in a compressed time period. Set aside 90 days for a sprint and see how far you can get. Often, this beats a long, slow journey. And, frankly, it’s more fun.
What’s the secret to association innovation? Simply begin.
For more, including the Association Innovation Report 2020 conducted with Loyalty Research Center and the Innovation Digital Vault, go to https://associationinnovation.today