1) Nonprofits face increasing uncertainty and lack tools to plan for different futures. Rapid-cycle scenario planning is a six-step process that can help nonprofits better prepare.
2) The process involves determining a focus, identifying driving forces, exploring plausible scenarios, and developing strategic priorities and action plans.
3) When used thoughtfully, rapid-cycle scenario planning can help nonprofits honestly explore a variety of futures and be better prepared to achieve their missions.
Scenario-building enables managers to invent and then consider in depth several varied stories of equally plausible futures. They can then make strategic decisions that will be sound for all plausible futures. No matter what future takes place, one is more likely to be ready for and influential in it if one has thought seriously about scenarios. Scenario planning challenges mental models about the world and lifts the blinders that limit our creativity and resourcefulness.
Scenario-building enables managers to invent and then consider in depth several varied stories of equally plausible futures. They can then make strategic decisions that will be sound for all plausible futures. No matter what future takes place, one is more likely to be ready for and influential in it if one has thought seriously about scenarios. Scenario planning challenges mental models about the world and lifts the blinders that limit our creativity and resourcefulness.
The presentation is a part of strategic planning exercise carried out by organizations and individuals to achieve long terms business and personal goals.
This is the presentation of my research I recently gave at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, to members of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and others.
It covers the basic principles of scenario planning, of crowdsourcing and collective intelligence, and then proposes a way to bring them together into an effective online system for futures work.
This presentation explains what foresight consist of, how it contributes to face change, and the different steps to face changes from identifying the forces of change to defining real strategies.
Check out "Empowering local organisations through foresight" by Robin Bourgeois, Senior Foresight Advisor, GFAR Secretariat at: http://bit.ly/17GoTt4
A Brief Overview of Strategic Foresight - Workshop Slides for SSE-OJosinaV
These slides supported a workshop conducted with students from the School for Social Entrepreneurs - Ontario to get their feet wet around strategic foresight. It offers a rapid glimpse at the foresight process engaging them in a slice of a few rapid methods.
These are the slides (including the exercises) from a 1-day workshop I designed, which covered a range of skills and tools to help managers cope with an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Launch of Report 10: One Ocean: Principles for the stewardship of a healthy a...McGuinness Institute
The launch of Report 10: One Ocean: Principles for the stewardship of a healthy and productive ocean was held at the Institute on Thursday, 26 March 2015. This report explores the seascape of New Zealand - the past, present and future. It identifies the need for change in the way New Zealand governs its ocean space and the upcoming opportunities and challenges for doing so.
The launch consisted of presentations by author James Tremlett, Lionel Carter and Wendy McGuinness followed by a discussion session. This discussion proved to be lively broad discussion amongst the diverse stakeholder who attended.
Gauteng 2055 - Human Settlements Scenario Planning Project Report by Mphathi ...Sakaza
The presentation represents the summary of the outcomes of a Scenario Planning project commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing in 2009 and completed in July 2010. Mphathi Nyewe was the lead consultant for the project.
The presentation is a part of strategic planning exercise carried out by organizations and individuals to achieve long terms business and personal goals.
This is the presentation of my research I recently gave at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, to members of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and others.
It covers the basic principles of scenario planning, of crowdsourcing and collective intelligence, and then proposes a way to bring them together into an effective online system for futures work.
This presentation explains what foresight consist of, how it contributes to face change, and the different steps to face changes from identifying the forces of change to defining real strategies.
Check out "Empowering local organisations through foresight" by Robin Bourgeois, Senior Foresight Advisor, GFAR Secretariat at: http://bit.ly/17GoTt4
A Brief Overview of Strategic Foresight - Workshop Slides for SSE-OJosinaV
These slides supported a workshop conducted with students from the School for Social Entrepreneurs - Ontario to get their feet wet around strategic foresight. It offers a rapid glimpse at the foresight process engaging them in a slice of a few rapid methods.
These are the slides (including the exercises) from a 1-day workshop I designed, which covered a range of skills and tools to help managers cope with an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Launch of Report 10: One Ocean: Principles for the stewardship of a healthy a...McGuinness Institute
The launch of Report 10: One Ocean: Principles for the stewardship of a healthy and productive ocean was held at the Institute on Thursday, 26 March 2015. This report explores the seascape of New Zealand - the past, present and future. It identifies the need for change in the way New Zealand governs its ocean space and the upcoming opportunities and challenges for doing so.
The launch consisted of presentations by author James Tremlett, Lionel Carter and Wendy McGuinness followed by a discussion session. This discussion proved to be lively broad discussion amongst the diverse stakeholder who attended.
Gauteng 2055 - Human Settlements Scenario Planning Project Report by Mphathi ...Sakaza
The presentation represents the summary of the outcomes of a Scenario Planning project commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing in 2009 and completed in July 2010. Mphathi Nyewe was the lead consultant for the project.
An Overview of Scenario Planning - Introduction, Overview and ExamplesAxiom EPM
An Overview of Scenario Planning. Topics include: Scenario Planning and Uncertainty, Scenario Planning Prerequisites, Key Benefits of Scenario Planning, Types of Scenario Planning, Overcoming Hurdles to Scenario Planning and Five Required Structural Elements
Presentation made at the 4th Workshop on Strategic Crisis Management (Paris, 28-29 May 2015). For more information, visit the meeting webpage: http://www.oecd.org/gov/risk/4th-workshop-strategic-crisis-management.htm.
The CfWI horizon scanning team has produced a series of posters to represent the key messages from the CfWI report Big picture challenges for health and social care - implications for workforce planning, education, training and development which is due to be published shortly.
The posters focus on the five domains of Health Education England's Education Outcomes Framework
excellent education
competent and capable staff
adaptable and flexible workforce
NHS values and behaviours
widening participation
using them as a basis to put forward thought-provoking questions.
The posters are available to download below.
If you would like to contribute to our horizon scanning work, contact horizonscanning@cfwi.org.uk.
120 years ago the emergent field of experimental psychology became embroiled in debates as to whether plateaus in performance are real (or not) and if so whether they were due to periods in which league-stepping methods (originally defined as a hierarchy of habits that enabled experts to step leagues while novices were ``bustling over furlongs or inches'') were being acquired (or not). 20 years ago both the human-computer interaction and cognitive science communities were seized with concerns over performance plateaus (i.e., extended periods of stable suboptimal performance) from experts. I briefly review this history with the aim of drawing distinctions between performance asymptotes and performance plateaus, and argue that remediating one is the domain of design while remediating the other is the domain of training.
Using game-design pedagogies to embed skills in the law or social science curriculum - a 1 day conference held at Staffordshire University on behalf of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
“Horizon-scanning: A brave new world or re-inventing wheels” By Kris Lines, Senior Lecturer & Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Business Education & Law
Session outline: This session will explore how feature technologies (MOOCs, Wearable devices, Learning Analytics etc) will impact on the current educational pedagogies, and what implications this will have for learning, teaching and assessment strategies
Foresight driven innovation - boosting pulp and paper with scienceFredrik Rosén
What does self-opening packaging, textile like paperboard and the world’s first lignin-based carbon fibre composite have in common? They are all demonstrators of future use of wood fibres developed by Innventia – a world leading research institute that works with innovations based on forest raw materials.
Fredrik Rosén will present Innventia’s approach to foresight driven innovation at the RISI European Conference. Highlights from the Innventia Global Outlook Reports “Packaging 2020” and “Papermaking Towards the Future” will be presented. Packaging 2020 describes seven global forces and their impact on the packaging industry and the packaging of the future. The conclusions are based on a survey carried out among consumers in the US, India and Sweden. “Papermaking Towards the Future” is based on an expert survey with 150 respondents from 21 different countries and maps the most important trends and driving forces for tomorrow’s papermaking.
Cecily’s fun and inspiring programs take groups on a guided tour of the future where they find fresh answers to the age-old questions, “Who are you?” “Where are you going?” and “What’s your territory?” Whether an industry forecast, innovation challenge, leadership development, or for future-proofing a brand, Cecily is able to penetrate core issues and get to the best questions quickly. Her provocative and engaging programs offer a practical approach to connecting near-term realities with long-term objectives.
All programs are tailored to the interests and objectives of each group.
Shaping Tomorrow - Getting Started - IntroductionKerry Richardson
Equip yourself with AI-driven research, instant forward intelligence, auto scenarios & collaborative strategic thinking to plan your future & act in time.
The system helps you to define, gather, analyze, prioritize and distribute forward intelligence about products, customers, competitors, policies, strategies and your environment to support you in 'making better decisions today'.
Impact of Development Planning on Fundraising SuccessBloomerang
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars/
Join Dr. Adrian Sargeant, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, and Barbara O’Reilly, CFRE, Principal of Windmill Hill Consulting, as they talk about a global research study the Institute recently completed that is the first of its kind to look at how development planning contributes to fundraising results.
Hello! This is my first draft of Co-op 101 for the Athens, GA-based Athens Free School. This covers the what, why and how of cooperative businesses including typology, funding and founding. I'll continue to offer these in Athens so if you're in the area send me a note!
Strategic Alliances for Non-Profits outlines key success factors when proposing a joint relationship with a Donor-Sponsor-Corporate Social Responsibility Partner. It identifies both the work it takes from the Outbound and Inbound side.
Thank you Geraldine Gatehouse for working with me on this great presentation
Guide to action to be a changemaker - based on TakingItGlobal guidelines. Presented during the roadshow on School of Volunteers project in 2010 to >500 students.
http://imanusman.com
http://indonesianfutureleaders.org
Top mailing list providers in the USA.pptxJeremyPeirce1
Discover the top mailing list providers in the USA, offering targeted lists, segmentation, and analytics to optimize your marketing campaigns and drive engagement.
Tata Group Dials Taiwan for Its Chipmaking Ambition in Gujarat’s DholeraAvirahi City Dholera
The Tata Group, a titan of Indian industry, is making waves with its advanced talks with Taiwanese chipmakers Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) and UMC Group. The goal? Establishing a cutting-edge semiconductor fabrication unit (fab) in Dholera, Gujarat. This isn’t just any project; it’s a potential game changer for India’s chipmaking aspirations and a boon for investors seeking promising residential projects in dholera sir.
Visit : https://www.avirahi.com/blog/tata-group-dials-taiwan-for-its-chipmaking-ambition-in-gujarats-dholera/
Premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions for Modern BusinessesSynapseIndia
Stay ahead of the curve with our premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions. Our expert developers utilize MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js to create modern and responsive web applications. Trust us for cutting-edge solutions that drive your business growth and success.
Know more: https://www.synapseindia.com/technology/mean-stack-development-company.html
FIA officials brutally tortured innocent and snatched 200 Bitcoins of worth 4...jamalseoexpert1978
Farman Ayaz Khattak and Ehtesham Matloob are government officials in CTW Counter terrorism wing Islamabad, in Federal Investigation Agency FIA Headquarters. CTW and FIA kidnapped crypto currency owner from Islamabad and snatched 200 Bitcoins those worth of 4 billion rupees in Pakistan currency. There is not Cryptocurrency Regulations in Pakistan & CTW is official dacoit and stealing digital assets from the innocent crypto holders and making fake cases of terrorism to keep them silent.
Anny Serafina Love - Letter of Recommendation by Kellen Harkins, MS.AnnySerafinaLove
This letter, written by Kellen Harkins, Course Director at Full Sail University, commends Anny Love's exemplary performance in the Video Sharing Platforms class. It highlights her dedication, willingness to challenge herself, and exceptional skills in production, editing, and marketing across various video platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Building Your Employer Brand with Social MediaLuanWise
Presented at The Global HR Summit, 6th June 2024
In this keynote, Luan Wise will provide invaluable insights to elevate your employer brand on social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. You'll learn how compelling content can authentically showcase your company culture, values, and employee experiences to support your talent acquisition and retention objectives. Additionally, you'll understand the power of employee advocacy to amplify reach and engagement – helping to position your organization as an employer of choice in today's competitive talent landscape.
Company Valuation webinar series - Tuesday, 4 June 2024FelixPerez547899
This session provided an update as to the latest valuation data in the UK and then delved into a discussion on the upcoming election and the impacts on valuation. We finished, as always with a Q&A
Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit and TemplatesAurelien Domont, MBA
This Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants, after more than 5,000 hours of work. It is considered the world's best & most comprehensive Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully undertake the Digital Transformation of your organization and define a robust IT Strategy.
Editable Toolkit to help you reuse our content: 700 Powerpoint slides | 35 Excel sheets | 84 minutes of Video training
This PowerPoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkits. For more details, visit www.domontconsulting.com
9. Goodwill rediscovers its mission High Responsiveness Low Responsiveness Community Employment Alliance Helping Hands Coalition High Connectedness Work Training Inc. Limited Legacy Low Connectedness
17. The Griffin Centre Healthy Change Change-aholism A Valued Partner Dancing as Fast as We Can Partnerships Specialist SWOT Team Back to Basics Isolation
18. Association of Christian Schools Int’l. Adequate School Choice Limited School Choice Charter Schools Mandatory Public Education Government Hostile Vouchers Same Old Same Old Government Neutral
19. Orchestras Canada Banding Together Playing Solo Community Driven Market Driven Focus on Art Network Driven Funder Driven Focus on Finances
[Peter]
Welcome
Think about a nonprofit you care about to apply principles
What are some challenges nonprofits facing today in planning?
Handout: What makes scenario planning with nonprofit organizations challenging?
Objective: As a result of this session, you will be able to use scenario planning with a nonprofit you serve or care about. Trim down process while retaining benefits.
Time target: 10:50
[Jim]
There was a time when society was more stable. Donors were more consistent. The world was more predictable.
The needs and wants of people are changing rapidly and in unexpected ways.Many camps built for rustic get-away, today people expect Red Roof Inn.
The nature of donors is morphing. Builder generation dutifully supported nonprofits. Donors today want to be involved. Direct mail doesn’t work the same way it used to.
Long-range operational plans used to work, now world changing too fast.Strategic plans tossed after September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. Most nonprofit leaders don’t know how to plan given uncertainty.The ground is shifting under their feet and throwing them off balance.
[Peter]
We have led dozens of scenario planning sessions
They face uncertainty, They lack tools
[Jim]
People expect Red Cross/Red Crescent to function.
They expect local volunteer fire department to be able to put out fires.
They Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts to develop character in children.
People expect not-for-profits to do what they are supposed to do.They expect them to work.
[Peter]
Cannot explain it away, can’t blame others.
[Jim]
But the world is changing fast. Technology is changing fast. Nonprofits often get left behind..
Nonprofits are often slow to catch new trends. For example, how many today are using podcasts to deliver training to volunteers or inspirational messages to donors or clients?
Sometimes, ignoring changing realities can be dangerous.
[Peter]
Illustration of Canadian Red Cross blood supply.
[Jim]
Nonprofits don’t have to be caught by surprise when their market or donors change.
They don’t have to remain stuck in yesterday.
They don’t have to ride the tail of the change curve.
Nonprofits can be prepared for the future and eagerly watching for change to occur and capitalizing on it.
They have potential to change and adapt as fast as a business.
[Peter]
Not predicting the future, but preparing for it.
[Jim]
One helpful tool is scenario planning, but time-consuming and expensive.
Global corporations spend days on this.
Rapid-cycle scenario planning is simply a faster, better, cheaper version that is more appropriate.
It works. It helps nonprofit leaders think about the future. It helps them create more resilient strategies.
[Peter]
Our experience tells us this can be a powerful tool.
[Jim]
Rapid-cycle scenario planning is simple and straightforward. We will explain this six-step process in a moment. But first let’s form groups of three or four.
Time target: 10:55
[Jim]
Handout: What are some significant unknowns for a nonprofit that you care about?
What keeps the leaders of your nonprofit awake at night? What do you worry about for this organization?
Take about five minutes and list the significant unknowns for your nonprofit.
In large group: What are some of the significant unknowns you surfaced?
Time target: 11:05
[Peter]
In mid-1999, less than a year into a new five-year strategic plan,
Goodwill Industries of Toronto found itself heading for a 10% financial shortfall on a
$33 million budget in Year 1.
Isolating the source of the shortfall was easy at the financial level – their were big
losses on their retail operation.
Getting at the underlying drivers of these losses was more difficult, but we soon saw
two main factors:
* the simultaneous failure of Goodwill’s three main $ sources
* the inability of senior management to accept the changing reality
It required radical surgery to remove several blockages to their thinking and to open
them up to the need to ‘reconceive’ the organization to create a healthy future.
[Peter]
Briefly explain the grid approach, the Goodwill drivers, the four
scenarios and the key insights:
* abandoning their failing strategy was the only option with a future
* their ‘ideal’ scenario was going to require a long-term effort, including
significant capacity building
* they had two ‘transitional’ strategies worth pursuing, but needed to
avoid alienating important future partners
Time target: 11:10
[Jim]
That’s a vivid example of the value that rapid-cycle scenario planning can deliver. It is high-yield because it can lead to breakthroughs in strategy.
It is also high-yield because it can help nonprofits survive during turbulent times.
Nonprofit leaders need to think about the future just as much as corporate business leaders.
The very survival of their organization might be at stake.
The six steps in this process are listed in your handout. You can take notes as we talk through each step.
[Jim]
People often assume that scenario planning is simply taking time to have a good long talk about the future. Can be confused with environmental scan or, worse, hearing a lecture from a futurist.
You start rapid-cycle scenario planning by pinpointing an area of concern or decision that has to be made.
For example, should we launch a capital campaign and build a new office?
Should we broaden the services that we offer our clients?
Should we start charging a minimal fee for what we provide?
Should we change our promotional strategy?
Corporations would call this formulating the business question. We call it determining your focus and often revolves around a decision to be made or problem to solve.
[Jim]
The next step involves looking outside of the organization at the relevant environment. This step is often done with the decision-makers as a team but it can be done other ways.
You can explore driving forces in the immediate working environment as well as the larger context globally.
Driving forces in the immediate working environment can include pressures from donors, clients, competitors, partners, communities, and government regulation.
Driving forces in the larger context might include trends or changes in society, technology, politics, the environment, or the economy. Naming driving forces in the larger context is like doing an environmental scan.
The point in this step is to brainstorm a long list of trends and uncertainties.
[Jim]
Questions that matter are driving forces that are both important and uncertain. For example,
Will we continue to be the only game in town or will we face new competitors?
Will interest in the homeless grow or decline over the next ten years?
Will interest rates be higher or lower two years from now?
Will we succeed in building our donor base or struggle along with our current level of support?
To form the scenario grid, select the top two questions and bisect them to produce four possible futures.
We’ll show you several examples in just a few minutes.
When you have developed a scenario grid, you are ready to create the stories.
[Jim]
One person can write all four scenarios or the group can construct them together in real time. We’ll show you several examples.
Some of my clients have produced videos to tell the four different stories.
Story: Video of university president leading a tour of the existing campus, leading a tour of campus with the new science building (actually at another college), and the last video with the new university president leading the tour.
The team can build the stories together, they can divide into groups and present, or the facilitator can outline the stories for them.
The point is to think together about the future.
[Jim]
I usually harvest raw ideas for building strategy at the end of discussing each scenario. This leaves you with 4 lists of strategic priorities.
Anything can emerge as a strategic priority. With nonprofits, some of the most powerful involve building capacity in an underdeveloped area.
The most powerful insights are the no-brainers, good no matter which scenario comes to pass.
For example, one group saw a need to develop what they called national-level leaders.
Another saw a need to diversify their donor base.
If done well, you will surface more potential initiatives than the nonprofit could implement. The last step is selecting a few to put into motion now.
[Jim]
If you started with a decision to make in step one, you may be able to make that decision.
If you started with a question to answer, you may have your answer.
If you started with a problem to solve, you may be able to start working on the problem.
Lay out the list of key initiatives or key actions everyone can commit to based on scenario discussions.
If you skip this step with a nonprofit they will have had an enjoyable day but it probably won’t bring any organizational results.
This last step ensures that the board or staff will take action that leaves the organization better off.
Let’s look at a couple of examples of scenario grids.
Time target: 11:15
[Peter]
One of our early rapid cycle SP opportunities was actually one of our longest-standing clients, who needed help dealing with their ‘over-achievement’ on strategies we had helped them to pursue.
This is how their grid changed their thinking about the future:
[Jim]
About 4000 Christian schools belong to ACSI. (3948 in 2005)
This matrix took one afternoon with about 35 educators participating in the session. 25-year time frame.
Government: cannot be supportive to the point of violating the establishment of religion clause.
School choice: Paying twice with tax dollars has impact of limiting choice.
Same old same old: Government remains neutral and parents have one or two options.
Mandatory public education: Increasing government regulation and intrusion makes it too difficult to run a private school.
Vouchers: Government allows some of the tax dollars to go to the school the child attends. NEA is a leading voice against a voucher system.
Charter schools: All states allow charter schools. Nearly 3,000 new schools have been launched since 1990s. Chartering is a radical educational innovation that is moving states beyond reforming existing schools to creating something entirely new.
This is how their grid changed their thinking about the future: They have no idea what which future will come to pass by 2025, so they better not rest on their laurels.
[Peter]
One of our most interesting applications was a 28 year-old national
association that had resisted change for 25 years despite pressure from their main
funders and the criticism or defection of key members. A big part of what held them
back, and even prevented them from seeing the changing reality, was the universal
admiration of their 25-year Executive Director across the industry.
This is how their grid changed their thinking about the future:
Take a few minutes for Q & A or comments.
[Jim]
Following are five benefits of rapid-cycle scenario planning for nonprofits. The five are listed in your handouts.
Time target: 11:30
[Jim]
Here’s an interesting wire sculpture.
Ask, “What do these four photographs suggest that
can help us plan more effectively for the future?”
[Peter]
First key point: it is essential to explore different perspectives.
Second key point: the ‘clearer’ picture isn’t necessarily to ‘best’ view – it fails to reveal the messiness of the factors that produce the picture, and may oversimplify reality.
[Peter]
Exploring a range of scenarios makes it more likely that key issues will
be identified and addressed. By forcing participants to describe how they would
succeed under even the worst-case scenario, you make it possible to think about
the ‘unthinkable.’
[Jim]
One group bought a 20 million dollar piece of property for future expansion and didn’t know if they could hang on to it. When they explored the worst-case scenario, something they were afraid to think about, they realized they could sign a long-term lease for 20 years and still have it for the future.
[Jim]
Nonprofits often neglect building capacity until its too late. When the scenarios reveal that building capacity in some area is required or beneficial for all four futures, leaders become motivated to take action.
[Peter]
One point worth making: capacity-building is often overlooked,
especially in traditional strategic planning which focuses on strengths and
opportunities. The future may not cooperate with preferred ‘simple plan’ for success.
[Peter]
For organizations whose past planning efforts have been problematic,
it is even more important to overcome objections re: time and $. But, it’s also the
way to engage more people who couldn’t get involved in a more extensive process.
(e.g. Regent Park CHC ‘town hall.’)
[Jim]
I can’t sell a full-scale, five-day scenario planning process to a nonprofit that is dependent on charitable donations from individuals. They have a hard time rationalizing the expense because they don’t know how to explain this to donors.
[Jim]
This gives them a sense of confidence that they can morph as community and society changes.
They can view themselves as built to change.
They can feel confident knowing they will be OK no matter what.
Time target: 11:40
[Peter]
Say, “What might a useful ‘grid’ be for your nonprofit organization?
Working in groups of 4, take a few minutes to brainstorm a list of
major uncertainties nonprofits might be facing – start by thinking about your own
selected organization.
Then, pick two and define the opposite ends of the continuum and use
those to label the side and bottom of the grid – be sure to frame the ‘poles’ in terms
of mutually-exclusive end results (e.g. success or failure, options a or b,
occurs/doesn’t occur, etc.)
Next, talk about each cell briefly and imagine a title that captures what
is going on in it.
(Lead a large group debrief – ask re: drivers, dynamics, insights.)
(Go to the next slide to conclude the debrief.)
[Peter]
Ask, “How might this kind of process change how your nonprofit thinks
about the future?”
Now, we’d like to share some tips and tools we’ve found helpful.
Time target: 11:55
[Jim]
We are going to wrap up with 7 keys to success. You will find these listed in your handout.
First, think carefully about who you involve.
Should you work with the board or the professional staff?
If you are doing this with a board of directors, would you like to include staff or not?
Would it be good to involve community leaders or real clients?
What about interested donors?
Select people who want to think about the future and are positive about the organization.
Look for strategic thinkers. Stack the deck for success.
You want to walk out of this with new strategy and a clear plan of action.
[Jim]
Stakeholders are anyone who has a stake in making sure the organization works. Stakeholders for a nonprofit are like shareholders of a corporation and can include:
Donors
Clients
Community leaders
Other agencies
Government officials
Board members, staff
Telephone calls can be a quick and efficient way to research their perspectives and gather information about driving forces. Your handout includes a list of stakeholder interview questions.
[Peter]
Briefly explain the interview approach, and refer them to the list of interview questions in the handout.
[Jim]
Rapid-cycle scenario planning includes the same steps as standard scenario planning. We are only suggesting that nonprofits do each step quickly and cheaply.
Always start with a clear focus or you will get lost at some point along the way.
You may list driving forces by yourself before the meeting, but you still have to do this step.
Skip the last two steps of strategic priorities and action planning and a nice time will be had by all but nothing will really change.
[Jim]
When you are telling a story you can talk about cutting staff, finding new clients, shifting away from old services.
You can bring up these issues and get away with it because it’s a story.
Like a good news reporter, don’t just lob softballs, throw the hardballs that really get people thinking.
[Jim]
You honor the story by the way you craft it and the way you hear it.
When you create the story, make it believable. Include details that spice it up and make it fun.
Try to establish a theme. For some, put in surprise twists in the plot.
[Peter]
Explain the story-building process and refer them to the list of story-building
questions in the handouts.
[Jim]
Nonprofits rarely get around to talking about building capacity for the future. Like any business, they have bills to pay and real-life pressures that keep them focused on the here and now. Building capacity usually requires reallocation of precious resources.
The breakthroughs for securing their future usually involve capacity-building initiatives.
[Jim]
Robust action plans make you feel stronger.
They continue to make sense no matter which way the future begins to unfold.
Do something that staff and donors can get excited about.
Secure the organization’s future.
[Peter]
Talk briefly about the ‘execution challenge’, and mention some of the
tools that can be easily adapted to the nonprofit world (e.g. strategy portfolios & BSC.)
Time target: 12:00
[Jim]
The nonprofit you work for or care about has an official future.
The official future is the unspoken or generally accepted prediction of what the relevant environment will be like for the foreseeable future.
It’s like groupthink about the future.
Is your nonprofit ready to examine their official future?
Are you ready to lend a hand or lead the way?
[Jim]
If a nonprofit does not change as the world does, the nonprofit will become increasingly irrelevant and may not survive.
Rapid-cycle scenario planning can help nonprofits maintain their edge and their viability.
[Jim]
The six steps of Rapid-cycle scenario planning will help them create a sustainable future.
They will be less likely to object to the cost or the time required when you minimize them.
[Jim]
Uncertainty paralyzes many nonprofit leaders.
They can easily feel that long range planning is useless if they can’t project what their future will look like.
Using scenarios, you can plan even though the future is uncertain and unpredictable.
Time target: 12:05
[Both]
We have some time left over to talk together. What comments or questions do you have?
End at 12:15