Leadership Learning Community/March 2011 Webinar
From BlueOxen
Contents |
Strategic Planning the Networked Way
Strategic planning. You know you should be doing more of it. But the way you normally do it requires lots of up-front time to do and lots of follow-up time to get buy-in. And frankly, you have trouble with the buy-in part. All that trouble, minimal follow-through.
Great strategic planning processes are lightweight and participatory. This is nice-to-have for organizations, and it's critical for networks, where you don't have the benefit of hierarchy to influence its behavior. Networks will do what they do.
In this webinar, Eugene Eric Kim will describe how to do strategic planning for networks. He'll draw heavily from his experience leading the open strategic planning process for the Wikimedia movement, which drew over 1,000 participants and led to a movement-wide shift in focus on increasing reach and participation in developing countries. He'll share how you can leverage these types of processes for both your network and your organization.
About Eugene
Eugene is the cofounder and principal of Blue Oxen Associates, a consulting firm that helps groups collaborate more effectively. He has developed collaborative strategies for a number of organizations, from Fortune 100 companies to government agencies to nonprofits. In addition to his work at Blue Oxen Associates, Eugene serves on the boards of the Leadership Learning Community and WiserEarth. He received his A.B. in History and Science from Harvard University.
Questions
Tim Bonnemann:
- How much time would it take to develop a strategic 5-year plan for a relatively small organization of ca. 500 members? We feel like one year is too long. Could it be done in, say, three months? ;-)
Alain Gauthier:
- Can generative questions emerge from within the network itself, and, if yes, how do you go about it in an effective way?
Jessica Gheiler:
- Did you use the working wikily framework to help with the planning process?
Kristine Maltrud:
- Do you have suggestions for organizations in the start up phase that are mostly a small grouping of organizational partners? One organization is "leading the charge" but everyone is involved. Thanks.
Deborah Gilburg:
- How do you convince an organization that they are really a network?
Jim Maloney:
- How many people now really understand their Wikipedia strategy... 20 100 or 1000?
- The leap from tactical to strategic thinking done by people. Seems a heroic leap. Elaborate process?
Max Freund:
- The principles are great, but is there anywhere I can read about the details of the concrete process you used?
- It seems to me that a key distinction between a network and a traditional organization is that networks are much more loosely-bound and voluntary in nature. In my experience, when it comes to implementation of strategies, things often fall apart due to lack of accountability. How did you build an infrastructure for leadership and sustained motivation for implementation?
Julius Paras:
- I work in an organization where the networks consist of multiple affinity groups (focused on different purposes). Would these principles apply to strategic planning for how to support these groups?
Patty Rose:
- How do you deal with deadlines or ensure that progress is made within a timeframe
Deborah Drysdale:
- What method would you use for social network analysis? (if you could do it again)
Joy Bah:
- You mentioned a trust-building period prior to the onset of planning. How long does this usually last? Also, how long does it take to create a solid plan using this process?
Wendy Horikoshi:
- In my practice in coaching and in the emerging of Prism, a culturally-aware coaching collective, I've been trying to be conscious of how "culture" intersects with our processes. I suspect that your cultural values of commitment to the collective and to diversity were much more a part of your processes. Would there be a way to name that in your processes? For example, somewhere in the Key Principles? Anyway, it sure seems like you are being culturally-responsive and culturally inclusive in your processes.
- When you mentioned the question that you posed (I love the question), "How do you develop a movement-wide 5 year strategy in a completely open, collaborative way (the wiki way)? the following questions came up for me? What are the individual values? What are the shared collective values? Except for when I'm on working as a volunteer on a board, I don't utilize strategic planning processes much. I help clients become more strategic in their own decisions and preparing their organizations for strategic planning and so utilize the process of helping them identify their core values and the core values of the organization.
- I know that you were focusing on Strategic Planning processes. At the same time, it sure seems like you were building in issues around core values and enlisting group core values (It's all about people, model transparently, and fail forward fast all seem to be about enlisting all the parts of the person.)
- What is the difference between transparency and transparently?
Fail Forward Fast
More examples?
Participation
Managing diversity. What happens if you don't achieve a good level of diversity?
Judy Soule: Do you want both the positive influences and those that tend to be influencers on the anti-side?
Increasing participation:
- Kristine Maltrud: Ideas/strategies for increasing participation please! Thanks.
- Val Cortes: Were there any incentives (monetary?) created for people to commit/participate?
Jim Maloney: Why only two-way conversations? Why not multi-way conversations?
Jim Maloney: Experiences with differences/relationships general activity and f2f events?
Level of commitment:
- Patty Rose: Investment of the parties involved - can you add a filter for the leve of commitment you need to participate
- Julius Paras: What's the source/reference for the 90/9/1 rule?
Patty Rose: How do you manage accountability for results within the process that you suggest
