Lynn Curry has been leading strategic planning for educational, social and health organizations and agencies for over 25 years. She is a respected facilitator of organizational and program change, whose meticulous research and insightful direction produce clear and actionable policies and plans for positive outcomes. http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Successful businesses poach ideas from anywhere all the time if implenting the idea promises an improvement in market share.  How long did it take all the other banks to copy the credit card id... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=6 6 Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700 “It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place; to get somewhere else; you have to run twice as fast.” (The Red Queen, Alice in Wonderland) OR MAYBE WE HAVE TO RUN DIFFERENTLY? (... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=4 4 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700  There's a big difference between talk and action. Lots of us talk a good story but can't actually get anything going on the ground. Then the moment of opportunity passes. Good enoug... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=11 11 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 I just read a strategic plan that has my blood boiling.  You could change the organization's name and have that strategic plan apply equally well to any membership driven organization in ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=8 8 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Jeff Turnbull, outgoing president of the CMA, this week described the Canadian health care system as "deeply troubled".  He went on to describe a litany of well-known failings:  ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=9 9 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Boards develop tyrants due to poor board management. One of the many reasons for having manageable-sized boards (15 to 20 members) is to increase the odds that they are managed. Boards need to be... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=10 10 Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Every day we see and hear about errors in the workplace. In business, errors lose money. In healthcare, errors lose lives. In education, errors lose futures. Do you have a supportive ongoing progra... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=12 12 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 New CEOs need to get their focal distance right: not too focused on implementation (that is staff work) and not too policy-only (this is board work). Experienced CEOs should reflect periodically on ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=13 13 Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Now there's an idea! Declare a simple goal and engage a diverse collection of interested parties to refine the product through many iterations and variations in response to uptake and needs disco... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=14 14 Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Don't let aspirations of perfection prevent execution of actions "good enough" to achieve needed goals. There will always be someone with a tweak to suggest or an addition to insist o... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=15 15 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Does your organization have priorities? Do you know what they are, how they were identified and how they affect your work and your career path? When everything is a priority; nothing is. Everyone... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=16 16 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Why do we settle so easily for the crumbs, the easy wins, the "why bother" accomplishments? Can we not get past the repetitive ‘white papers', expert panels, the endless rounds of... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=17 17 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800 When an organization is of sufficient size and matures enough to have paid staff, it is past the fragile founding stages that require daily operational involvement from member leaders. Organizational... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=18 18 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700 What should the board education curriculum be? Of course, start with what is causing trouble right now. Even with immediate attention to topics causing current difficulty, there should be a long-ter... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=19 19 Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Board members don't gossip. Being a disciplined board member means more than not divulging board business. Do all your board members do their assigned homework for each meeting or assigned task?... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=20 20 Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700 What happens when part of a group expects to play hockey, others have practiced their basketball skills and the rest expect to be bystanders but are needed to make up a team? Chaos? Embarrassment?... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=21 21 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Chait, Holland & Taylor:   Principles: Board effectiveness is associated with successful explicit board attention to six critical dimensions of organizational function: 1. Cont... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=22 22 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700 This approach is based on  Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation principles: Effectiveness in a public organization is seen as a complex concept without simple definition or universal... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=23 23 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 This is hands-down the best choice for almost all organizations. Developed by John Carver, there is a lot of written material and experience with this approach. Principles: Common organizat... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=24 24 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 So you have decided to use the policy governance framework to organize roles and responsibilities within your organization. What now? First, remember why you are seeking an organizational framew... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=25 25 Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Governance and program operations are not the same thing. Governance is board work; operations are staff work. Boards make policy; they delegate implementation. Boards define the outcomes (the &l... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=26 26 Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Only the board itself has the authority and the responsibility to set rules for its own operation. Formulating these self-expectations should be a matter of considerable board discussion with caref... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=27 27 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Organizations need shared leadership. Leadership takes active effort. Principal leadership tasks for organizations are: 1. Visioning: see the future, exploit opportunities, take risks, allow for ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=28 28 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 The Board Chair is the chief board officer. The responsibilities include: 1. lead and facilitate Board action domains; 2. lead and facilitate the Board's relationship with the CEO include ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=29 29 Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700 The CEO, or President or Executive Director is the chief staff officer for the organization and has responsibility for all implementation activities. The principal responsibility is insuring the ef... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=30 30 Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Referring to the Russian Revolution, Lenin once said that "there are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen". We are living in one of those periods with mome... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=31 31 Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Whining and fear are self-fulfilling prophecies in organizations and in people. Fear is often behind what comes across as negativity, cynicism, defiance, self-righteousness or arrogance. Those per... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=32 32 Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700 It's Friday afternoon and good time management has all senior managers and board officers looking over their organizational "To Do" lists for the past week.  We feel good with ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=33 33 Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Organizational members have different roles and responsibilities to the organization depending on a number of factors: age and maturity of the organization; budget to afford professional managemen... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=34 34 Wed, 05 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Only really unhealthy organizations avoid using widespread members and stakeholders as primary information sources.  I have seen a few such organizations over the years.  They tend to be... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=35 35 Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Healthy organisms mature with time and experience. They learn from their environments; they adapt and react; they identify and act on strategic advantage. Similarly, organizations must evolve over t... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=36 36 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Boards are responsible to the membership for the organization. If the organization identifies and acts on strategic opportunities, it is a credit to the board. If the organization meets goals set to... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=37 37 Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700        Does every one of your staff know what their job is? Not just the title of their positions, but how their day-to-day work relates to specific current organization... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=38 38 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Board Education is needed when: 1. there is confusion on what the board should be doing versus the senior staff and other volunteer/ member leaders; 2. there is no simple predictability/ reliabilit... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=39 39 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Are your Board members best suited to the specific challenges facing your organization? Or are they a collection of honored elders and appointees from factions within the organization? If the latt... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=40 40 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800 How do you figure out what KSA’s (knowledge, skills and attitudes) are needed on your board?   Start with your strategic plan: is it really strategic or is it really more of the sa... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=41 41 Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0800 So, you have identified the KSA’s (knowledge, skills and attitudes) needed on your board at the present time.  How can you make that happen?       If you have a leade... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=42 42 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0800 If they are doing the job right, board membership is not an honorific position nor representational for a specific segment of the membership.  The board has to act as a whole at all times on be... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=43 43 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800 A lot of serious organizational problems can be traced to the following board errors: 1. Allowing two tiers to develop within the board 2. Not identifying vested interests 3. Accepting ‘good eno... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=44 44 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Do not allow tiers to develop within the board anywhere. The board must act as one all the time and in all aspects of policy leadership. One of the slippery slopes to organizational purgatory, if ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=45 45 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Board members are chosen for their connections as well as their KSAs (knowledge, skills and attitudes) relevant to the organization's current needs. Organizations must attend at all times to the qua... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=46 46 Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Boards sometimes set their expectations too low and settle for what is not exciting but what may, they hope, be sufficient. Often this occurs through board hubris, an undeserved sense of pride, of &l... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=47 47 Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Corporate Doom Flag #4 is a board focusing too close in time. If a board is making policy decisions that affect events as they are occurring, they are managing from crisis to crisis. Indeed they are... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=48 48 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Ignore this connection imperative at your peril: red flag of doom #5! Sometimes board and staff leaders forget that the organization was formed by members to benefit members. Success will be judged o... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=49 49 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800 The explosion of the internet has changed much of how we work with people. The cost of communication has dropped significantly, the variety and flexibility of communications has grown immensely and t... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=50 50 Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800 Organizations have, of course, been collaborating for years, but now this is much easier and faster. A message can be sent to a distribution list and each recipient can share their thoughts with all ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=51 51 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Building networks and establishing connections with others who share their interest or profession is the reason many join organizations. Addressing this desire for community through social media site... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=52 52 Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800 While there are risks inherent in the explosion of internet-based communication, overall these increased capacities for interaction have helped organizations be more effective and they have helped mem... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=53 53 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Do you ALWAYS take the time to be on your best behaviour? Do you ALWAYS reread your emails, tweets, and other postings BEFORE you hit the send button? Rule 1: Remember that you are dealing with an... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=56 56 Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Is your organization doing the same things this year as last? With the same people? And, I'll bet, getting the same results? Even if those results are reassuring in their familiarity to every... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=57 57 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Creating a ‘skills-based board' requires tracking the KSAs (knowledge, skills, attitudes) and the potentially influential connections of all probable board and committee members then choosin... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=55 55 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700 How do you get out of organizational ruts? The first attention should be to board membership. Do you have clear term limits and rotation off rules for board members? Do you ALWAYS follow those ru... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=58 58 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Getting out of organizational ruts requires staff transition as well. This need not mean firing and replacement. But it does mean thoughtful development and strategic deployment of all staff resou... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=59 59 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700 The expectation for continual personal development and job-related aspiration should be communicated and demonstrated from the CEO and the senior staff through the whole supervisory chain to all sta... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=60 60 Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Do you have board members that check onto the board and never check out? Do you have board positions that appear to be life appointments? If so, the board has allowed individual pride and ego to h... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=61 61 Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Board management has lapsed if you have lifers on the board in any position. A path of correction has to be charted by elements still following good governance principles. This could include others ... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=62 62 Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700 Performance evaluation is always more effective when applied internally. If we know what is expected of us, we can be more acutely analytic about our failings than any outside observer. We can hol... http://www.currycorp.net/blog.html?id=63 63 Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700