On Revival and Renewal

Over the last 8 weeks the world has seen a tremendous amount of suffering and sacrifice. As frustrated as we are and as helpless as we feel, we need to stay the course just a bit longer to allow the strategy to work. When I facilitate strategic planning sessions there is a point the group reaches where they feel as though they are spinning their wheels and they just want to stop. As it turns out, that point is often just around the bend from the finish line.

Nonprofit organizations tend to fall into habits. Once entrenched, those habits can prove very difficult to change. This experience is forcing association of all kinds to adapt to changing conditions, become flexible and innovate in areas where prior innovation was not needed or even allowed. This crisis will be the beginning of the end for some groups and the end of the beginning for others. Keep your board focused on the organization’s mission and help them see that we are building something new. At the same time we need to follow the rules or this sacrifice will have been for nothing. Adapt, socially distance, endure the isolation for just a bit longer. There we have reached the darkest part of the tunnel and the light will be just around the bend.