In the nonprofit sector, this linear sort of thinking is pervasive, seeping into every aspect of our work, manifesting in things such as:

  • Logic models expressing a direct relationship between inputs, outputs, outcomes, etc.
  • Funders not giving funding to organizations until they have sufficient data and a “track record”
  • An employee giving campaign requiring organizations to have three or more years of existence as a 501(c)(3) before they can even be eligible for funding
  • Hiring managers requiring formal education as an essential qualification (you go to college, then you get a job)
  • Funders giving grassroots organizations smaller funds, then slightly larger amounts as they “prove” themselves
  • Funders halting giving funds out while they do a strategic planning process
    Rigid 3-to-5-year strategic plans that leave little room to respond to emerging needs

It is not working. In fact, I would argue that this penchant for linear thinking oversimplifies the problems we are trying to solve, and thus in fact are worsening and perpetuating them. The societal challenges we are dealing with are incredibly complex, morphing and adapting all the time; we cannot continue to believe that we can effectively respond to this complexity by being even more rigid and linear and believing that things happen in sequence.

Try Real-Time Strategic Planning: As advanced by La Piana, RTSP is “a fluid, organic process that helps nonprofits identify, understand, and act on challenges and opportunities as they arise—today, not in six months when the ‘new plan’ is done.”

Have a “Portfolio Strategy”: It’s like investment in the stock market: we have to diversify our stocks, anticipating that there will be a net positive among the weak-performing stocks and the strong-performing ones. Imagine if you only invested in the stock you know will do well. Then you don’t take any risks. All of us should invest in a portfolio of strategies, some we know will do well, some that are 50-50, and some that are bold, ambitious ideas that may just fail completely.

Take risks and welcome failures: The focus on what is safe, what is linear, what is measurable, what gives the best ROI, has fostered in our sector a fear of failure and an aversion toward risks. We must all be willing to take more risks in everything, try bigger and bolder things, and not only accept that most of the things we try will fail spectacularly, but welcome these failures and the lessons they bring.

Read the source article at GuideStar Blog