Knowledge Governance

American Society of Association Executives latest planning process is knowledge-based strategic governance.

In any board meeting one would find at least a dozen “volunteer leaders” contemplating about the future of the company’s future, pondering over intricate executive summaries and financial reports! The board meetings of American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) were no different.

However, ASAE decided to adopt a new and different strategic planning process. It chose knowledge-based strategic governance approach. In view of the changing times, the organisation not only wanted to chart a course for the future, but also create a model for strategic decision making.

Ten valuable lessons to be learnt from ASAE’s experience:

The right start

1. Any board should comprise of thought leaders and regular members. Jeffrey Raynes, ASAE's Chief Elected Officer, advises recruitment of “best thinkers”, who can add fresh perspectives. 65 people - board members, volunteers from ASAE sections, committees and allied societies, representatives from the general membership; and staff- form ASAE’s strategic planning group.

2. Thought leaders like to contribute their expertise, productively and appealingly to the strategic planning process. This is in line with ASAE’s philosophy of knowledge-based strategic governance philosophy. In the process, both the board and staff can combine long-term strategic thinking and short-term planning, to give their best shot.

According to Glenn Tecker, a strategic planning consultant, change in process, leads to changes in behaviour, which in turn, lead to cultural changes in the organisation. The board is compelled to explore possibilities and list out choices, instead of merely endorsing “ideas”.

The plan

3. The board functions in two ways:

• It sets a future course and the staff watch from the sidelines
• Staff manage the entire process and the board waits with a rubber stamp

Powerful results are experienced when the staff and board work in collaboration. Such collaboration created broad understanding and generated a buy-in at ASAE. Shared discussion led to shared ownership and inspired a rich board-staff perspective on organisational challenges.

Consequently, the board could empower the staff and hold them accountable. Detailed reports at the expense of strategic discussion were not received. The staff, on the other hand, benefited from a reinforced sense of trust.

4. A conducive structure is required to implement the plan. At every board meeting the members work on mega-issues and challenges ASAE needs to face in its long-range plan. They formally review the strategic plan's assumptions, remaining mega-issues and objectives.

The staff aligned implementation with the plans, developed a schedule and fed everyone with appropriate information. Once the practical framework was created, the staff and the working group freely forged ahead. The advantage is that the staff does not need to wait for the board’s permission, when a change is warranted.

5. Parliamentary procedure is not very significant, but still has its place. ASAE often used a dialogue-and-consensus model. The board used already distributed background materials to jump start discussions and deliberations. Sometimes "a hot group" would be assigned to provide with further information; at other times the board would then return to Robert's Rules of Order for a motion and a vote.

6. Many board books are akin to huge encyclopaedias. Linda Chandler, Executive Vice-President, notes that ASAE's board books used to be voluminous. Now, things have changed and the focus is no longer on housekeeping routines. The members can see minutes of meeting, routine reports and updates on general happenings on ASAE’s Web site E-Board.

7. Progress made on all new goals is monitored and the board members are provided with the “key measures”. So the board can exercise its fiduciary responsibility while resisting micromanagement.

The future

8. There is no such thing as a perfect plan. It should be a work in progress. While developing a perfect plan, there is the danger of getting caught in the process and never delivering it. Planning is an ongoing process and requires constant vigil so that organisations are geared to face tomorrow. ASAE never published a final plan. Instead, it was posted on the ASAE Web site, where it was easily accessible to all and could be updated. It also sends a message that the plan is open to evolve.

9. Orientation helps in selling the plan. Each year ASAE replaces a third of its existing members. These members participate in a plan-orientation session. They partake in the annual review, when the board and senior staff discuss assumptions, mega-issues and objectives and their ongoing relevance.

10. An ideal plan should minimise constraints of speed and provide for creativity of the board members. Agility pays rich dividends. Leaders should have scope to make judge responses to problems and opportunities.

Conclusion

Mistakes reflect the areas, which have been neglected in the planning process. They can provide a textbook case in what to do better while formulating a strategic plan. These are reminders to keep moving and changing and stay relevant.

Related reading:

1. “Today’s lesson: Strategic planning”; Taylor, K., Association Management, Jan 2001.
2. “Organisation vs the strategy: Solving the alignment paradox”; Bennett, JW., Pernsteiner, TE., Kocourek, PF., and Hedlund SB., Journal of Strategy and Business, Third Quarter 2000.
3. “Learning from Baldrige winners at the University of Alabama”; Dew, JR., Journal of Organizational Excellence, Spring 200.