What Happens Next? – January 1, 2025

LEARN A LITTLE:

What Happens Next?

Since it’s the beginning of a new year and our future is in front of us, I thought it would be helpful to truly have something important to think about.

I think it really starts when we are about two years old and we think everything is “mine, mine.” And then we find out it isn’t, so we need to look for someone else’s. We need more cookies, their cookies and maybe some milk. But we have a lot of help at this age. In fact, we have Santa Claus—he’s always there to give us more.

But at this early age, what we really want is to be older. Ask a little kid how old he is, and he doesn’t say three or four. He says three and a half or four and a half. It’s at that age we want to go to school. “I will be so grown up when I go to school.” And little kids spend a lot of time dressing up as adults, putting on lipstick and sitting in Dad’s favorite chair. 

But we still want to be older so we can ride a bike or go around the block. We want to be ten because when we are ten we are almost a teenager. And then it happens—we’re thirteen. Now we can stay home longer by ourselves, babysit, dress differently, text boys on our phone. But the cool thing is that we’re almost sixteen.

“Wow, ‘Sweet 16.’ Pretty soon I won’t have to listen to anybody any longer, but what’s really important is that I have my driver’s license. I can go where I want to. But what I really need to do is to finish high school, get out of this house, be on my own. Life would be a lot better if I could just get rid of this acne. I need to go to college. I need to be 18. Life will be so much better.

“Aha, 18 at last. Now I’m off and flying, get a real job if I want to, buy the car I want, date whomever I want to, maybe even get my own place.

“But what I really need is to be 21. Now for sure I can do everything I have always wanted to do. Now I’ll be happy. I can even buy booze or pot, and borrow money on my own.

“Now that I am out of college, what I need to do is to pay off my student loans. My life will be so much better when those loans are paid off. I need to find a big paying job so I can get the things I need—a boat, a bigger T.V., a newer Apple iPhone, a designer watch, designer clothes. Or perhaps I should take a year off and travel, see the world.

“Or maybe I need to go to graduate school and get a master’s degree. Think how much better off I will be when I have a master’s, and it will help me get that big job and those other things I need. But maybe I’m a bit neurotic and need a second master’s degree or, better yet, what I need is a doctorate. Things will really be cool when I get my doctorate degree and people call me ‘Doctor.’ It will be so great.”

But along the way, you think you should find someone special to hook up with so life won’t be so lonely. Maybe have some kids—two would be nice but no more than three. “We need to have kids—our marriage will be a lot better. Life will be so much more rewarding when we have kids.

“But we need a bigger house. It doesn’t make sense to rent. Maybe we should buy a house before we have kids. We need a big house, something in the suburbs. We can’t be embarrassed at block parties.”

And somehow in the middle of all that activity, you “turn” 30. “That doesn’t sound exactly right. What am I turning from or into? It seems like I’m gaining a little weight. I need to get back on that diet.

“Wow, I’m in my mid-thirties! I’m still not in the big job, and I need to redecorate my home, replace our appliances. I sure hope our kids make the traveling sports team. I will be glad when I won’t have to worry about them getting into drugs or bad company.

“It’s hard to believe it, but I’m pushing 40. Forty! I wonder if I made a mistake when I married him. On top of that, he’s getting fat and bald. I sure hope the kids get into our state university. We can’t afford private college tuition. College is sure expensive. How are we going to pay for it? How much money will we have to borrow? It sure will be good when the kids get through college, and we’ll have the house back to ourselves.

“Yes, it’s true, I’ve reached 50. I can’t believe they gave the job to someone ese. I don’t know why we bought this new house anyway. Things are tight, but we’ll be okay once we pay off those college loans. We need to start saving for retirement. It’s funny, the kids are gone, but we still don’t seem to spend much time together.

“Well, I made it to 60. Life has been tough, but I can’t wait to have grandkids. It will be so nice to have someone else in the house. To hear laughter. The summer cruise should be great. I need a break from all the hassle and frustrations at work.

“Thankfully, I only have a few more years to go and I can retire. Retirement will be so great. I can finally do all the things I want to. I can golf, sleep in late and travel. Should I retire at 62? Sixty-six? I wonder if I can retire earlier. I sure hope the operation is a success. Life would be great if my back didn’t hurt all the time.

“Okay, I’ve hit 70. Golf is sure getting boring. Maybe we need to move. These stairs are getting tougher to climb. I wish we had moved to a warmer climate.

“Eighty. How did I get this old so fast? What do you mean this may be the last time we see them? Why have I come to hate the word last? What’s the difference between last and everlasting? How do you know?

“What happens next,” I asked and no one answered. But someone said, “Live your life with hope, purpose, love and gratitude.”

LAUGH A LITTLE:

REFLECT A LITTLE:

READ A LITTLE:

Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector:
Eight Practical Insights for Leaders

(James C. Morgan, Chandler Jordan Publishing, 2020)

We are starting the new year with an easy-to-read booklet, Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector. While the author, James C. Morgan, targets nonprofit organizations, it includes many great ideas for the for-profit world as well.

Morgan is well-regarded for his success in leading Applied Materials to significant growth and innovation in the semi-conductor business. In addition, he has served as a technology advisor to three U.S. presidents. He is also well known for his work and contributions to many philanthropic causes, and is a co-founder of the Morgan Family Foundation.

The book essentially shares eight leadership principles that Morgan considers to be the most effective in developing and producing outstanding results. They are presented within what he considers the three pillars of a successful organization—culture, planning and implementation. What follows are selected observations and highlights from each chapter.

Pillar 1 – Culture

Cultivating Culture

• “Culture is built upon your nonprofit’s values. Attention must be devoted to mission, vision and values.” A culture that promotes and rewards respect and trust will be healthy and productive.
• “You will never be done putting management systems and processes into effect.”
• “Building a positive culture requires the right structure, processes and people. The culture of the Board is part of the ‘tone at the top.’”
• “What can you tell about an organization’s culture and values from looking at its website, annual report, promotional materials or donation appeals?”

Respect and Trust Your People

• “As a leader, you are constantly being evaluated by your team as to whether you treat people with respect and trust. If you are disrespectful of your employees or you disregard their dignity, you undermine trust.”
• Caring behavior is vital within an organization. “Look around and observe how your staff team members interact and care for one another.”
• “Hire for purpose and potential first, for skills second. Competence is not sufficient.”

Bad News Is Good News

• “Good news is no news. No news is bad news. And bad news is good news—if you do something about it.”
• “Without feedback, even top leaders have trouble assessing what’s going on.”
• “How do you and your colleagues work together to turn bad news into good news? What practices could strengthen your teamwork even more?”

Pillar 2 – Planning

Develop Court Sense

• “Playing basketball helped give me ‘court sense,’ an ability to pay attention to and manage more than one thing going on and to adjust to fast-changing variables to predict where the next opening or opportunity might be.” Where does your court sense come from?
• “In the nonprofit sector, ‘court sense’ means understanding the environment that impacts your organization.”
• “In thinking about the long-term direction of your nonprofit, it’s critical to assess driving forces.” This could include such things as the economy, staff availability, changes in laws, funding levels, etc. “A good leader is constantly looking for what is likely to impact the organization’s future.”

The Whole Job

• “Change is the medium of opportunity. Therefore, you need to ‘face the elevator doors.’” You need to prepare yourself to capitalize on an opportunity (the elevator door opening) regardless of where you are in your strategic plan.
• “As a leader you need to be out front, thinking ahead of the game. Be ready to move when momentum shifts, the door closes and the elevator changes direction.”
• “How to assess the effectiveness of a nonprofit organization? Do they have:
  • Strong leadership with a bold vision and a strong plan for implementation?
  • A clear mission that spells out what the organization seeks to accomplish and why it’s important?
  • Transparency regarding finances, governance, program evaluation, outcomes and impact?
  • Strong partnerships with doors, volunteers, other nonprofits, businesses and government?

Prioritize and Focus

An editorial note: Morgan contends in this chapter that organizational success is a marathon, not a sprint. I would disagree. It’s my notion that  today organizational success depends on the ability to sprint and knowing how to rest effectively in between the sprints.

• “I always urge staff teams to spend at least 10% of their time each week planning. Taking time to plan and confer creates a useful rhythm and routine. “
• “Practice the rule of three. You identify and focus on three priorities. Have a separate list of priorities for a day, week, month, quarter and up to one year.” Priority management is much more powerful than ‘time management.’

Pillar 3 – Innovation

Book It and Ship It

Note: this is one of my favorite chapters probably because I think nonprofit organizations may be more prone to inaction than for-profit ones.

• “One of the biggest challenges of leadership is moving ideas to action—implementation. ‘Book it and ship it’ is a saying from manufacturing. It means we’re finished building this. Let’s move on.”
• “Organizations in motion can alter course much faster than those that are stuck in one place. Decisions create momentum.”
• “Clear and proper communication by leadership is the first step in transitioning from decision-making to implementation. Don’t be on the side of more was said than done.”

Who Owns the Monkey?

This question was first asked in the 1970’s in a Harvard Business Review article. Here’s the essence: A problem is seen as a monkey. A staff member shows up in your office with a monkey on his shoulder. Don’t let the employee leave the monkey behind in your office.

• “Create an accountable culture. If you set an example of taking responsibility for your own decisions, your people will do the same.”
• “The job of a chief executive is to create an organizational structure with functional processes. Tune the structure and the processes to fit the work and the people. Have a structure that enables decentralized decision-making.”

You may wish to check out the website appliedwisdomfornonprofits.org. You will find online self-assessments and downloadable tools. It is an excellent resource.

Until next time,
Art Dykstra

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