Nick’s Book Blog

Here's an article from the UK's Design Council talking about how information design is important in public-sector efforts. Of course, it's helpful to everyone, but this is a good example of the universal need for better presentation of information--and more design.

This is the book I finished on the plane ride out to L.A. It's a fascinating read, a real page turner if you're into research on how the world works. While the subject is technical, it's presented here in a reasonably easy-to-read way. The subject is "the new science of networks," as the subtitle reads, or in other words, the mathematical processes that shape the way networks work. And after reading the book, I realize that a lot of things that we don't normally think of as networks, can be easily described using these terms. Basically, you can boil it down to this: a lot of the phenomena in the universe are caused by the way networks work. For example, the way fads or diseases spread. You can describe the way these kinds of things happen not by using a bell-curve, or a normal distribution , but rather a power law distribution--think long tail. Also, this same probability distribution is at work in the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 principle of some popular...

And, speaking of design in organizations, I made it thru 37 Signals' new e-book and it was a great read. Basically, I don't know what I can say about it other than that it's revolutionary, but ought not to be. Getting Real talks about how to build software, but it doing so it outlines a path that has the potential of leading to elegant business practices, good relationships and just plain fun! It was just refreshing to see them strip away all the trappings of so-called "professionalism" and really get to the heart of what makes business work--it's about the people, IMHO. Now, I understand that some people have problems with 37 Signals' approach, e.g., they're arrogant, they are simpliste, etc. However, in reading Getting Real, I'm convinced that they have things figured out far more than that analysis would allow for. Why? Because of the way they think of customers. Do they say that you shouldn't try to please everybody all the time or to solve...

I'm in L.A. for a big design show, NeoCon West, trying to get our membership numbers up and make some good contacts. It's been a lot of fun so far, although I have had some really crappy service at the Biltmore hotel in downtown L.A. But at the show, I've made lots of friends and all is going well. I attended a session yesterday called "Good design is good business," which was given by interior designers Barbara Dunn of Gensler, and Jan Belson of the Design Arts Group. Their presentation was focused on the ways design is becoming more integral to business practices. This would impact certainly the spaces in which people work, but further, they discussed ways in which design is making itself felt in the actual processes of business administration and problem solving. Good stuff, based on a lot of Dan Pink and Virginia Postrel , with a lot of emphasis on the importance of creating customer experiences.

Good advice on "cause marketing," from CAE Weblog . He points you to resources you should check out to keep you on the right side of the law.

A co-worker gave me a feng-shui calendar when I first started this new gig. Today's bit says this: Pure luck, man-made luck and heaven luck are components of your destiny. You control your man-made luck through your thoughts, words and deeds. Another bit of wisdom (from Mary Chapin Carpenter) tells us: We've got two lives, one we're given and another one we make. So my takeaway is that it is the natural course of events for people to get screwed over, but don't forget about the part you can do something about. The therapists say you need to "own your problems." So that is my bit of menschdom for today.

I put "duh," but sometimes this point is not that obvious, even to folks who work for associations. Via the lifehacker , I found this article that talks about how to move along in your career, how not to get fired, etc. The thing I noticed about it was that near the end, it talks about signing up for a trade publication as a starting point for beginning to network professionally. I've found that associations (in my case, ASAE) are a super place for someone just starting out to get to know the ropes. I think that's because if you volunteer on a project, or suchlike, the others working with you are so glad to have help they don't care if you're young or not. That stands in stark contrast to the way things are in the office where you're busy paying your dues. If you have a brain on your head and shine in the volunteer setting, it'll go along way. That's my idea for how to tap into generation x, y and beyond: show them that your association's cont...

So, I ran into this book on someone's site and I thought it looked like something I should read. Now, it is almost 10 years old, and since many of the examples Christensen uses to illustrate his points are now in the realm of the historical--and since the book goes into fairly great technical detail about the affected industries, the book doesn't read as easily as it might have once. However, the book is still really relevant because of the principles it uncovers. For one thing, Christensen coined the term " disruptive technology ," which has become a very common way of speaking about the topic. Quoted below, from the oracle of wiki: a disruptive technology is a new technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology in the market, despite the fact that the disruptive technology is both radically different from the leading technology and that it often initially performs worse than the leading technology according t...

I found this book off BusinessWire and wrote to its author, Jonathan Peizer, for a review copy which he was kind enough to send. To me, it seemed like a topic that's been needing exploring for awhile, especially for me personally in light of my recent stint at a patient advocacy, donor-centric organization. Peizer is an IT consultant working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is a pretty impressive guy, working on some pretty impressive things. The book covers his professional experiences and shares the lessons learned. Many of the examples given come from the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute, and covers what's called in the book ICT, or Internet Communications Technology. The Open Society Institute was originally founded to help countries transition from communism. I must admit I didn't know about all the work that Soros had done toward promoting democracy, and the projects are quite impressive. (In an email exchange with Jonathan, I told him I t...

This post from PicoBusiness rang true for me. Here's the ones that had me really nodding in agreement. Bad things usually happen right after you give up trying to prevent them because they haven’t happened yet. People will lie to you about just about anything, mostly to make themselves seem more important. Husbands without a timeconsuming hobby will cheat on their wives. [ha! - ed] When someone is mean to you, it is almost always because they are jealous. Most people trust anecdotes more than they trust statistics.

This tidbit came over the ASAE communications listserv yesterday, and I was kind of taken aback to actually find some great content! It's from Stephen Carey, who's president of the Association Management and Marketing Resources group . It's in response to a question that asked for "a summary of averages and ranges of association annual retention rates." The person asking said they felt like an idiot for asking, but I don't think it's a weird question at all. I think that kind of info is kept close to the vest. It reminds me of a saying about innkeepers that they'd rather talk about their sex lives than their occupancy rates. Anyhoo, here's the quote: Most of the surveys for both trade and professional associations find that the average retention rate falls between 82% and 90%. The average rates 5 years ago were a percentage point or two above this. Some groups are running above 95% and others below 70%. If you are running below 85%, you probably ne...

So, I've been spending some time with Glenn Reynold's book (Glenn being of course the seminal and highly influential Instapundit ), and I must say that it gives me lots of language I can use to talk about phenomena that are easily observable right now. I think you could say that Glenn Reynolds has done for technology what Virginia Postrel did with design topics . Which is to say, they beat the drum and say, hey, look at what this democratization of knowledge can do for you! In that vein, the book is really pretty visionary, pointing out the magic of the internet age. And I for one see it as magical. You know how Laura Ingalls Wilder's Pa in Little Town on the Prairie said to Laura that it was an amazing time to be alive (that was in the 1890s)? I've been actively thinking that to myself for the past few years, and An Army of Davids gives me ample evidence to back that up with its talk of citizen empowerment and the "comfy chair revolution." The theme of ...

I'm realizing I haven't blogged an actual book for quite awhile. I've actually been getting some reading done, but taking the time to formulate something I'd not be embarrassed to post has been another matter... It won't be long :)

The Bridgespan Group , a consultancy for nonprofits, has identified a leadership deficit in the nonprofit sector. My take on the problem's cause? (I know, no one asked.) Likely there aren't leaders because lots of talented people in the sector who show potential are deemed threatening and/or uppity by petty leadership--and their efforts at success are sabotaged. I'm sorry if this sounds snarky, but I believe it could be easily documented. So that's why has to stop, IMHO. This applies to trade and professional associations every bit as much as the more fluffy cause-oriented groups.

From Chris at Social Customer Manifesto . I don't have time to break it all down, but it's pretty relevant to what we do in associations. The conference wiki is, of course, a great idea. I actually proposed one last week for our upcoming conference, and the idea went over pretty well. We'll see if it happens...

This came into my email today , it looks like a good set of links to lots of matters nonprofit-related.

So, I've begun to be active in an affiliate group of my university's alumni association . Their handbook is a good one, and here's the list on recruiting volunteers that I found to be quite well put. Do not assume that people are too busy. Sometimes busy people like to be busy. Be a friend and make sure they are welcomed. Do not belittle the job. Do not make it sound too easy. Give the job a name, define a timeframe, provide guidance and relay expectations. Do not add to the responsibilities during the job. Make sure the task is achievable and the goal is obtainable. Speak the language of the person you are trying to recruit. Ask yourself, what do we do that would be of interest to them? If you are not personally committed, assign someone else to do the recruitment. Always recruit volunteers on the basis of the service to clients, not to the needs of the [organization]. People work for people, not things. Tell people what they will do, how long they are expected to do it, a...

From Ron at VanDamme Associates . It looks like a really good articulation. Would be useful in work with committees or boards.

Here's an article from the San Luis Obispo Tribune that talks about how to do some investigative work before giving to nonprofits. There's so much of this kind of accounting that goes on, it's hard to tell whether the folks are just clueless (often) or deceptive. This kind of info is helpful to both donors and organizations, if people will take the time and do the research. Why don't people do the research? I think people are maxed out on the time they can give to this kind of stuff.

I mentioned the new study of "transformation design" in an earlier post . Briefly, it's using design principles to rework organizations. I think it's a great way to think about it, and anyone who cares about optimizing anything ought to have the topic resonate with them. Thanks to Chris, who emailed me that the UK Design Council's full paper has been uploaded to their website (it was previously only an excerpt). More than 30 years ago, Charles Eames, the American multidisciplinary designer, was asked, ‘What are the boundaries of design?’. He replied, ‘What are the boundaries of problems?’. This point is as relevant today as it was in 1972, but the way we view problems has changed significantly since then. Traditionally problems were seen as complicaed challenges that could be solved through breaking them down into smaller and smaller chunks – like fixing a car. RED believes that the most important modern problems are complex rather than complicated. Complex probl...

This is a good read that puts lobbying reform in an association-centric context. Exerpt Today, it's easy for trade associations and major lobbying firms to conceive and fund so-called "grassroots" issue campaigns that bear no mark of their sponsors or betray their Beltway origins. This form of public advocacy has acquired the unflattering appellation of "astroturf" campaigning. Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman want more disclosure and more transparency. They believe that voters are persuaded more easily by arguments that appear to come from "real" citizen-based groups. And that the grassroots lobbying laws are easily abused to allow lobbyists to manipulate both donors and the public.

Here's a press release to this effect . This would be a good advocacy effort for lots of folks, eh?

Here's an article from Business Week talking about the number of charities in the U.S. Having worked for one such "charity," I think the author is right. More means that the nation is richer, more means market forces will drown the inept nonprofits and discourage "nonprofit empire building." I love working for associations, but when I was involved in the charity scene, I definitely was confronted with a lot of sketchy motives and a distinct lack of outcome-orientation.

I came across this website and I wanted to remember it (I suppose there's always del.icio.us for that kind of thing, but I thought I'd blog it). It just strikes me as representing a group that's got it together. The website seems well thought out and very usable. Unfortunately, that's kind of rare among associations, don't you think?

Here's an interesting thing some folks could do with this kind of legislation proliferating...