Picture the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on a table. If you attempt to push the puzzle, the pieces move aside, and it’s impossible to make any progress.
Conversely, if the puzzle is assembled, each piece in its place, the puzzle will easily slide across the table (unless you spilled your Manhattan on it earlier).
On February 3, Association Laboratory brought nearly 2 dozen healthcare association CEOs into the room and had them discuss the invalid assumptions facing associations and the revised assumptions necessary for success. We had them experiment with modernizing their associations.
The common theme was fragmentation – unconnected pieces of the puzzle.
Hoist a drink and consider how this was discussed.
Where does fragmentation hit?
Communities – several participants noted that individual communities (chapters, SIGs, etc.) each served their own constituencies with their own leadership and products, virtually independent of one another. This reduced their impact and made them more susceptible to competition.
Structure – many associations take multiple forms. Think of all the C3, C6, etc., permutations of associations. Each has its own vision of the future, its own market, its own products, services, and initiatives. Three (or more) types of entities struggling to work together for a common goal. The result, wasted time, money, staff, and volunteer leaders’ energy.
Strategies – the more entities (committees, task forces, etc.), the more people engaged in developing and working on different strategies. These strategies may be mutually supportive; most are not. It is increasingly difficult to coordinate, balance competing priorities, and make essential decisions.
Messages – With multiple entities pursuing different strategies, messages become chaotic, repetitive, and useless – just noise. All that effort, just to have what you want to say be lost in the ocean of Internet shouting.
Cultures – As staff and volunteers pursue their own ends independently of one another, each entity creates its own culture. Some are emotionally driven; others are data driven. Some are top-down; others are bottom-up. Many (most?) are dysfunctional.
Fragmentation is a recipe for disaster.
Fragmentation will kill many associations
In an age of uncertainty, fragmentation is the killer.
In the recently released Looking Forward® Impact, 82% of CEOs cite “general economic pressures and financial uncertainty” as a factor affecting members. When members are uncertain about the future, they are less likely to invest or allocate resources to discretionary activities.
Increasingly, associations are viewed as optional. Competition for education, advocacy, and community is increasing, particularly by for-profit organizations. The relationship between associations and policymakers is shifting. Employers are less supportive of association engagement. Artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact are growing across professions and industries.
The more fragmented your communities, structure, strategies, messages, and cultures, the less likely you are to succeed in an environment that punishes slow, inefficient, and chaotic decision-making.
Last Call – What’s the picture on the box?
My friend, Greg Schultz, CEO of the International Society of Heart/Lung Transplantation, also helped me expand on the jigsaw puzzle metaphor.
“When you do the puzzle”, he said, “you look at the picture on the box, and then create this picture.”
He continued, “If you eliminate this fragmentation, the picture of what you are creating becomes clear. You know that the puzzle is, how to finish it, how to tell people what it is”.
If all the pieces fit together, you know exactly what you are doing and can now push the complete puzzle forward.
Just some thoughts From My Seat at the Bar.