In July 2008 I particpated in the Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprises Executive Education program Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Managers (SPNM). It was one of the best and most transforming weeks of my life.
Here are all of the links and topics for posts from SPNM:
Overview
Inspiration
Capacity
Leadership
Scale
Strategic Service Vision
Mission and Strategic Triangle – Legitamacy & Support / Organization / Mission
Value Chain
Market Research
Measuring Impact
Greetings from Harvard Business School…
So this week I get to think about the big picture. I should say I get to focus on the big picture. I will share with you that the Playhouse staff actually spends a lot of time on the big picture. A time of transition forces you to.
After a fun 3 hour drive during which I could not figure out how to make my IPOD work in the rental car (it just kept repeating a podcast that I had already listened to) and 3 separate times I missed 3 separate turns, I finally made it to MacArthur Hall. The executive education center is not your normal dorm. I have my own private room with a bathroom (bigger than my first NYC apartment). There are 8 rooms per Living Group. Each Living Group has a central room that has a kitchen, conference room and sitting area.
After checking in and unpacking, I headed down to registration. Met a nice guy from my Living Group who works for Habitat for Humanity in Tennessee. It made me start to wonder how many arts folks would be here.
After a quick nosh, it was off to orientation and our first class. (Things move fast at Harvard!)
At orientation we learned a bit about the 144 participants. 12 countries are represented. Average age is 48. The organizations represented cover a wide range of nonprofits (including 10 that fall in the arts, culture, and humanities). The seminar is Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management and is part of Harvard Social Enterprises Iniative.
Fun tidbit…they did this little bit about interesting facts about some of the people who attended and the first one was that one of the participants was the general manager of several critically acclaimed off-broadway shows (ME). Fun tidbit number 2…they actually turned people away from the program. Filling out the application didn’t automatically get you in. This made me feel pretty good about myself – espiecally since I am here on a full scholarship.
After orientation it was straight into the first class…Oriented Managment for Nonprofits.
The professor started off by asking a few participants what their organizations do. Interestly enough most people described their organizations by the outcomes of their work i.e. we teach people skills they need to get a job and be productive members of society. This lead to a long discussion about measurable claims and aspirational claims. And how we have to be careful not to limit ourselves by measurability. It is necessary to have asipirational claims – they build hope, inspire people, make something important. Aspirational claims are a map that guide you to your destination (what you want the world to look like).
At this point I start jotting down notes and questions to myself about the Playhouse.
We aspire to be a nationally recognized theatre (everyone in the staff and board agrees on that). Is that enough? Should we also aspire to live in a world where theatre is a prominant and relevant art form and a primary form of social media (as it was with the Greeks and Elizabethans)? Should we also aspire to live in a world where people explore an idea or experience a “life moment” through a play or musical as often as they watch TV, go to the movies, or socialize on the internet. How does or can theatre make the world a better place to live?
Back to class…and the discussion about measurable and aspirational claims…
inputs –> activitites –> outputs –> outcomes –> impacts
As you go from imputs to impacts, you move from the center of the organization, down in measurability, up in abstraction, and down in attributability.
What are we trying to do?
The most common form of human stupidity is forgetting what we were trying to do – Nietzsche
Of course the answer to this is the guiding point for the organization but the day-to-day can make us lose sight of it.
More notes to self about the Playhouse…
Is what we are trying to do – create that magical moment when the audience connects with the work and literally feels it in their gut? Is what we are trying to do – to examine a relevant issue? Is what we are trying to do – to give someone a voice, to create a dialogue?
Why are we here? And, more importantly, why theatre?
Is it about the activity of producing theatre…or is it about the power of theatre…or both…or neither?
What is the statement that guide us?
Is it – something about a community gathering to explore relevant ideas (what does that even mean???). How do we create an impact? Or worse do we create an impact?
I drive some of the people on my staff crazy about guiding principle and my Southwest Airline stories. It is really simple for Southwest employees to know what do to do – the goal is to be the lowest cost airline, make it cheaper to fly than drive. Every corporate decision is guided by this. Should we serve danishes or pancakes on a morning flight – doesn’t matter, don’t do either because it doesn’t help the over all goal of being the lowest cost airline. I will leave you to go read all the wonderful research about how successful they are – seriously it is a really good stuff.
But back to class – we drilled down to QUESTION ZERO – what exactly are we trying to accomplish?
Corresponding questions…How do we know if activities are producing an effect? What is the effect of what we do?
This lead to a discussion about our day-to-day work and how as Leaders we are pulled in a million directions and everyone has an idea for us,a problem that needs to be solved or a favor that is needed. And frankly we spend too much time on things that aren’t related to our “clients.” There was a entire upstream and downstream discussion I won’t bore you with, but basically the point was we only have so much capacity and so much support and the mission should guide us to focus on the things that align with all three.
For every thing we do we should ask do we have the capacity to do it (or can we get it), do we have support for it, and is this part of our mission, does it create value for our organization. The organization should focus on the area where all three intercept. (I will add a little picture when I get home!).
Interesting challenge from the professor. Should we as leaders spend the majority of our time on items that we have capacity and support for that are completely in line with our values and mission? Trick question…the answer is NO – our staff should spend their time on it. We as leaders should spend our time on the innovations that meet our values and mission. Our job is to move support and capacity to make those innovations happen! Now in the day to day hoopla and distractions – “how do you keep an eye” on that is the challenge but also the necessity.
And then class was over and on to dinner.
Oh – on the way to dinner – I thought of an interesting answer to all my questions about the Playhouse. We use theatre to bring people together to foster an experience or discussion around a relevant issue.
It’s a start.
Before I go read three case studies (all of which are really long), just a note about dinner. Fascinating discussion about American politics and the presidential election with a group consisting someone from Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, Indiana, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Talk about perspective. And I found another arts person…from Australia! She is a lovely woman from Melbourne who runs a multi-disciplinary arts access program.
Going back to school is GREAT. Of course I might change my tune tomorrow when the first seminar starts at 7:30am!
