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News for October 2006
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 29 October 2006 |
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| Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 2004 Annual (Volume 6) |
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I love gatherings of smart people, even if it's only between the pages of a book. The 2004 Annual Volume of Emergence: Complexity & Organization is a profoundly satisfying example. This collection consistently and successfully bridges the gaps between the academic and the applied, between the history of ideas and their emerging forms, and between the philosophical and the practical. As you know, the concepts of emergence and complexity are critical ones in today's era of networks and large scale phenomena. This collection explores these ideas in several very interesting domains, including: organizational intervention, social networking, the role of the perception of complexity, the ethics of science, and change management. Don't let the density of this book scare you. It's actually very accessible and anyone with a responsibility for thinking in systems terms will find something of value in it.
Posted: 10/29/06; 11:42:24 PM # |
| Inspiring Progress: Religions' Contributions to Sustainable Development |
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Gary Gardner of The WorldWatch Institute has a book out called Inspiring Progress: Religions' Contributions to Sustainable Development. This book is a wonderful interfaith exploration of the fundamental connection between the world's religions and the vision of a just and ecological society. As always with WorldWatch, the book is solidly grounded in the facts. The program he recommends is a combination of an agreed upon set of global ethics (which may be easier than we think) and a set of practices for the world's religions, including: tapping religious resources, stressing the positive, collaborating wherever possible, and retreating to our own corners for grounding and renewal. In a time that seems governed by a frightening alliance of religious extremism and corporate greed, I deeply appreciate this new call for ecumenical action.
Posted: 10/29/06; 11:32:56 PM # |
| What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits |
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Global Business Network's What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits (overview page for free 119 page PDF) is a solid introduction to one of the key tools of qualitative futurism, using language and examples that make it accessible to folks working in civil society. My favorite sections were chapter 2, which looks at the five basic elements of scenario thinking and chapter 4, which includes a glossary and annotated resources. I like scenario thinking because of the way it forces us to work at the edge between what is going to happen and what should happen. I believe that living at the edge is what makes us effective.
Posted: 10/29/06; 11:21:14 PM # |
| When Numbers Go Bad |
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I'm delighted by the wide range of articles I've read recently on how easy it is to measure the wrong things and thus manage to the wrong objectives. On the Internet, where we are inundated by numbers, this dilemma is more important than ever, of course. In When Numbers Go Bad, Steve Rae takes a hard look at focus groups, and by implication, other research models, including surveys. In the end, I really think this is a call to get the qualitative, relational, and systems concepts in place first, before you start giving weight to any numbers, or perhaps even measuring at all.
Posted: 10/29/06; 11:10:06 PM # |
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26 October 2006 |
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| Nonprofit Online News Journal: October 2006 Edition |
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The October 2006 Edition of the Nonprofit Online News Journal tackles some great subjects: facing and learning from failure, emerging patterns of online community, the addictive nature of email, the possibility of network-centric philanthropy, and the "third stage" of online fundraising, in addition to our usual annotated resources. We think you'll find this a thought provoking and practical read.
Posted: 10/26/06; 12:07:40 AM # |
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22 October 2006 |
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| The Future Of Philanthropy |
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I finally finished working my way through The Future Of Philanthropy, a report by Katherine Fulton and Andrew Blau. It is a substantial piece of work that explores key trends and issues and presents all of civil society with some powerful challenges in the areas of adaptation, communication, innovation, and collaboration. In a way, the vision is a simple one, as I see it: How will philanthropy itself, as a sector, become a system of continuous learning?
Posted: 10/22/06; 11:19:38 PM # |
| Goodbye Miriam |
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Miriam Engelberg, whom I knew as a nonprofit technologist, cartoonist, and smart observer of civil society, died on October 17 due to complications from cancer. I remember when she first gave us permission to reprint one of her cartoons. If you didn't know her, take a look at her website, which is still up. If you did know her, my thoughts are with you.
Posted: 10/22/06; 10:53:05 PM # |
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19 October 2006 |
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| New Affiliated Weblog: The Guru's Handbook |
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Over the last few months, we've quietly started considering new ways to expand the range of voices associated with The Gilbert Center and Nonprofit Online News. We already have guest authors contributing to our features here and to our growing range of topical publications, and our Journal is comprised of many voices, who are experts in their fields. Today, we're taking an even bigger step. It is with great pleasure that I introduce The Guru's Handbook, the first new weblog affiliated with The Gilbert Center since the establishment of Nonprofit Online News in 1997. The Guru's Handbook is a charming, wise, and idiosyncratic look at the ubiquitous art of teaching. I think of myself as a "First Reader" of The Guru's handbook, although it won't be long before I have plenty of competition for that position.
Posted: 10/19/06; 5:49:18 PM # |
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18 October 2006 |
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| Communication Centered Technology Planning, 2nd Edition |
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If there is a single topic that has unified our work in the field of technology and capacity building in civil society, it is the concept of communication centered planning. From our campaigns to change the conversations about nonprofit technology to my seminars to our consultations with grantmakers and others, this is the theme that emerged: The guiding light of our projects should be the improvement of communication. Therefore, it's with great pride that I announce the 2nd Edition of Communication Centered Technology Planning. This is the book colleagues and students have been asking for over the course of the last five years. Its 254 pages can be read from front to back, but are intended for the busy professional who will want to keep the book on hand for inspiration and support. Take a close look and pass the word!
Posted: 10/18/06; 8:14:16 PM # |
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15 October 2006 |
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| Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email |
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Madeline Stanionis' book The Mercifully Brief Real World Guide to Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email is right on target for the small organization that is just getting its feet wet with email marketing. Although it is true to its title in brevity (comes in at 108 pages, but it's probably more like 60 pages when you cut the excessive whitespace and screenshots), any organization who adopts her ideas will avoid many of the common mistakes made by nonprofits online. I have a few quibbles: Although she has a chapter on what to send when you're not asking for money, she really gives short shrift to cultivation and she is far more OK with appending than I am. But the book is full of solid ideas, like Think Campaigns, Not Appeals and Making the Most of Your Numbers. This book would work well in combination with our own Guide to Nonprofit Email.
Posted: 10/15/06; 11:37:59 PM # |
| An Introduction to Systems Thinking |
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This is the first time I have ever recommended a software manual as stand alone reading. Barry Richmond's An Introduction to Systems Thinking is written for users of the iThink systems analysis software platform, but its lessons are valuable to anyone who wants to hone their practical systems thinking skills. It teaches the basic principles of operational thinking and closed loop thinking that are often missing from the logic models of modern nonprofit projects. I will no doubt review the software itself at some point, but for now, I will recommend the manual itself. Just the library of systems in the latter half of the book are invaluable, although I would love to see funding someday for a pattern language of similar systems descriptions for civil society.
Posted: 10/15/06; 11:27:56 PM # |
| The Muses Among Us |
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Here is a book for my Keystrokes students and the other writers out there: The Muses Among Us, by Kim Stafford. The subtitle gives you a clue of what I loved about this book: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer's Craft. This is a book that is more about the structure and practicalities of a writer's life than it is about the written word itself, although in the end you can't separate them. The author's combination of practical wisdom and generosity of spirit makes this a book worth loving and worth listening to. It's already affected how I work.
Posted: 10/15/06; 11:21:56 PM # |
| Behind Closed Doors |
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Jonathan Rothman and Esther Derby have written an lovely little guide for new managers entitled Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management. The books is cleverly structured around a seven week period as a new manager learns the ropes. The book is very practical in its focus and can easily be skimmed for its tools and tips. Although it's definitely for beginners, it is crammed full of references and even people with 20 years of management experience will find it useful, especially since it is meant to help you bring on new managers.
Posted: 10/15/06; 11:15:30 PM # |
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13 October 2006 |
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| Journal of Information Technology in Social Change: Call for Papers |
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Nonprofit Online News is collaborating with the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) to bring you peer-reviewed papers on ICT issues at their annual Nonprofit Technology Conference in the Spring of 2007. Papers will be published in a special issue of our journal to be entitled The Journal of Information Technology in Social Change and will be presented at the conference in Washington, DC on April 4-6. The first of several announcements is a Call for Papers: We are seeking rigorously designed research that explores all facets of information technology implementation, use, and innovation in nonprofit and grassroots organizations and sectors. The deadline for submissions is December 15.
Posted: 10/13/06; 4:16:30 PM # |
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12 October 2006 |
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| Trust: Building a Renewable Base of Funding, Volunteers, and Leadership |
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I am very excited about today's announcement. Building on twenty years of study and practice in the field of work and values, we're announcing a series of three workshops that pull together some of the most important themes of our work. On November 7, 8, and 9, 2006, we'll be presenting: Trust: Building a Renewable Base of Funding, Volunteers, and Leadership. In these online seminars we'll be addressing three essential practices of what might be called The Authentic Organization: (1) learning to Fail Faster and thus learn faster; (2) embracing abundance over scarcity and thereby Making Peace with Time; and (3) seeking Brave Relationships, where we can make space for the truth with our stakeholders, our staff, and ourselves.
Posted: 10/12/06; 9:15:11 PM # |
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8 October 2006 |
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6 October 2006 |
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| Quick Guide: Are You Listening - Applying the HIMS Matrix |
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In response to the popularity of our Quicksheets (single page core concepts and tools) in the Nonprofit Online News Journal, we are launching Quick Guides, a new series of short, affordable publications that can be put to immediate use. For each Quick Guide we start with a Quicksheet, then we add further descriptions, instructions, examples and worksheets. Our very first in this series is: Are You Listening? Applying the HIMS Matrix. This matrix is a tool for determining whether your stakeholders feel heard in their interactions with you and how you might go about improving that. And as we all know, in today's marketing environment, feeling heard can make someone loyal for life.
Posted: 10/6/06; 12:17:16 AM # |
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4 October 2006 |
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| StatCrunch |
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I applaud the fact that online survey tools have become very popular among nonprofits in the last few years. It reflects an awareness of the Internet as a listening medium, not just a messaging medium. What's often missing from the nonprofit toolkit is a statistical package that is as affordable as the survey tools. StatCrunch is a web-based application with a full range of numerical and graphical methods, including interactive features for exploratory analysis, import of both text and Excel files, and easily repurposed HTML output.
Posted: 10/4/06; 10:40:45 AM # |
| SlideShare |
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While the popularity of lousy video clip sites continues to soar (proving once again that gambling is more compelling than winning), along comes SlideShare, a social site for sharing Powerpoint and Open Office (and hopefully someday, Keynote) slide shows. You just upload the file and the site handles conversion to a slick flash player. The site is full of Web 2.0 stuff (including a tag cloud, which I've always found to be a lousy user interface), which means it's very much focused on communities. Because it's about slide shows, that means communities of practice, where learning and teaching is shared among members with shared interests. SlideShare launches today.
Posted: 10/4/06; 10:22:42 AM # |
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1 October 2006 |
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