I came across a post recently on TechCrunch that really appealed to me because I saw it as especially useful for association folks, especially those that are involved in new product development, technology, process improvement, member services, or really any role that is involved in creating any type of member value. The article was a summary of advice for start-ups given by Loic Le Meur, a pretty successful businessman in his own right. Le Meur shares a wisdom-packed ten-point list of advice that he has acquired while starting his own companies (uBlog and more recently Seemisc). Granted it is written from the perspective a start-up business venture, but the message seems especially relevant and more broadly applicable to the association community as well.

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible.
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

As I think through each item on the list I can see examples within my own association where the advice could/would be extremely valuable in making the shift from Association 1.0 to Association 2.0. Let’s take a look at each suggestion in greater detail:

1. How often do we waste valuable time looking for the “next big thing” when our time would be better spent looking at how to improve existing programs, products, processes or services? What if we were to shift our attention to incremental change instead of using our most valuable asset: our time, trying to create new products or services that may or may not meet our members needs?
2. Are you sharing ideas with those who could help you the most or are you stuck in the Web 1.0 paradigm of hoarding information thinking that secrecy provides you with some type of strategic or competitive advantage? If you haven’t taken the time to expose new ideas to your stakeholders, customers and those who have a vested interest in the idea’s (or your organizations) success how can you be sure that it is going to actualize it’s true potential?
3. First and foremost, see point 2 above. Points 3 & 4 can be grouped together and are part and parcel of any association or organization’s success. If the true potential of crowdsourcing and tapping the wisdom of the crowds are lost on you, I suggest spending some time reading (or re-reading) Wikinomics, Smart Mobs, The Wisdom of Crowds and more recently We Are Smarter Than Me (more on this book/concept in a future post) to gain a better understanding of how organizations are fostering and tapping into communities to create and sustain competitive advantage. I think it’s safe to say that this idea has moved beyond novelty and into the realm of an essential business practice. If you aren’t doing it it’s likely that your competitors are.
4. As someone responsible for your associations success it’s essential to reflect on your hiring practices and selection criteria. Are you putting the right people into the key roles within your organization or on project teams? Are you really hiring or selecting those that your organization or initiative could benefit most from. I’ve seen too many instances in my career where a truly effective hiring/selection process is obscured by self-preservation (e.g. fear of being replaced by a hiring a person smarter than you) and those responible for hiring default to selecting the “safe” hire, as opposed to the individual who really help lead/take the organization to the next level. See point 3 above as well. Are you making members/customers part of the team? If your mission is to serve them or create value you should be.
5. All too often pride gets in the way of admitting when we are right or wrong. This is as true for organizations as it is for individuals. Are you sharing your successes and failures? If not you may be missing a great opportunity. If your true intention is improvement and innovation then mistakes are going to be an inevitable part of the process. Getting it wrong isn’t a problem but not communicating and taking accountability for the mistake and furthermore learning from it is. As a society we need to reconsider how we perceive success and failure. Perfection is a myth, but the pursuit of success should be our goal even if it leads to some mistakes.
6. I don’t necessarily agree with Le Muir on points 7, 8 or 9, but that doesn’t mean that they are irrelevant or we can’t benefit from the concepts he espouses in the ideas. I believe that knowing your market and customer is essential to success, with that said however, I also believe that the pace of change and dynamics associated with each of our markets and associated membership make it extremely difficult to capture each and every finite detail. I think the key point on research is to not only know when enough is enough but also when and how to use your communities as a source for that research.
   
   With regard to business planning (the spreadsheet comment), I also disagree. I hate to use a cliche, but “fail to plan, plan to fail”. However, I also think planning only gets you so far. You only have access to so many details and given that details change regularly and rapidly, it’s all too easy to become so consumed by the process of planning that it becomes a full time job itself. Personally, being involved in the project management profession I much prefer the idea of “progressive elaboration” or the concept of creating, modifying, and building upon the raw ingredients of your project, in an organized way, as you go in order to achieve the project’s specific goal. This allows your initial thinking to be modified in a manner that is consistent with reality.
   
   And on the topic of marketing, I do agree with his thoughts to some extent but also feel that especially in the early days of a company, initiative or product launch, a coordinated/unified marketing effort is essential. That’s not to say that it has to be completely disingenuous or scripted, but rather it should be organized and cohesive to ensure that you are communicating your core message to your intended audience.
7. Finally, his last point is totally spot-on. Obviously the purpose and objectives of a not-for-profit association differs pretty greatly from that of a for profit corporation, but the idea of focusing on users, or in our case members, seems to be rock solid advice.

There are some really solid ideas contained within the advice and the bottom line is pretty simple. You can be proactive and be an agent of change or you can be reactive and respond to the change negatively. Regardless of your position or perspective you can’t control the fact that change happens, you can control the way you perceive and respond to it.