I was fortunate to have been able to join 5,000+ association colleagues and professionals in Detroit for the ASAE 2015 Annual Meeting this month. Reviewing the session descriptions is always a first step in preparing for a meeting of this size.
As the official “AH Trends Advocate,” you can imagine my delight when I read about a Game Changer session titled “How to Think like a Futurist” with the keynote speaker being Sheryl Connelly – Futurist for Ford Motor Company.
Sheryl identified a few key steps to enable someone to “think like a futurist”:
- Don’t be afraid of the future
- Recognize that no one can predict the future, but everyone tries
- Realize that the past is not a good indicator of the future
- Beware of the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This is based on your present point of view.
- Be provocative. Challenge assumptions.
So, what’s a busy association executive to do when prepping their Boards and volunteer leaders to also think like a futurist?
I was so pleased that Sheryl’s presentation fully supported the information that I presented in my “How to Monitor and Identify Association Trends” session later the same day. Content of my session stressed that strategic planning requires “focus” and environmental scanning requires both “patience and persistence.”
Monitoring trends often leaves volunteers and association professionals feeling frustrated, as it is not an easy process with clear definitions and deliverables. Association professionals tend to like to be in control of projects and plans. Sorry to say, the future is not very controllable. As association leaders, we need to advocate for looking beyond just your industry issues and start a process where your association can begin to identify and discuss global trends that could have an impact on your association, its members, or the customers of your members.
I’ll end with one of my favorite observations from Daniel Burrus in his book “Flash Foresight” –
The massive global transformation will happen – it is happening. And it is transforming how we work, play, learn, live, and do everything. It will bring massive disruption for those who don’t see it coming – and massive opportunity for those who do!
