According to Noreena Hertz, associate director of the Centre for International Business at the University of Cambridge, “Organizations have become far too accepting of what ‘experts’ say, far too willing not to challenge their premises and ideas, and that isn’t good especially for society at large.” She cites in her book Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World a study of 80,000 forecasts done over a 30-year period by 250 political scientists, economists, and historians, and these supposed “experts” didn’t know what would happen any better than a monkey throwing a dart at a dart board.
Her point is that experts certainly have their place and do provide value, but their input should not be at the expense of valuable information from within our own organizations, and from people with experience.
We use our expertise to support our client partners in helping them achieve their goals. Members within the organizations provide their expertise and then AH adds additional value by providing staff specialists in executive management, administrative support, marketing/communications, accounting, web development/maintenance, creative design, consulting, etc.
Having worked with volunteer leaders for over 25 years, who are clearly leaders in their profession, the truly great associations are those that combine the expertise of the volunteer leaders and the staff experts that support them.
From my perspective, in order for volunteer organizations to truly reach greatness (tip of the hat to Jim Collins) you cannot be either “member” or “staff” driven, there must be a true partnership between the volunteers and their staff to ensure that the organization can reach its full potential or tackle difficult issues, and, most of all, plan for the long-term success of the association.
So are you throwing darts at a dart board, or are you truly leveraging the expertise you have around you?
Photo credit: MikeBehnken / Foter / CC BY-ND
Photo credit: Chris Pirillo / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
