Building it up, bit by bit

Skip to the bottom as I've got a question for you . . . and, yes, a little early this week, owing to the well-known Pagan springtime festival called Eostre.

At the same time

This is the chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer in 1964, playing 50 opponents at the same time. For the record he won 47. Drew 2. And, yes, just one person would have felt pretty good at beating him.

But, is he really playing 50 people simultaneously? Or, is he simply so fast that it appears that way?

A decade before Fischer played this game, my mother escaped with her older sister from ‘behind the iron curtain’, leaving her parents — and a younger sister — behind. She was resettled in Australia (by one of my current clients, the Red Cross - thanks!) and thus began a decades-long struggle to continue to stay in touch.

At first, it was letters that crossed the continents, months apart. Later, aerograms winged their way in about a week. And, then, in the late 1970s we had long-distance phone (via satellite). The second biggest problem was expense (a 5-minute call cost as much as my mother earned in a morning of house cleaning).

The biggest problem was timing. 

My grandparents didn’t have a phone in their home (very few people in Hungary did, in 1980), and the only phone in their village was at the post office. So, the laborious process was this. My grandparents would send an aerogram proposing a date and time weeks in the future to receive a call. My mother would note this, and call at the appointed time. If all fell into place (the satellite was working, the post office wasn’t too crowded), they talked. For five minutes. 

Fast forward 40 years to today.

My mother and I share calls, in real time, with my niece, who’s in Europe. For free. With video. Yes, it’s like science-fiction from the perspective of the 1960s, but it requires us to ask: What separate processes can we ‘stack up’ and, if they’re fast enough, give our customers the illusion of simultaneity?

Question: How can you dramatically shorten the time between a need being expressed, and its fulfillment?

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Hyper-segmentation

What’s the weirdest thing you’re into? I mean, the thing that almost nobody else does?

For me, it’s weird music. I like ambient drones, earth-shaking slabs of sound that go straight through you. No rhythm, no melody, no vocals. And, I learned this week that at least 500 other people in Melbourne also like this.

How do I know?

Because I attended not one, but two, performances. Both were by Canadian ambient experimental musicians and were full houses. (If you’re interested, they’re Loscil and Tim Hecker). I don’t expect you to like them, and in a way, that’s the point.

Every field of activity has its long tail. This is the far right of the distribution curve which shows us that Lacrosse and Curling are (way) less popular than cricket, basketball and soccer. And, let’s not get started on ice stock (look it up), or unicycle hockey (I’ve met international competitors of both).

My point is that we live in a world where, almost regardless of how much of an outlier your passion is (I personally know devotees of cross-stitch, single malt whiskeys and snow globes) you will find a community. These communities become powerful amplifiers of the interest itself: it’s easier for the experimental musicians to keep producing if they pull a crowd. And, you’re more likely to go to a gig if there are more than 5 people there.

Many of my clients rely on passionately invested communities of interest. These are as diverse as slum researchers,:cancer survivors, litter collectors, teachers of literacy to refugees, grassland protectors, wildlife rescuers, guide dog fosterers, family members of people with psychiatric conditions.

Question: How do you identify — and then attract and cultivate — people to join your cause?

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Assume I can, so maybe I will

In case you missed it, International Down Syndrome Day was last week.

In a past life, I was an employment consultant and my job was to find jobs for people like the young woman in this video. Click the link - you won’t be disappointed.

This is a superb example of ‘busting myths’ about people with Down Syndrome. She drinks. She has sex. She exercises — hard. Just like most of us do.

When I talk to my clients I often ask them, “What are the myths about your world that people need to understand?” They tell me things like:

• People with dementia enjoy life (an aged care service).

• People with mental illness aren’t dangerous (a mental health advocacy think tank).

• Doctors truly care about their patients, even when they’re busy (a GP organisation).

• Refugees aren’t needy (an international aid agency).

This list could go on endlessly. Which is my point: all good strategies that aim for societal improvement should recognise the myths, misconceptions and falsehoods that prevent that organisation from doing their most effective work. And, actively build into their strategy ways to overcome, or correct these.

Question: What myths do you want your customers, funders, or the public to stop believing?

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A question

All of my posts here, and their questions, have a relationship to organisational strategy. Especially strategy for ‘for purpose’ organisations. A week ago, the mental health charity, Beyond Blue, invited me to a screening of an incredible documentary, “UnCharitable”.

If you have anything to do with non-profits (as a director, staff member, or donor), you MUST watch this. It WILL change the way you think about how NFPs are funded.

In fact, I’m considering sponsoring a screening of this for my clients, and readers of 5MSM, so let me know if you’d be interested. Drop a shout-out in the comments, or drop me a line personally. We’d need 50 people to make it worthwhile, and it’d either be in Melbourne, or virtual.

In the meantime let me know ‘I enjoyed reading today’ by clicking the ‘heart’ —- and see you at the normal Friday time next week.

Andrew