How to avoid the “IT black hole” Going all the way back to my days as an association staffer (more than 30 years ago) I’ve encountered what I call the “IT black hole.” The IT black hole is where technology issues go to die. Perhaps you’ve experienced this. You report an issue to your technology staff …
The “People” are important! I’ve written a lot about people, process, and technology over the years. This is the three-legged stool of success for any technology project (and these days, for any project at all!). My writing has focused mostly on process and technology because process and technology are usually easier to change. But I …
Always look for the MVP I first wrote about minimum viable product (MVP) just three years ago, but the term itself was coined over 20 years ago. But I’ve been thinking about this more and more with all of my new projects, for one significant reason: Even compared to five years ago, much less 20 …
The longer you take, the longer it will take It may sound like a tautology, but the longer you take to complete a project, the longer it’s going to take to complete it. Put another way, every day you add to the final launch of the project increases the odds that you’ll add even more …
Data is for action When deciding whether or not to collect a piece of data, there is a simple question that will help you decide: “What action will I take on this data, either immediately or in the long-term?” If you can’t answer that question clearly, then you don’t need to collect that data. (Note: …
Have you shopped yourself? I’ve always been fascinated by the “secret shopper” concept. (Maybe it’s because I worked retail through high school and college). The concept is simple: Have someone “secretly” shop at your place of business, so you can experience exactly what your customers experience. My sense is that not many associations do this, and …
To improve adoption, decrease the friction “Before you try to increase your willpower, try to decrease the friction in your environment.” – James Clear I’m a big fan of James Clear (who writes on habits) because so much of data management is about habits. What Clear is saying above is that if you want to change …
“Is this normal?” ne of the greatest parts about my job is that I get to work with so many different associations, which means I see all kinds of things that most of my clients never see. It also means I have a very deep perspective on how often something does or does not happen with associations …
Give your staff more freedom, not less I often tell my clients, when it comes to data management, I’m a big liberal; I believe you should give as many staff as possible the ability to edit data within your data management system (with proper training, of course!). The point of a centralized data management system is not just …
My advice? Stop doing that! There is a classic TV sketch featuring Bob Newhart as a therapist. He helps his patients overcome their issues by using two magic words: “Stop it.” (You can see the clip here: https://youtu.be/4BjKS1-vjPs) The sketch is funny because his advice is incredibly simple but obviously very difficult to apply. Remarkably, this …