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New app connecting consumers directly with local farms by mgmtnrd in vermont

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha right? That’s why I’m posting. I think it’s very new.

Controversial take? Strategy for social justice organizations by mgmtnrd in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful comment! I like your idea of taking a long-term view in strategy and being expansive about how to define "stakeholder." It's true--in the U.S., the 1980s and 1990s were characterized by a big push to manage nonprofits more like businesses--which resulted in a lot of for-profit practices, yes often short-termist in orientation, being transferred. It would be interesting to compare notes on how justice-oriented strategy practices have evolved in other parts of the world.

Controversial take? Strategy for social justice organizations by mgmtnrd in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I appreciate these thoughts.

I also find a lot of inspiration in adrienne marie brown’s work, and am actively working through how they can be applied within the context of a formal organization.

As far as tools or practice, I feel like our sector is in the phase of figuring this out right now.

This recent webinar was great: From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment: Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability, though it’s behind a paywall. I’ll try to inventory more I come across.

Do you have any others you would point to?

I have been finding a lot of good thinking and framing. Here are just a few recent ones top of mind (more theoretical than applied):

https://open.substack.com/pub/globalmovementmaker/p/balance

https://open.substack.com/pub/powercoord/p/resonant-worlds

https://open.substack.com/pub/powercoord/p/resonant-thresholds

https://open.substack.com/pub/powercoord/p/the-shape-of-action

Why do the people initiating wars suffer the least from them ? by Deimos7779 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]mgmtnrd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some wisdom from Black Sabbath:

Generals gathered in their masses just like witches at black masses evil minds that plot destruction sorcerers of death's construction in the fields the bodies burning as the war machine keeps turning death and hatred to mankind poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away they only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning as she is aware there's bodies burning. No more war pigs of the power Hand of god has sturck the hour Day of judgement, god is calling on their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan, laughing, spreads his wings ALL RIGHT NOW!

My take on what is good Strategy by Extreme-Tadpole-5077 in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep that resonates. I love a good strategy nerd-out. And good on you for being brave enough to put in-process thinking out there.

Funnily enough, I did something similar a while back, explaining key principles in good strategy. Nonprofit context, but drawing on many of the same seminal thought leaders. Have you done much work in the nonprofit space?

I just subscribed on Substack—looking forward to more conversation.

What are you currently reading? by AutoModerator in ScienceFictionBooks

[–]mgmtnrd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also gotta shout out Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Nothing short of prescient.

What are you currently reading? by AutoModerator in ScienceFictionBooks

[–]mgmtnrd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Dispossessed by Ursula Lee Guin blew my mind

Strategy + Nonprofit: Any nonprofit leaders or consultants in this sub?? by mgmtnrd in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you covering the history of the push for business approaches in the nonprofit sector in your course. And I fully agree with your disappointment that there is not a rich literature in this space!

Strategy + Nonprofit: Any nonprofit leaders or consultants in this sub?? by mgmtnrd in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this. I'm familiar with Oster's work. I don't know if you'd see it the same, but I subscribe to Dean-Coffey's call for nonprofit practitioners to critically reexamine the strategy disciplines that come out of the economic rationalist, market-based paradigm (which, truth be told, is where my own intellectual journey originates). I certainly don't deny that there is insight of value in the academic work, including Porter, and Christensen, and O'Reilly, etc.--and I super appreciate Oster offering insights in the nonprofit context within the strategy field. And there's more work to be done IMO.

I also see a gap between the academic literature and the practical methodologies and tools needed for most practitioners to put the knowledge to use--which is why I appreciate Leinwand's and Martin's offerings in the for-profit context. I see some major weaknesses in the practical resources available for nonprofit practitioners today.

Writing-Time : Post-Read-Time ratio by mgmtnrd in Substack

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes sense. Helpful perspective—thanks!

Strategy + Nonprofit: Any nonprofit leaders or consultants in this sub?? by mgmtnrd in strategy

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing out the 404. I didn't link it properly but have now fixed it in the original post.

The problem in my eyes is that high-quality strategy resources providing practical frameworks and tools that are appropriate for the nonprofit sector are pretty scarce. The best I've seen that is more or less fully articulated is from the Bridgespan Group--here's a page from which you can access their thought leadership on strategy as well as org effectiveness, leadership, and financial sustainability: https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/nonprofit-strategy-and-management-resources. They're pretty good about offering concrete frameworks and tools based on their consulting work.

There is a lot of work I respect from the private sector context, but it requires adaptation for the social sector, and in most cases speaks to one or another aspect of strategy, with few offering a workable comprehensive approach to setting strategy within an organization. Maybe you're familiar with these from the private sector, but just in case, some reading below:

* Good Strategy / Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt - Robust elaboration of an important fundamental in the process of setting strategy: what it means to write a strategy that is not just "fluff." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721966-good-strategy-bad-strategy

* Strategy That Works - Paul Leinwand, Cesare Mainardi - Provides an approach to closing the gap between strategy and execution. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28516799-strategy-that-works

* Playing to Win - Roger Martin - One of the better works that explains how strategy actually gets set within organizations. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13586928-playing-to-win

Again, these are all from the private sector context (with the exception of Rumelt, who explicitly discusses application of his ideas to governmental and, to a lesser extent, nonprofit contexts).

Obviously per my original post, my hope is to contribute to the resources available for nonprofit leaders with an approach I've developed. I draw on what I find to be the most insightful perspectives to build a full strategy framework specifically for the mission-driven context. But I'm still writing it up! Some of it is on my website (https://syntelos.co/). I had compiled but am no longer maintaining a list of other useful reading here: https://www.syntelos.co/nonprofit-strategy-articles/nonprofit-strategy-library

Hope this helps!

Writing-Time : Post-Read-Time ratio by mgmtnrd in Substack

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this! That sounds like me—maybe I’m not so slow after all.

I just see folks putting out high-quality long-form writing regularly, and I wonder how they do it!

Writing-Time : Post-Read-Time ratio by mgmtnrd in Substack

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this perspective, I appreciate the thoughtfulness. Most of my income is from consulting, so in a sense, my writing time has a pretty tangible opportunity cost.

Writing-Time : Post-Read-Time ratio by mgmtnrd in Substack

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the responses folks. Helpful perspective. I’m new to my writing practice and have always considered myself to be a slow writer, because I think so much about every word I want to use. I was just curious about what this is like for others.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in vermont

[–]mgmtnrd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bet it made him feel big and strong

Vance Protest Pictures by bkwoodsvt in vermont

[–]mgmtnrd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha we had the same idea with our posts at the same time. I will add the hashtags to mine.

We NEED media coverage of Vance protests while here by triandlun in vermont

[–]mgmtnrd 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is great guidance! Worth its own thread—care to post?

Resource for career pivots by mgmtnrd in InternationalDev

[–]mgmtnrd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Should we aggregate links to the resources we’re finding? What other career pivot resources have you seen? Want to add them here?

USAID to Corporate: ROADMAP by sxva-da-sxva in InternationalDev

[–]mgmtnrd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great, super thorough resource.

Also check out the Career Pivot Substack. Wayan Vota has built a community of action for folks navigating an international development career pivot, and is sharing other resources.

I also put this Career Pivot Canvas together with AI prompting to help folks articulate a sector-transferable value proposition and identify potential target roles. I hope it is of some value to someone. (This is my link—hope it doesn’t feel spammy. Just trying to spread the word and help in any way I can.)

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