SUZANNE SMITH, MBASOCIAL IMPACT ARCHITECTS

SUZANNE@SOCIALIMPACTARCHITECTS.COM

Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Culture

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Why?

• The picture's pretty bleak, gentlemen ... the world's climates are changing, the mammals are taking over,and we all have a brain about the size of a walnut.

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Definitions

• Culture– From Latin word “cultura” meaning “to

cultivate”– “An energy force that becomes woven

through the thinking, behavior, and identity of those within the group.” – Debra Thorsen

– Visible • Dress code, titles, relationships, vocabulary

– Invisible• Values, rules, attitudes, standards, rituals

– Vision & Mission ≠ Culture

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Definitions

• Entrepreneur– From the French word

“entreprendre” meaning “to undertake or to set out on a new mission”

– “An entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” – Peter Drucker

– Work is more than a job, it’s a lifestyle

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Profile of a Typical Nonprofit Culture

“We must reject the idea – well-intentioned, but dead wrong – that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become “more like business.” Most businesses – like most of anything else in life – fall between mediocre and good. Few are great.” - Jim Collins

Mission-Focused

Focused on Payer Model*

Consensus-driven

Resource constrained

Risk Avoidance

Analysis conducted by CASE/Duke University

*DEFINITION: Focused on who gives them money as a key driver

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Profile of a Social Entrepreneurial Culture

“Innovative often means little more than “well implemented.” - Christine Letts, William R. Ryan, & Allen Grossman

Keep mission first, but know that without money,

there is no mission

Weigh both social & financial return

Looking for new ways to serve & add value

Understand that all resource allocation are

really stewardship investments

Willing to take risk on behalf of those they serve

Source: Brinckerhoff, Peter C. Mission-Based Management: Leading Your Not-for-Profit In the 21st Century. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

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Four Key Elements

Openness Adaptability Results & Rewards Learning Organization

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Openness

• The promise of negative consequences can be highly motivational.

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Openness• Definition: “Describes active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity,

attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, and intellectual curiosity”

• Tips– Open your door

• Be available for brainstorming• Participate without controlling

– Open your mind and close your mouth• Listen first and share last• Foster intellectual dialogue and promote open debate

– Share information and lessons learned widely• Create an environment where people share success and failure• Create “bumping into” spots for information exchanges• Share information about the organization, so employees understand the “big

picture”10

Adaptability

• Combining a raft with a trailer to make a Redneck houseboat.

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Adaptability• Definition: “The ability of a nonprofit organization to monitor,

assess and respond to internal and external changes.”– Monitor performance

• Measure performance and identify both problems and possibilities for improvements– Customize to your clients

• Understand how well clients served and what changes need to be made to improve the quality of service

– Inertia kills innovation• Use the organization’s people and knowledge to create new ways to solve the same issues

– Treat your employees like owners• Create jobs and organizations where staff and volunteers see the results of their work – the

foundation for motivating people

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Results & Rewards

• The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmover.

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Results & Rewards• Frontliners know best

– Push responsibility and accountability downward to employees on the frontlines

• Measure outcomes, not activities– Establish clear performance goals and expectations

• Reward employees when you notice the “right behaviors”

• Encourage employees to “fail early, fail fast, fail cheap”• Reward “organization citizenship”

– Encourage team players or employees who collaborate outside their roles for the betterment of the organization

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Learning Organization

• Putting the learning disabled in YeILD.

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Learning Organization• Definition: Organizations where people continually expand their

capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. – Peter Senge– Create a vision that inspires action (“shared vision”)– Create a “we’re all in this together” attitude (“team learning”)– Understand how your organization and its environment works

(“systems thinking”)– Encourage employees to grow and learn without fear

(“personal mastery”)– Challenge ways to thinking and working (“mental models”)

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How to Change?

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OCAI Assessment – Homework & Handout A

CLANPersonal place; extended

familyNurturing environmentValues participation &

consensus

ADHOCRACYDynamic & entrepreneurial

Risk takingValues innovation & creativity

HIERARCHYFavors structure, tradition, &

controlValues coordination, stability,

& efficiency

MARKETResults oriented

Values competition & achievement

Internal Focus & Integration

External Focus & Differentiation

Flexibility & Discretion

Stability & Control

Source: Adapted from Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron

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Exercise – Handout B

• Spend 10-20 minutes thinking about questions and filling out your answers.

• When you are ready, work with a partner or lunch table to share your ideas.

• Share and discuss situations, good ideas, and problem solve.

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More about Suzanne

Managing Director, Social Impact ArchitectsNational MemberBoard Member, Social Enterprise AllianceConsultant Member, Society for Organizational LearningResearch Fellow, Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University at the Fuqua School of BusinessAdjunct Faculty, University of North Texas

Local LeaderDallas, Texas - Texas Social Innovation Initiative, Dallas Social Venture Partners, & Social Enterprise Alliance DFW Chapter

Cincinnati, Ohio – Leadership Council of Human Service Executives, Flywheel Social Enterprise HubDurham, NC – Bull City Forward (Social Innovation Initiative) & Social Enterprise Network of the Triangle

suzanne@socialimpactarchitects.comwww.socialimpactarchitects.com