Innovate Rotary!

The New Four-Way Test for Teens and Tweens

We need an updated Four-Way Test, folks.  It is no longer just about what we think, say or do.

In the early 1930’s, Herbert Taylor wanted a way to save his company from bankruptcy.  He decided to start with the ethical foundation of the company.  His thinking and reflection produced the Four Way Test, which was adopted by Rotary about 10 years later.¹

Our world today is very different from the world Herbert Taylor lived in.  What eight-year olds can do today on a smart phone, a pc or an iPod would be outrageous science fiction by 1940’s standards.  And while many Rotarians are still learning how to use and benefit from social media, there is a generation that finds texting, tweeting, posting and video calling as more and more natural, just as they find using a telephone or face-to-face communication as less natural.

For most teens and tweens, staying connected through social media is a routine part of life.  Unfortunately, many of these kids do not think of the impact of their comments on others.  Some kids are noticed for being seen as edgy or cool for their biting criticism or cynical outlook on people and events.  Other kids hide behind their aliases and avatars and post statements they would never post if they knew their parents were reading them.  Many who merely witness the stream of insults and pokes see it as entertainment.  Those who are the targets often do not complain and have few skills to deal with the attacks.  Unfortunately, this seemingly innocent behavior often turns into cyberbullying. 

Cyberbullying has become pervasive, yet hidden from view until its impact becomes visible.

 Consider:

• Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.
• More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online.
• More than 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.
• Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.

The Harford County Examiner reported similarly concerning cyber bullying:

• Around half of teens have been the victims of cyber bullying
• Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyber bully victim
• Fewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement
• 1 in 10 adolescents or teens have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without their permission, often using cell phone cameras
• About 1 in 5 teens have posted or sent sexually suggestive or nude pictures of themselves to others
• Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to be involved in cyber bullying²

While physical bullying can often be seen and stopped, kids still get hurt.  When people are face to face, they can see other people's reactions to know when they are hurting someone.  Cyberbullying takes away this critical bit of feedback.  While the intentional bullies like to know they are causing a reaction, there are plenty of unintentional bullies who simply think they are being brave or cool.  Unfortunately the person on the receiving end of their message is deeply hurt inside. 

The result?  Depression.  Cutting and other self-mutilation.  Withdrawal.  Academic failure.  Suicide. 

Start asking around.  It is more common than you think.

Therefore, we need a new Four-Way Test.  I propose the following:

Of the things we think, say, do, text, post, tweet, IM, share or tag,

• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Here is an opportunity for each Rotary club to create a positive campaign in their schools and their community:

• Offer to lead cyber-safety education in schools for students
• Create posters with the new Four-Way Test and ask local schools if you they will display them in the hallways.  Better yet, run a contest and ask the students to vote on the best designs.
• Recognize and reward students who make positive use of social media for community impact.
• Volunteer to speak to school, parent and youth groups about the both the dangers and the positive use of cyber tools.

We are in new territory, folks.  Fortunately, we have a set of core principles that is as relevant now as it was in the 1930’s. 

This time, rather than save a company, those principles could save a generation.

Nope, new clubs are not the path to growth

How can Rotary grow membership and retain its members?  An article in the January, 2013 Rotarian magazine explored whether new clubs are the path to membership growth.  I propose that new clubs are not the complete answer.  Instead, how can we capture the positive qualities of new clubs and bring them to existing clubs?

Let me begin by acknowledging that newly chartered clubs indeed have advantages.  A new club brings novelty and freshness.  Forming members can shape the club to their liking, to their passions and their lifestyle.  The article opened with an all too common scenario of a dual income working couple that struggles to meet all of its time demands.  The new club can shape its schedule and routine to attract members who otherwise would not join another club.  For example, evening meetings might be easier for many who have to get kids off to school, or who cannot take more than 30 minutes for lunch.

A new club brings the energy that comes with a focused project or mission.  The forming team has clear goals.   It must attract a minimum of 25  20 charter members.   Since it does not have the workload associated with many established projects and events, charter members focus time and energy on finding and engaging those 25 20 members as quicly as possible.

The club also receives dedicated support.   New club leaders receive dedicated mentorship from the District.  A sponsoring club or the District put up initial funding to get the club started.  District leaders rightly publicize and celebrate the new club.

So let me be clear before I get everyone's blood pressure rising here, new clubs are an attractive and viable option to attract members.  They are especially valuable for attracting members who are very different in lifestyle, interests and age versus established clubs.  But they are not THE ONLY option.  Here is why:

First, the statistical analysis upon which the case is based is partially flawed.  If I look at district membership data in a year where one or more new clubs are formed, it will always show that new clubs are the dominant source of growth.  That is an easy mistake to make with "Big Data."  The error comes from the fact that I am cherry picking a part of the data and inferring causality from that cherry-picked data.  So I need to look deeper at the data.

Second, retention rates for new club members are biased.  To be fair, Chuck Musgrave did notice that the retention rates for new clubs was higher than the retention rate for new members of established clubs.  However, given the personal investment in the club that charter members have in launching the new club, one would expect this.   Retention is never one hundred percent because members do things like move, change jobs and change priorities. 

But the bright shiny object of a new club only keeps its luster for so long.  Retention rates of new clubs from five years ago will eventually trend toward retention rates of 10 year old clubs.  The article also noted that new clubs eventually become not-so-new clubs.  District leaders shift the focus to the next new club and the cycle repeats itself.  We need another new club to churn out new numbers. But is that an efficient approach?

Instead of getting into a cycle of churning from old to new, how about capturing some of the essence of the new club and applying it to the established (I won't say old) clubs?

• Reshape the member experience.  I have found that the barriers to existing member engagement is often the reason clubs don't attract new members.  If you are not excited about your own experience of the club, you are not likely to invite others to join.  Survey your members.  Ask formerly engaged members why they are not as involved as they once were - and what could change to bring back their energy.
• Take a mission focus.  Decide that you are going to attract 25 new members.  Set that as a goal and assemble a team that is passionate about that goal.   Are there clubs that have grown by 25 members within 2 years?  Yes - and mine was one of them.  Find out what others did that worked - and find a way to apply it to your existing club.
• Ask for help.  Your District has a team of people who are dedicated to helping clubs find new answers.  Sometimes that means having folks from the District engage with your team by asking questions that provoke action, rather than merely dispensing advice.  The Club Visioning process is an exceptional way to stimulate new ideas and approaches.
• Believe you can change.  This may be the most important.  If you assume that people, whether individually or as a club, cannot change, you are right.  If you assume that people can indeed change, you are also right.  (Read the book, Mindset, by Carol Dweck and review my previous post about Mindset here.)  Research shows that about half of you reading this have a fixed mindset and half of you have a growth mindset.

We raise amazing amounts of money on behalf of projects and causes because we believe it will make a difference.  We volunteer tremendous hours on behalf of individuals and populations because we are certain that our effort will be rewarded by change.  New clubs offer new experiences that we rightly believe will attract new members.  How is it that we assume existing clubs cannot offer as great or greater opportunities for growth? 

We must believe in our ability - and our obligation - to adapt, to change, to adjust.  We need the same level of faith in change in our fellow members as we have in those whom we serve.

Are we making a difference, or just feeding the hippos?

I believe that if we want to really engage people to serve, we need to connect people to what they are passionate about.

I have proposed this idea many times and find that whether the audience is a ballroom full of Rotarians or a conference room of corporate leadership teams, people pretty much agree with this idea.  We can all think of people who have launched, led or contributed to powerful change efforts who connected with the mission because it connected them to something they were passionate about.

And in our Rotary projects, it's the same.  We can ask our members to get involved.  And out of a sense of duty, the desire for social connection or even out of pure pursuit of fun, people sign up and show up to get the work done.  And so long as we keep it fun and interesting, support for a project might continue.  But when we take the time to find out what people are really passionate about, we fully engage their energy; we give them an opportunity for real self-expression.  We don't have to push or beg for help.  More often, it feels like we have to hold those people back!   For me, volunteering for ShelterBox is like that.

But what about those whom we serve?  How do we create lasting change?  In this TED talk, Ernesto Sirolli proposes that the way to make lasting change is to ask the people we serve what they need.  Rather than show up with our notion of "best practices," what about asking a few questions first?  What about finding out what really matters to the people we are trying to help?

We can only help people who want our help.

So today's question is, in your club's service efforts, ask yourself:  Are we making a difference, or just feeding the hippos?

 

 

 

Does your club have a growth mindset?

My question is not whether you want your club to increase its headcount.

I am asking what kind of culture you have in your club, especially among your leaders. Is it a fixed mindset or a growth mindset?  Let me explain.

I remember taking on the role of District Membership chair a few years ago.  As I was learning about clubs in the district, fellow district leaders would describe clubs using fixed labels.  For example, they would characterize a club as a:

• Fun club
• High impact club
• Struggling club
• Older club
• Elite club
• Etc.

As I learned about the character and culture of these clubs, many of the labels were accurate.  As I really got to talk one on one with the leaders of these clubs, even if they were given a positive label, many of those clubs were dying.  New members weren't willing to breathe new life into the old projects.  Members were more willing to write checks than to pitch in.  Financial discipline became lax.  In hindsight, I now see what was holding many of those clubs back from growing and thriving:  many of those clubs had a fixed mindset. 

Now, as you see above, many of these clubs were described with positive labels.  And these clubs rightly celebrated what had made them special and what had helped them grow and succeed - in the past.  So how were these clubs strugglling despite their positive labels?

The problem is that many of them believed the positive label and stopped there.  They celebrated winning the trophy and stopped putting out the effort to win the next one.  Unless a club is focused on where its next success will come from, it can get stagnant.  For example, if the leaders of a “fun club” are not willing to discuss challenging issues, people disengage.  If an “elite club” does not offer a unique and special opportunity for members once they get recommended and inducted, members start to ask, “What was the point of this?”

Fixed mindsets limit people’s willingness to hear criticism, even if accurate and well-intended.   Leaders in a club or district with a fixed mindset want to be reminded of how terrific they are.  A fixed mindset celebrates the glory years and wishes things could be like that again.  However, In a changing world, a fixed mindset can bring success to a halt.

Now, let's think about a truly struggling club.  If that club has a fixed mindset, it is in big trouble because it tends to see its challenges as permanent and outside of its members’ control. It will blame its lack of growth and impact on the economy, their meeting location, their legacy projects or some other reason. As our district team would share growth efforts that were highly successful elsewhere in the district, we would hear club leaders say things like, “We can’t grow like the suburbs; our population is not growing like theirs.” Or, “We tried a membership drive, but it did not work.” Another told me, “Young people are just not interested in community service anymore.” That one is far from the truth.

So what is the solution?  Adopt a growth mindset.  Carol Dweck’s research tells us that people who adopt a growth mindset:

• Embrace challenges
• Persist in the face of setbacks
• See effort as a path to mastery
• Learn from criticism
• Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others

Think about your own successes. Which ones do you treasure the most, the ones that came easy or the triumphs that came from hard work, despite near disaster?  A club's culture is no different. Your club is defined by how it handles challenge.

I often hear people talk about how they love the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins.  Collins' research revealed that leaders of great companies were not trying to prove they were the best.  Rather, they wanted to improve.  For great companies, it’s not about past success.  It’s about where their next success will come from.  That also explains why there are no permanently great companies.  You have to keep working at it.

For Rotarians, The Four Way Test does not mean you do not confront tough issues.  It does not mean you tolerate inappropriate jokes.  It does not mean you allow challenges to be accepted as permanent truths.  The Four Way Test simply provides guidance on how to approach those challenges.

So what are some of the ways you can begin to embrace a growth mindset in your club?

• Acknowledge your past success.  Your club formed and thrived at some point because someone made the effort to do something special.  Tie your future success to its past.
• Create a vision.  Decide what your club is going to be about in the future.  What is your purpose in your community?  Use a consensus-building process to create your club's inspiring and challenging future vision.
• Communicate the change.  People need to know what the change means and does not mean. What efforts will need to take place and how will it affect them?  What will you stop doing in the future, even if it was encouraged in the past?
• Reshape your stories.  Rather than only celebrate only your accomplishments, celebrate the efforts to make your club better and stronger, even if they were not successful.  For example, if you held a fundraiser, talk about some of the challenges and how you overcame them.  Call out members who got through challenges, who learned from mistakes and created a platform for further success and growth in the future.
• Take action.  As you recite the Four Way Test each week, remember it is a test of the things you think, say and DO.  Experiment.  Test.  Play.  Inspire.  Gitterdone! 

At a district level, reward and recognize clubs that are changing and succeeding because of the efforts of their members.  Numbers alone don't tell the story of whether a club has a growth mindset.  Don't give rewards for efforts that took place years ago.  A club that works hard to rethink its mission and gets its members to embrace the new vision is likely a lot stronger in the long run than a club that stumbles into success and does not dare to try something new.  Reward what you want more of in the future.

• Think about where you want to be as a club.  
• Say words that celebrate efforts more than accomplishments. 
• DO something positive that will take your club closer to its vision.  Do something this year that will be worthy of your club’s purpose.

 And as a person, a leader and a Rotarian, keep growing!

How do you create an ideal experience for prospective members?

I am in the thick of a client project, in which we are exploring the questions:

• Which "Moments of Truth" matter most to clients?
• What is the "Ideal Client Experience" at each moment?
• Where should we focus first to make the biggest positive difference at each moment?

As I think about Rotary membership, I wonder what are the "Moments of Truth" that matter most to prospective members?  How do you make joining Rotary as easy as riding a bike (assuming that is easy!), especially if they are just a little reluctant?   For starters, take on their point of view.  Put yourself in their world.  Imagine what they are going through as they try on the idea of becoming a Rotarian.  Then imagine the Ideal Experience you could create.

So how do you figure out how to create the Ideal Experience?   Use the client profile diagram on the right to get started.   Answer the questions from all four perspectives - what do they think, see, say and hear?  (This tool comes from this book by the way).  

Let's say someone is thinking about joining your club.  One moment of truth could be the first meeting they attend.  Take two passes.  In the first pass, imagine this moment does not go well. For example:

1. Think - what is running through their mind as they think about attending that first meeting?  For example, "Will I fit in?" "Will I know anyone?" "Will this be worth my time?"
2. See - what do they see that gets in their way?  As they read your website the night before, look at your intro materials or walk into their first meeting, what do they see?  Is the website designed to help non-members or is it focused on current members?  If you have a brochure, is it well-written and visually appealing?  Does it tell a compelling story?
3. Say - what are they saying to you, to their friends, to others? When someone asks them, "How was the meeting?", what will they say? What do they say to you, when you ask them if they are interested in moving forward?  Are you hearing them talk about themselves and their interests?  Or are they saying little because your members are doing all of the talking?
4. Hear - what are they hearing from your members, from their spouse or employer?  Are they hearing members complain or do they welcome the new member?  Are they hearing clear answers about what your club is about and how they can fit in?  Are they hearing concerns from a spouse about whether they will have time to participate?

Next, take stock of what you learned.  Is there anything about the prospective member experience that really stands out?  What would you want to change?

In the second pass, imagine that the experience goes exceptionally well.  What will the prospect think, see, say and hear? 

As you compare the "bad" with the "ideal" what is the difference?  From your prospective member's point of view, what is it like to experience your: 

• Website
• Newsletter
• Brochureware
• One on one conversations
• Meetings
• Follow up correspondence

What would you need to do right now to make the ideal happen?  Where are the biggest hurdles?  How can you knock down those hurdles fast?  How can you make it easier for your current members to create the Ideal Experience?

A great member experience starts by thinking about what it is like for the next member you are trying to attract.  How great could it be?  It's not usually about "what we have always done."  It's rarely about what is easy or convenient for current members.  And with more organizations competing for people's time, energy and talent, "good enough" is rarely "good enough."

Creating a great experience is about appreciating what it is like from the other's point of view, imagining how good it could be and then taking actions, no matter how small, that will move you toward that ideal.

When you go through this process, it may surprise you, as it has for my client, that by creating a great experience for new members, you might just improve the experience you offer for current members, too.

Where are your biggest opportunities to create a great experience for your new members?  What have you learned by taking a non-member point of view?  How have you made quick positive steps?

A great club is all about energy

Yes, I am back - and with new energy.

In fact, energy is a new theme, a new focus for me in Rotary.  You can tell the difference between great clubs and others the moment you come in contact with them by their energy.  Whether it is the first time you view the club web page, the first time you walk in to a club meeting or when you have the opportunity to ask a member, "What is it like to be a member of this club?"

Great clubs have tremendous positive energy.  They celebrate wins, recognize contributions, express gratitude for hard work and for financial support.  They also laugh and smile a lot - usually for good reason.  You don't need to look up membership reports to know whether a club is growing.  You can tell the moment you walk in.

Great clubs also practice fair process.  Fair process means giving members a chance to get involved in decisions, to shape the vision of the club and to put their stamp on programs and projects.  Fair process means that even if a member's wishes are not part of the path that is chosen, so long as they feel they have been given a chance to offer their ideas, have been heard fairly and that the decision process is open and honest, then they will be more likely to support the direction that IS chosen.

Great clubs make it easy for members to contribute their energy - their time, their talent, their money.  And therefore, great club leaders know that their job is to help keep the energy going.  They remove barriers.  They make their mission and vision clear.  They are focused on impact, not just keeping people busy.

Great clubs also capture the energy of the people they serve by bringing their stories of impact and gratitude back into the club.  This is often when members get a bit wet in the eyes.  They are touched to find that because of Rotary, the kids stop dying.  Because of Rotary, I will graduate and will try to practice the values I learned from my Rotary mentor.  Because of Rotary and ShelterBox, thousands more kids and their families do not have to sleep outside tonight.

And because great clubs tell their stories so well, they attract positive media attention, attract new members, attract new donors and sponsors.  People like to be part of success.

What can you do as a Rotary leader to help people unleash their energy?  If you notice people "voting their energy" elsewhere, are you a confident enough leader to ask them what's up - and then take the time to listen?  Are you putting positive, energetic people in charge of your most important projects?  Are you courageous enough to talk directly to those who suck energy from your club and address the issues head on? 

Who are the positive deviants in your club?  Who are the people that other club leaders feel comfortable going to for advice?  What are you doing to keep those people engaged?

Great clubs are all about positive energy.  And they know there is no energy shortage when important work needs to be done.

Chanhassen Rotary July 4th Parade Video

In a volunteer organization, recognition and .genuine gratitude are your most valuable currency.  Here is a video recap of the Chanhassen Rotary July 4th Parade 2009.  When you look at the credits, you realize just how many volunteers contributed to the success and smooth running of this event.  Thanks to all!

For best viewing, get your copy of U2's Joshua Tree album and start "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the video at the same time.  Enjoy!

Serve, don't help

My wife recently decided to volunteer for a hospice center that is opening soon in our area.  One of the valuable lessons of her training so far is the notion of serving, not helping.

When we feel we need to help someone, it assumes that people lack something that somehow we can provide - strength, intelligence, wisdom, experience or something else.  When we help, we tend to look at ourselves as superior to the person we help.

When we truly serve, we see the other as an equal, with dignity regardless of their circumstances.  When we serve, we see each other's strengths and assets, not their failings and deficits.  We respect the other's circumstances and have empathy for their struggles and share their aspirations.  There is nothing to fix.  Sometimes, especially when people cannot communicate well, personal presence alone has a big impact.

Each of us is on a unique path.  How could serving versus helping make a difference to those we serve (and transform ourselves in the process)?

I now truly understand why the phrase, "I am here from the District and I am here to help" always seems to generate a kind of nervous laughter.

Forget title, status and position.  Show up.  Serve.  Make a difference.

Thanks for the opportunity to serve

On June 30, 2009, I will complete 3 years as District 5950 Membership chair.  It has been a privilege to serve the clubs in this district and beyond.

During the past three years, I have met some incredibly talented and giving people.  I have learned about projects with exceptional impact.  I have also experienced a great deal of challenge and fun.  So what have I learned?

One of the most important things I have learned is that clubs that grow are led by people who choose to grow.  More specifically, growing clubs have one or more leaders who decide that growing their club matters and choose to do something to make it happen.  They take actions that are unique to their particular club and that leverage their talents.  Some reach out for help, some survey their members and take action on what they discover.  Many launch a campaign of some kind or they organize their stories so that new and prospective members can understand what they are about.  The really good ones make it fun and easy to join Rotary and make it easy and rewarding to create meaningful impact.

Clubs that grow set high standards for the kind of member they seek.  That does not mean that they exclude people.  I think that it goes to the core of what Rotary is about - ask successful professional people to represent their professions with high ethical standards.  Ask those same professional people to apply their time, talents, influence and resources to make a difference locally and globally.  So setting high standards is about finding people who are a bit more successful than most because these are people who can have more impact than most.   What that means to each club is a function of its community and its purpose.

Clubs that grow create peak experiences for their members.  One of my favorite exercises with clubs and at district training events was to ask members to recall their peak experiences in Rotary and to share words that describe those experiences.  Across many groups, you consistently hear words like effort, teamwork, passion, excitement, gratitude, courage, hope, learning, connection, impact, focus, quality and yes, fun.  These are not words that describe most people's average day, are they?  The growing clubs create meaningful experiences that keep people coming back for more.  It's a kind of positive addiction to impact!

Growing clubs create enough trust to get through the tough stuff.  Every club faces challenges from time to time.  Whether it be a few old guard members that refuse to consider change, projects that are no longer relevant, programs that are no longer compelling enough to get people to show up for breakfast or a feeling of entitlement that slows innovation and collaboration.  The successful clubs get past these obstacles because they have an important purpose and enough trust developed over time to get through the momentary obstacles.

There are too many people to thank to name them all here.  If you have helped me along the way or given me an opportunity to serve you in some way, please consider yourself on the list!  I am most grateful to you.

One of the wonderful results of my work as Membership Chair has been this weblog.   I started writing Innovate Rotary! as a way to reach out to district members on a range of Rotary topics.  I quickly learned that this medium is instantly global.  And I am happy that the messages and conversations here have had an impact well beyond District 5950.

As I pass my membership responsibility to others, I will be refocusing my efforts on soccer coaching, as my two daughters learn to play the sport that I love, second only to golf. 

As for future posts, let's see what inspires me from here!

Serve, smile, set high standards, make an impact, express gratitude and have fun!

Inspire, don't recruit.

I had a really valuable experience this weekend.  I was hired to deliver a keynote for a service club state convention - that was not Rotary.  I was struck by so many similarities between Rotary events and this one - passionate people doing unbelievable work, enthusiastic members who really enjoyed meeting each other and gathering to celebrate their accomplishments.

Both talk often of the challenge to attract new members, improve retention and add younger members.  I listened to several presentations as I waited for my turn to present.  And it struck me how hard we all work to find the next new member of our respective clubs.  And sometimes we try so hard with all of our tactics and techniques that we forget that it is not about the numbers.  It is about, as I have written many times, connecting people with their passions.

So I had a sudden insight that I offered to the audience yesterday:

What would it be like if we had conversations with prospective members that inspired them to live out THEIR individual passions in community service?  What if we were more committed to that person finding THEIR true outlet for service, even if it did not mean joining our particular club?

If you think about it, this kind of committed detachment might be just the thing that brings lots of new members to Rotary.  If we elevate the conversation, what might be possible?  The key is making sure that people serve somewhere!  And if Rotary is the right answer, and the timing is right, and if WE ARE TALKING TO QUALIFIED PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS, then maybe, just maybe, they will decide to join Rotary after all.

There are too many opportunities to make a difference in the world that, worse than not joining Rotary would be not serving anywhere at all!  Let go of the notion that everyone needs to join Rotary.  Play at a higher level.  We need more people serving our communities in all kinds of service - Rotary and otherwise.

What do you think?