Your Organization is a Living, Breathing Creature...

...And living, breathing creatures are always changing. Hmmmm.

I came across a nice post on a small business blog that invoked one of my all-time favorite quotes: "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got." This, of course, represents the spirit behind the "We Have Always Done It That Way" book that I wrote with David, Jeff, Mickie, and Amy.

But this author added a few words. He argues that doing what you always did will actually get you a little less than what you always got. The fact is, even if you keep doing the same thing, the environment is always changing, so while you may be doing okay, you'll likely get incrementally worse results over time. From the post:

If you’re riding and old tired horse, and you haven’t evolved in your model for years, you’re not reaching your full potential.  Plain and simple.  If you’re doing exactly what you’ve always done, you’re going to get a little less than you’ve always got, month in, month out, until you are getting so little it no longer makes sense to stay in business.  Make sure your business is evolving with the times.  Stay current so you can maximize your potential.

I think associations fall victim to this all the time. They will ascribe the incremental decreases to causes like the economy, or execution of the strategic plan, so they typically resolve to try harder, work "smarter," market better, etc. But they rarely consider changing their business model, and they rarely consider innovation as an important capacity internally. And then sometimes they end up like the Men's Dress Furnishings Association.