Skip to main content

Shiny Object Syndrome. Do you have it?

Image
By

If you search the Internet for the term "Shiny Object Syndrome" you'll learn that it refers to the penchant many people have for latching onto the latest tech toys and social networking media no matter the cost in dollars, time or productivity. Email and websites?  Old school.  How about Facebook, Flickr and Twitter?  What's next and how fast will it get here?  Applied to the world of cultural organizations, how well will shiny objects facilitate relationship-building among and between audiences?

When used in the broader context of attention diversion, Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS, for short) has been alive and well in the organizational environment for a very long time.  SOS can just as easily be about introducing costumed interpreters to increase visitation as it is about inaugurating a wild and whacky fundraising event to bolster the bottom line.  Funders, too, are all potential shiny objects.  In other words, shiny objects can take an organization to the next level or over the edge...or both, depending on your ability to get past their glitter.

Shiny objects do serve an important purpose:  they require an organization to have the conversation about what really matters.  Todd Defren at pr-squred.com says it well: “Shiny Object Syndrome is marked by a headlong and heedless rush; but, lasting businesses are built when...plans are carefully plotted and sculpted - not thrown against the wall to see what sticks.”   How many times do you feel as though your board or staff leadership jumps from one idea to the next without benefit of a check-in with mission or strategic plan?  

We're probably all guilty of SOS from time to time.  Our goal as organizational stewards is to make sure we understand how this bright bauble will enhance or expand what we're meant to do.  So here's a quick list to employ for the next time you're dazzled (from Karyn Greenstreet's blog):

  • Is this right for our organization:  does it fit our mission and our current plans? 
  • Do our stakeholders customers want this, and are they willing to pay for it?
  • Do we have the time, resources, energy, and money to put into this to make it?
  • Do we have too many open projects that need to be finished before we begin something new?
  • Do we have the ability to finish this new project, and implement it, and maintain it?
  • What has to drop off our radar in order for us to start something new?

Labels:

Comments

artsmart said…
It's hard keeping up with SOS! Recently my constituents indicated they would prefer a blog over our list serve. The list serve allowed me to post to the whole group information of interest to them, and they could respond. It has its drawbacks, but the blog requires a person to actively go to the blog site - one more chore in their busy work days! I'm thinking of ways to combine the best of both.

Anne, your blog is terrific, and I plan to post it to the list serve so that all my constituents can check it out.
September 29, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Would Make You Turn Down an Invitation to Join a Board?

By
THERE'S SO MUCH WRITTEN ABOUT RECRUITING BOARD TALENT, I thought I'd spend a little time thinking about it from the prospect's point of view. Clearly, there are boards where the line is long to get on them. But what would make you turn down an invitation? Here's a short list to get the conversation started: 1. You've had no prior exposure to the organization. Your immediate reaction is "did you pull my name out of a hat?" (Is that lady in the picture the head of the Nominating Committee?) Seems as though there must be a hidden agenda at work (like you're rich and once you become a board member you'll pour all your resources into the organization) or the organization is simply looking for any warm body to fill a seat. 2. The organization doesn't have a good reputation. There's something to be said for street cred. An organization that's floundering may be strengthened by your participation or you may find yourself sucked into...
16 comments
Read more

Three Most Important Nonprofit Executive Director Soft Skills

By
If you were asked to narrow down the list of executive director qualifications to the three most important, which ones would you identify? Would the list consist of soft skills, hard skills, or some combination? Would your list be based on the great ED you are or one you've worked for, or would it be your wish list for the ED you haven't been fortunate yet to work for?  This was an assignment in my recent online class in leadership and administration for the American Association for State and Local History . I asked the class to review three-five advertisements for museum directors and analyze what these listings intimated about the organization’s past experience, current focus and goals, and future aspirations. Then, I asked the class to identify what they consider to be the three most important qualifications they would look for in a director. (Okay, so there's more than three if you dissect my three big groups.)  Soft skills outnumbered hard skills, although ...
28 comments
Read more

What to Do With Dead Wood on Your Board?

By
MY POLL ASKED WHAT ONE BOARD DYNAMIC YOU would change this year and the top response was "remove dead wood". For my first post on this topic I'd like to start with two obvious facts: 1) most boards have some non-performing or under-performing board members AND 2) most boards already have mechanisms in place for removing dead wood...or at least the non-attending dead wood. Those mechanisms are found in the Bylaws and perhaps in a board job description. Few boards, it seems, invoke these mechanisms, mostly out of fear of offending the offender. We end up side-stepping the dead wood, dancing around it, ignoring it, wishing mightily it would go away. Oh, and complaining about it. So, even though the dead wood isn't doing much, it's sapping the energy and focus of many others. (There must be a Law of Physics about this!) Where to start and how to implement? While removing dead wood is not the most pleasant of responsibilities, it does not need to be -- and s...
2 comments
Read more