Interesting Links this Week

Good morning. I’m off to DC, North Carolina and Baltimore for meetings, meetings and the AFTA 50th Anniversary Conference.


“And the beat goes on………………………………”

SOME LINKS FOR YOU:

• Very insightful reports from Wolf Brown on Donor Motivation focusing on the highly successful and encouraging Fund For Artists Matching Commissions grant program.

• Here’s an interesting site called: It’s Saul Connected – The eclectic musings of an innovation junkie.

In talking about models, the author offers this analysis: “Adopting existing best practice makes sense if you want to improve the performance of your current business model. Going beyond the limits of your current business model requires a network-enabled capability to do R&D for new business models. The imperative is to build on best practices to explore and develop new practices. Best practices are necessary but not sufficient. Business models don’t last as long as they used to. Leaders must identify and experiment with next practices. Next practices enable new ways to deliver customer value. Next practices are better ways to combine and network capabilities that change the value equation of your organization. Organizations should always be developing a portfolio of next practices that recombine capabilities to find new ways to deliver value. Leaders should design and test new business models unconstrained by the current business or industry model."   

He goes on to say:  "It is not best practices, but next practices that will sustain your organization on a strong growth trajectory. While you continue to pedal the bicycle of today’s business model make sure that no less than 10% of your time and resources is dedicated to exploring new business models and developing next practices.”

• Here’s a blog by Marc van Bree posted on the Orchestra R/Evolution site talking about Google’s famed 20% Time concept whereby employees are free to spend 20% of their time on whatever excites their passion. What if applied to the arts?

• This caught my eye: In an AP report on a gala honoring Stephen Hawking – the intersection of science and the arts. “Luminaries from the fields of physics, opera, poetry, theater, music and dance gathered to pay tribute to British physicist Stephen Hawking on Wednesday, with performances and speeches at a gala in his honor.  The gala merging the arts and science was the kickoff event for this year's World Science Festival, a five-day gathering meant to bring some of the universe's most complex topics to the masses.”  Merging the arts and science.  How refreshing to see that sentence in print.

• Finally here is another one of those lists to help you be a better manager. This one on Six Ways to Keep Employees from Jumping Ship

Have a great week.

Don’t Quit
Barry