05/06/2024

Inside an Association’s Long-term Strategy

Here's how ASLA is planning for its future

"Begin with the end in mind" is a common catchphrase in boardrooms and offices—as one of Stephen Covey’s famous seven habits, it’s meant as a prompt to figure out your destination before setting to work.

But when it comes to strategy-setting, the end isn't always a consideration. Strategic planning is often a function of thinking about this current headwind, or that current membership trend. A plan tries to set a goal for the future, but it often doesn't look far beyond the present.

For a few years now, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has been operating under a plan that is more determinedly future-focused. In 2020, ASLA developed a strategic plan that set a vision for where the organization would be in ten years. Lots of organizations do that, but ASLA’s vision was distinctive in that it was introduced as a narrative from the future the organization intended to live in. That rhetorical tweak made a big difference when it came to buy-in and keeping the plan active, said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.