Stale and boring is a recipe for disaster. So many times I have been asked the question "how do I motivate my chapter" and so many times the response is nuanced, qualified, and term laden from Kousezes and Posner's Leadership The Challenge. But today, the question crystallized into a question in response.
When was the last time you did something your men wanted to do?
In the cases of failing organizations, the response is usually every friday and saturday night. It's the same thing that's brought these groups before their standards boards before and will likely bring them before those boards again. For those groups, I'm sorry, this is not your post. Though perhaps you may find the project I'm about to propose an interesting alternative?
The greater tragedy is when great groups fall into dissarray and complacency. It's these great groups gone bad that makes being a consultant truly difficult.
Last time, I talked about Southwest as a model of Fraternity behavior, today, let's talk about the rise and fall of Blockbuster. Blockbuster, like many a great chapter, built an empire off of a necessary service and brand loyalty. Fraternities too, came of age in a time when the academia was not concerned with the slightest in the moral development of its students in the greater world around them. Co-curriculars? Forget about it. Many of the more distionguished institutions believed that pure academic discourse would "elevate man" and make better people. Social, even Academic Groups, disagreed, and the Fraternal System flourished. Let's not even ruminate over the failure to provide housing and group building that creates lasting legacies and committment to alma mater vis a vis alumni giving.
All of that has changed. Schools are now in the business of providing pro-active positive co-curricular enrichment. Leadership, once in the purview of Fraternal programming offices and through hands on experience, are now in established offices in academic institutions across the United States. Residence halls are one of the biggest revenue generators outside of tuition for most institutions along with meal plans. Community service is now required of ALL students both during the first year and beyond. Even the trump card of national networking opportunities is eroding as schools increase their presence and outreach to their alumni in a global age.
So what is a fraternity to do? The response is generally tradition. We're going to do what we've always done and do it bigger and better. Bigger parties, bigger shirt designs, bigger new member education processes.
And as traditional actions yield increasingly meager results (law of diminishing returns anyone?), our members become increasingly frustrated.
Blockbuster, one of the biggest traditionalists in the home entertainment field, filed bankruptcy, while many of our best chapters worry about the same. They worry their classes aren't natural leaders, they worry they're not the best of men, they worry that as numbers grow, the organization risks being diminished and at every juncture, men respond to change with "but this is how we've always done things and look how good we were." As you continue to wallow in the past, you become complacent about the future. Just ask Blockbuster. They turned down a significant partnership with Netflix in 2000 and look where they are now...
Remember, Einstein once said "insanity is the repetition of the same act expecting different results." So, when was the last time you tried something truly new?
To fight complacency, I want to pull an old card trick from my days doing improvisation WAY back in the day. It is a little game called "Yes and..." Basically, you get the name of a person, a place, and a job and you must act out a scene one line at a time. You can never say no and you can never go back on previous statements. See where you end up and how you feel about outside of the box thinking? See if you can make committee meetings a game of "Yes and..." To be fair, a kegger is probably not the best response, but keep thinking outside of the box.
Remember, there are always consequences for your actions or inaction.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Flying the Friendly Fraternity Skies
Happy post thanksgiving everyone and L'Chaim to my Jewish friends who still have fond memories of dreidles and gelt (for today also marks the first day of Hannukah)!
Like much of America, I engaged in what has become a time honored tradition of waiting in line, screened, and avoiding crying babies as I flew from one side of the country to another. The stereo cacophony not withstanding, it was actually quite pleasent. Like most of my flights back home, my cheapest fair just happened to be Southwest. As we reached cruising altitude, their very engaging flight crew came through the cabin and handed out peanuts, soda, and other creature comforts.
I promise, this isn't the run up to a Seinfeld-esque joke, I swear.
I paused. Wait a minute, Southwest was one of the few airlines that was still consistently in the black during these hard economic times yet I still got a full can of diet coke (my addiction), snacks, AND I checked two bags for free? Don't even get me started on how nice their new fleet of Boeing 737s are.
What the heck?
Juxtapose this treatment to a flight on American Airlines. The ticket is more expensive, the luggage is certainly not free, and don't even count on inflight meals anymore. How can one airline go from being the low cost airline, provide high amenities, and still remain solvent and profitable in this day in age?
The question is not so much how Southwest can do it but how can any organization remain both profitable and desireable simultaneously.
For Fraternities and Sororities, the costs are often less quanitfiable but no less real and dangerous. Poor planning amounts to uncomfortable delays, failure to collect dues leads to insolvency and less amenities, poor image and reputation (McDonnel Douglass jets or Rolls Royce engines anyone?) leads to few recruits, and hazers are those horrendous "customer service" agents who seem to serve no purpose except to keep you FROM getting to your destination.
On the other hand, Fraternities and Sororities can provide lots of "perks" for a very low "cost." You can create a new member experience that improves their GPA and encourages community involvement. In such a way, a person becomes more attractive in the so called "real world" after college. Your orgnization can provide safe and responsibile events that avoid the hassle and costs of a risk management investigations, or they can co-sponsor educational events with other Greek or NonGreek organizations. The trick is that, unlike the economic axiom that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow, instead focuses on the idea that a party tonight IS NOT worth the embarassment, costs, clean ups, and opportunity tomorrow.
Now, we can talk theory and ideals all we want, but the real question is for YOU and you alone. Would you rather be a Southwest or would you rather be a TransWorld Airlines (or Continental, or Pan American, or Florida Coastal, or ATA, or...well, you get the picture)
Like much of America, I engaged in what has become a time honored tradition of waiting in line, screened, and avoiding crying babies as I flew from one side of the country to another. The stereo cacophony not withstanding, it was actually quite pleasent. Like most of my flights back home, my cheapest fair just happened to be Southwest. As we reached cruising altitude, their very engaging flight crew came through the cabin and handed out peanuts, soda, and other creature comforts.
I promise, this isn't the run up to a Seinfeld-esque joke, I swear.
I paused. Wait a minute, Southwest was one of the few airlines that was still consistently in the black during these hard economic times yet I still got a full can of diet coke (my addiction), snacks, AND I checked two bags for free? Don't even get me started on how nice their new fleet of Boeing 737s are.
What the heck?
Juxtapose this treatment to a flight on American Airlines. The ticket is more expensive, the luggage is certainly not free, and don't even count on inflight meals anymore. How can one airline go from being the low cost airline, provide high amenities, and still remain solvent and profitable in this day in age?
The question is not so much how Southwest can do it but how can any organization remain both profitable and desireable simultaneously.
For Fraternities and Sororities, the costs are often less quanitfiable but no less real and dangerous. Poor planning amounts to uncomfortable delays, failure to collect dues leads to insolvency and less amenities, poor image and reputation (McDonnel Douglass jets or Rolls Royce engines anyone?) leads to few recruits, and hazers are those horrendous "customer service" agents who seem to serve no purpose except to keep you FROM getting to your destination.
On the other hand, Fraternities and Sororities can provide lots of "perks" for a very low "cost." You can create a new member experience that improves their GPA and encourages community involvement. In such a way, a person becomes more attractive in the so called "real world" after college. Your orgnization can provide safe and responsibile events that avoid the hassle and costs of a risk management investigations, or they can co-sponsor educational events with other Greek or NonGreek organizations. The trick is that, unlike the economic axiom that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow, instead focuses on the idea that a party tonight IS NOT worth the embarassment, costs, clean ups, and opportunity tomorrow.
Now, we can talk theory and ideals all we want, but the real question is for YOU and you alone. Would you rather be a Southwest or would you rather be a TransWorld Airlines (or Continental, or Pan American, or Florida Coastal, or ATA, or...well, you get the picture)
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