Perpetual Beta

Many organizations in the nonprofit world are seeking to redefine and reinvent themselves.

It is important for the  leaders of these organizations seeking to make themselves relevant to a new generation and the realities of the times to make sure that  the process they use is also up to date. The process should be transparent, inclusive and allow for input from those already engaged and those who the organizations hopes will become engaged as future leaders, donors, volunteers and end-users.

For some organizations and leaders, this requires a shift in thinking. Making  all the decisions around a conference room table and waiting for many months or years to have a final, finished product ready to present is old school.

Organizations need to get comfortable being in perpetual beta. What do I mean by this? Just like software is released with  bugs left to work out, it is okay to release your plans before they are final. Don’t wait until you cross every “t” and dot every “i” to let your constituencies know what you are working on.

One of the benefits of the brave, new technological world  is the ability to share information and give feedback in real time. Consider transforming your organization publicly and let the interested parties, the customers and donors from the past, present and future be part of the redesign.

Embrace the state of  perpetual beta. Keep your key constituencies in the loop and make them part of the  process. Doing so will allow for more buy in and ownership and hopefully, yield a better product.