At CompassPoint’s recent Nonprofit Day conference, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, spoke about the move from good to great in the social sector. It was an inspiring presentation. His research and analysis are highly practical and applicable to nonprofits as well as businesses.

When asked for his take on strategic planning, Collins described it as a process that leads away from implementation, not toward it. He went on to say that organizations need to form groups of strategic thinkers, a “council,” who work together continuously. His definition of this is strikingly similar to our concept of a “strategic thinkers’ group.”

Collins’ characterization of the drawbacks of traditional strategic planning, and the remedy he suggests, coincides very closely with our strategy formation approach. This is yet another confirmation that we are on to something.

If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend Collins’ short monograph: Good to Great and the Social Sectors.

As our transformation process unfolds, we’re still figuring out how we’ll address supervision. A conundrum of all modern professionally-staffed organizations is how to promote learning, ensure quality, and demand accountability from its employees without squelching the very independence and creative thinking that brings out the best in professionals.

We formerly had the traditional arrangement whereby the senior managers supervised the less senior consultants. No one thought this was optimal.

An internal committee recently recommended another approach: we can identify all senior associates who have at least 2 years experience in the firm as potential supervisors. We can then ask each staff member who they think they would work with best and make a match that will be one year commitment.

There are still many wrinkles to iron out in this scheme, but I like it. This says to employees that supervision is not a function of senior management, but of helping colleagues to learn; that employees learn best when they have some say in who their teachers are; and that regular (annual) changes in supervisory relationships will build a stronger team.

More to come on this as it unfolds.