Carrot Soup

This is a draft of an article that will go on Finance Fund's blog:

Carrot Soup or What I Learned at Harvard

“In a time of shifting demands for services, changing operating environments, and mounting financial pressures, the skills of nonprofit leaders are being put to the test. Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) is a Harvard Business School (HBS) Social Enterprise Initiative program that provides the opportunity for senior executives to examine their missions and develop new strategies for the new global economy.”

This is the Harvard speak for “hold on to something we’re going to turn your brain into carrot soup but you’ll be able to see things more clearly.” This was my second exposure to the HBS Executive Education program. The first session I attended about five years ago was in a program that examined Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations. At the end of that intensely focused period of study and learning my perception of the phrase “you manage what you measure” was changed dramatically and that change was not salted but poured into Finance Fund.

SPNM (pronounced: “Speenem”) took it up a notch. It included people from 20 countries in addition to the USA representing world class organizations at the cutting edge of nonprofit management. My living group included representatives from nonprofits in Singapore, Australia, Canada, California, and Pennsylvania. The HBS instruction model is one of discovery rather than impartation and boy did we discover. From 7:30 AM to 10:00 PM we grappled with finding the lessons and truths by examining case studies of various nonprofit organizations from around the world. At the end of the week ideas were stacked like cordwood in my head and will slowly begin to pour into Finance Fund. Upon returning, with eyes forward and tail dragging, I confirmed HBS “Harvard speak” declaration of SPNM and my translation.